Dateline:Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York
Good morning Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea. This is your intrepid reporter, Germ Hammerin' Sleazy on the front lines for this week's theme here at Chautauqua, The Ethics of Cheating. Flash: Turns out we are all liars to varying degrees, and we all can rationalize that lying so that we still think we're good and moral people. Who knew?
Yesterday's main speaker was Dan Ariely, eminent professor, author, and researcher into this whole cheating/lying thing. Among many fascinating facts and research statistics, he also told a great joke: Man goes to his Rabbi (hey, Ariely's from Israel, don't blame me) and says "Rabbi, something terrible has happened. Last week at Synagogue, someone stole my bicycle." Rabbi says, "At Synagogue? That's awful. Here's what we'll do: This week you sit in the front row; we'll talk about the Ten Commandments. You turn toward the congregation and look them in the eyes. When we get to 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' whoever took your bike will avoid your gaze and you'll know who did it."
After the next week's service, the Rabbi approached the man and asked how it went. "It worked great!," enthused the guy. "When you got to 'Adultery'"--and here the entire audience of 3,000-plus bursts into knowing laughter, having figured that NO ONE in the congregation could meet his eye--"when you got to 'Adultery,' I remembered where I had left my bike." Oy vey.
Today's speaker: Julia Heiman (not making that up), Director of the Kinsey Institute. At this beautiful place that started as a Methodist retreat! Woo hoo!
Next week's post and show theme: trains and railroads (really). Hope to see lots of you at the WOOL Block Party this Saturday, 7-11 PM at the Waypoint Center in BF: Music, food, me tending bar, everyone helping out WOOL. It's a winner all-around.
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