Someone in my Rotary Club has done something stupid, stupid enough to make a national news broadcast. My fellow Rotarian isn’t stupid, but would admit that what he did would definitely qualify as a stupid act. No one died or was injured, there was no great damage to property, but one very badly beaten up ego for the responsible party. It was undoubtedly not the first stupid thing my friend has done and probably won’t be the last.
I hope he will be at the next Rotary meeting and I hope he will come sit at my table. Not because I want to heap further embarrassment on his soul, but because I have a collection of stupid actions in my past and probably have a few more unscheduled regrettable actions in my future. I hope he will be around when I need a friend.
That is one of the great things about Rotary, the tradition of tolerance of other people’s foibles. I can sit at a Rotary table with totally unenlightened people of other religions or even different political beliefs. The great lesson is to learn to accept their stupid ideas as viable alternatives to my more enlightened perceptions of how the world works. I know that my disagreement with them doesn’t require my being disagreeable with them.
I am reminded that the object of Rotary starts out with, “encourage and foster the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.” My humbled friend has provided a lot of service beyond his recent contribution to the entertainment of the community with a brief moment of stupidity. I know he has many moments of service to be contributed, so I will be tolerant of his brief lapse of good judgment with the belief that he will return the favor the next time I screw-up.
