I
lOA THE NEWS-JOliRNAL Raeford, N.C.
April 10,1996
What’s the difference?
Once again, we come to the con
clusion that men and women are vastly
different.
I’m not talking about a few small,
slight idiosyncrasies that kind of get
on your nerves. I’m talking about
head-shaking, mind-blowing, what-
planet-did-you-come-from differ
ences that make you question the san
ity of the almighty creator and make
you think twice about your father’s
suggestion of entering a nunnery.
Daddy, being a man. knew what he
was talking about because he'd been
there and seen the ugly, unspeakable
ways men act when they think there
aren't any women around to see them
being stupid.
Sometimes men, from .somewhere
out of the blue, do things that cause
those of us who are part of the saner
sex to look at them with glazed eyes
and think, “I wonder how' many times
his mother dropped him on his head?’
Oddly enough, these eye-glazing
moments usually happen when a man
is around a bunch of other men.
When a group of women get to
gether — save for a few extreme
occasions like bridal showers where
we get crazy and hoot at buff strippers
(of course I’ve never done anything
like this. I’ve only heard stories) —
things are pretty mild. Generally, when
women get together, we eat lots of
^Gibberish &
Balderdash
Jen Osborn
good food, speak knowledgeably
about intellectual issues and tell one
another how much we appreciate one
another’s friendship. Quite often we
wil I hold hands as we cry at sappy old
movies and try to figure out what men
are really all about.
Men are a little more tricky. You’ll
never catch them in such civilized
settings.
Recently I went to the house of a
male friend and unwittingly walked
into a room filled with men eating
pizza, drinking beer and watching a
macho movie with lots of blood, vio
lence and naked women. You could
just smell the testosterone in the air,
see the hairy knuckles scratching pri
vate parts, and hear the pig-like snorts
of approval as yet another bad guy bit
the dust. Throughout the few minutes
1 could stand to be in the room without
my head exploding, they communi
cated through their alter-language of
calling one another derogatory names
and arguing about whether Michelle
Pfeiffer or Sharon Stone is more oi a
babe — as if any of them could be
alone in a room for five minutes with
Sharon or Shelly without wetting their
pants.
Needless to say, I felt incredibly
out of place.
In all fairness, men as a gender
have made tremendous advancements
since the caveman days, although
some men as individuals haven’t pro
gressed much past learning to walk
upright and grunting “Opera — bad,
fire — good.” A select few men will
even wear a tie without being forced
or will consent to taking ballroom
dancing lessons. These men give us
hope that, yes, we can stand to be
around them long enough to ensure
the perpetuation of humankind. Nev
ertheless, it’s a select few.
In general, men are pigs. And they
freely, happily and openly admit this
fact while tossing their heads back,
doing the Tim Allen grunt and stick
ing out what they mistakenly think of
as an attractive beer gut.
I don’t know why this is. As are
most women in the world. I’m at a
loss for an explanation. However, my
mother contends it has something to
do with men missing some kind of
sensitive gene that women have been
blessed with.
Around
(Continued from page lA)
worse. I received three papers last
week. The 3-20 issue was received on
the 24th, which is better than usual. It
usuallytakes lOto 14 days.The Feb
ruary 14th and March 6th issues were
received March 28th.
“I talked to our postmaster and he
gave me the enclosed information and
thought it might improve service if
The News-Journal could do this.
“I still enjoy your column; it helps
me keep in touch with old friends.
Angus.”
Thanks for the letter, Angus and 1
am sorry about the paper being late. I
have given your information to Henry
Blue and he will try to follow it and
maybe this will get you the paper on
time.
*****
I attended the graduation exercises
of the Leadership Hoke class at City
H^ll last Thursday. The class gave a
Project Presentation entitled “High
On Hoke.” It was put on the computer
and it will go out on the Internet. The
project listed the educational facili
ties, child care, medical services,
churches, history, recreation and other.
The class members presented these
different subjects.
I was disappointed that more citi
zens of the county didn’t attend this
exercise. It showed that these people
who are new to the county have been
well-versed in all aspectsof the county.
This will make their living and work
ing here more enjoyable.
In talking with some of the class
members they said that they thought
the school was worth attending and
they felt it should be continued. The
project is sponsored by Sandhills
Community College and the Raeford-
Hoke Chamber of Commerce.
*****
Someone left an article on my desk
last week that was about how soybean
products could prevent heart disease
or cancer. The article was about a
Professor Chenyang Wang of South
Dakota State University.
There was also a negative side to
the article, but if the findings are true,
it should help the producers of soy
beans. Many acres are planted in Hoke
County.
*****
Last week Paul Dickson, retired
editor and publisher of The News-
Journal, came by the house w ith some
information 1 think will,be of interest
to readers of this colunfn.
Dickson said that when he and his
wife were returning home from an
extended vacation, they had trouble
with their vehicle. It was raining and
the windshield wipers wouldn’t work,
which made it almost impossible to
drive. He said Margaret noticed they
had just passed a place that worked on
this kind of vehicle. They took the
next exit off 1-95 in South Carolina
and they returned to the service cen
ter. The name of the station was
Brancota’s place. Dickson asked me
if 1 had ever heard the name Brancota.
I told him that Williamsport Grays
had a Brancota playing infield when
they trained here in the 1930s. This
was the answer he wanted!
He stated that when he questioned
the men at the station about his name
and about Al Brancota, the man said
that Al Brancota was his cousin and
that he now lived in Phoenix, Ari
zona.
Paul’s father had died the year
before the baseball team from
Williamsport trained here. He was
helping his mother run the paper. A
retired editor of the Williamsport daily
paper by the name of Elmer Schuyler
came with the team and he would wire
back daily of the team’s progress.
Paul and Mr. Schuyler became close
friends during this time.
Al Brancota and Lester McCrabbe
came to Raeford about a week before
the others arrived. They had been in
training with the Philadelphia Athlet
ics and they were sent down to
Williamsport. They worked out with
the high school team until the Grays
arrived. Both of these players went on
to play with Philadelphia and some
time later McCrabbe was traded to the
Washington Senators.
It is a small world, when 60 years
later you run into someone whose
cousin has crossed your path. I know
that this story wi II cause a lot of people
in Hoke County to scratch their heads
and recall things that happened when
the Williamsport team trained here.
1c ^ t
If Jack Nicklaus plays at Augusta
like he did last week, he could win the
Masters again.
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Special visitor
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last Wednesday. The visitor did some magic tncks and put on a
show for the children and spoke with them about ecology.
Expo to be held
By Jen Osborn
Staff writer
People whoattend this year’s Hoke
Expo, Hoke^Raeford’s.second annual
business exposition, may notice that
things aren’t quite the same as last
year, said Judy Sheets, ciMirdinatur of
the event.
“This year one major difference
will be that during the day it’s open to
the public, we will have the opportu
nity togive different demonstrations, ”
Sheets said.
She explained that many of the
busines.ses involved will be giving
demonstrations that pertain to their
work. Other activities, like live music
and performances by Raeford Dance
Arts, w i 11 also be going on t liroughout
the day.
Even though applications aren’t
due until Tuesday, Sheets said there’s
already been a larger response than
last year’s business expo. However,
she .said businesses should sign up as
srxrn as possible because there’s a
limited amount of booth space avail
able.
So far, a variety of groups and
activities plan to be on hand, with
everything ranging from tiealth care,
to utilities, to industry and financial
institutions, and even thr Brard of
Education.
There is no admission fee for the
publictoattendthe Wednesday, \pril
24. event.
“We’re ju.st hoping everyone will
come out and enjoy it, ” Sheets said.
The Hoke Expo will run from 10
a.m.io7:.30p m at the National Guard
Armory. Cost to exhibit is S UK) lor an
inside IxMith and S2(KI for a large
outside b(x)th. Money raised will go
to Chamber of Commerce sponvired
projects. Sheets said.
For registration information, call
Judy Sheets at 875-1203
•Former Democratic
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• Retired Medical Technician
(22 Yrs. With Dr. Townsend)
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