And The Ayes Have It

When I was a child my parents took a trip to Ireland. One of the places they went was Cork.
Near Cork, Castle Blarney sits. The famous Blarney Stone sits halfway down a wall in that castle.

My father was Irish extraction and also in sales. He needed to kiss the B.S. for professional development.

Well, I was their only child at the time, and I was along for the ride. My father knew this was a rare opportunity for my own outsized charm and gift with the gab. Unfortunately the Blarney Stone is not in an easy place to kiss. Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

So, they stuck me in a car seat, tied a rope to it, and lowered me down. I was too young then to remember. But apparently I began to get upset and refused to cooperate. So they carefully, slowly, twisted the rope so that my lips turned toward the wall, and touched the stone. Then they hauled me back up.

I am overwhelmingly re-elected as Treasurer to the Condo Board.

It remains for you to decide whether that was the result of the Irish gab I was given, or
a wee bit of a problem from a single impact with a bluestone,
 many feet up a castle wall, near Cork, in Ireland.