When I was a child, in my Littlehood, we used to go to a cabin every now and again. Why we would go into the wild, to stay in a cabin…. when we had a perfectly good home of our own… I do not know. But we did.
Anyhow, at night time when we slept, I found my perch on a girl cot.
Not a boy cot.
Which brings me to our first word. It seems apparent to me what the meaning is, but boycott has an entirely different definition. It seems it is more than just a makeshift bed.
Boycott. It can be a verb, or a noun. But here is how it goes. To boycott is to withdraw from commercial or social relations….. with something or somebody. Like a country, and organization, or a person. This is done as a punishment or protest. Sometimes we refuse to buy or handle (goods) as a punishment or protest.
So… where did the word boycott come from? It just so happens… that it cam from the name of Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott. He lived from 1832 just up until 1897. Now C.C., as I like to call him …. was an English land agent in Ireland. The causes are all very involved. But the bottom line is…. local activists of the Irish Land League…. encouraged Boycott’s employees to withdraw their labor and services. They began a campaign of isolation against Boycott in the local community. Things got all stirred up in both Ireland and England… and that is where this term began.
Boycott. To withdraw support. Basically.
The term has been in the news a lot lately. Mostly surrounding the upcoming Presidential Inauguration. Apparently, there are some folks who sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who do not care to sing at the festivities. So they are boycotting. Along with other peoples, here and there.
But this calls for a sidebar, I think. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. When I went to Mass, as that same little person, who slept on girl cots…. …… the Tabernacle in our church was very, very small. Just big enough for the leftovers from Jesus’ body during Communion. I was having trouble picturing how all those people could fit in that little gold box. Three hundred sixty people to be exact.
Well.. it appears that in the Mormon Faith… a Tabernacle is much larger. It is an entire meeting place used for worship by some Protestants or Mormons. Like a whole big church, I guess.
That little choir has been around a while too. Not as long as our Presidents, but long enough. The choir was founded in August 1847, one month after the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley.
It took those Mormons 20 years to get the Tabernacle done. So it must be big. It was completed in 1867 and the choir held its first concert there on July 4, 1873.
But wouldn’t you know. They started out a little on the lame side. Apparently they were small and undisciplined. But… to save the day…. in 1869…. a dude named George Careless was appointed as the choir’s conductor.
That is funny to me. They were a reckless little singing group, so they hired a guy named Careless to get them on track. Funny or not… it worked. The Tabernacle Choir began to musically improve.
And since then, they never looked back. They got bigger, and better, and famous. They have visited 28 countries outside the United States. And…. performed at 13 World’s Fairs and Expositions. They have albums, and films, and videos. And the big news… The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has performed for ten presidents of the United States beginning with William Howard Taft. Boom. There you have it.
But now… it appears to be too much for some of them. And they need to take a break from this Inauguration.
My advice would be to go to a cabin, and the woods, and have a nice little nap on a girl cot. Or a boycott.
“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”
― Noam Chomsky
“Be brave to stand for what you believe in even if you stand alone.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
“Believe in your heart that you’re meant to live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart