Whither the whether

Everybody, including this columnist (and especially this past week) talks about the weather, but, as with everybody, this column is (and the passage of time) nobody can do anything about it. As with stupidity and evil we can predict, react to, and even overcome the weather, but truth is, as it’s happening, we can’t do much about it.

Nevertheless, it’s been pointed out that while we’re powerless to impact the “weather” that is meteorological, we can however, influence and, often, even control the “whether” that represents the options, choices, and decisions that so often characterize our lives.

Thus, we can do something about the “whether” of whether we choose to greet our neighbor, or blow past them on the street or whether we say please and thank you at the bakery or continue rudely bellowing into our cell phones as we throw our debit card at the salesclerk.

Maybe the clouds and thunderstorms are beyond us, but it’s still within our power whether we double park on a Friday afternoon; and whether we allow our kids to loudly race around the restaurant; and whether we ignore the caller ID and answer the phone anyway. Beyond this “celestial weather,” there’s the “social whether” as in whether we attend the funeral or just send a condolence card or whether we give the gift we think is expected or give a gift that’s appropriate.

Between the weather that is wind or rain, exists the whether that is philosophical, as in “whether it’s nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” and whether to stand by and/or silent in the face of a particular event or whether to take action.

There’s the “moral whether” which asks us to consider whether it’s okay to read the magazine at the checkout counter without paying for it; and whether you can trust a politician to be faithful to voters when he’s not be faithful to his spouse.

Whether vain is better or worse than conceit is an issue to ponder, as in whether feelings hurt can ever be truly repaired, and whether balloons really enhance a party.

We all encounter “foul whether” which forces us to consider whether motives are pure, whether we’re being used, whether we’ve been had, and whether we’ve had enough.

Sometimes, as in the case of the other “weather,” we often talk endlessly about whether to take the plunge, whether something is worth the effort, whether we should stay or leave, whether it’s the right time, and whether he (or she) is the right one.

Finally, there is the ever changing challenge of, in every situation, whether I’m right or wrong, and, of course, the obvious: whether to keep talking about the weather or whether as with life itself, to just deal with it whether you like it or not.

© Copyright © 2013 Ron Goldman Ron Goldman is an attorney in private practice with offices in Cedarhurst and can be reached @ 1-800-846-9013