Biting my Fingers

    There is an expression for times when you are tempted to say something you know you shouldn't--bite your tongue. What about an expression for those times you are tempted to reply to something stupid on Facebook and know you shouldn't? I suggest--bite your fingers. I kept getting a sponsored post on Facebook from the Montana Democratic party "exposing" that Tim Sheehy's statement There are more bears than people in Montana is not true. I finally blocked it because I don't want to blow my testimony as a Christian over politics, and it is painful to keep biting my fingers so I don't reply.

    You know how at a business meeting there is that one person who feels the need to explain what has been said even though everyone else understood it the first time. (The Montana Democratic party should go to meetings to fact check that statement.) Or that one person in the group who is the last one to get the joke and/or feels the need to tell others it was a joke, but the rest of them already knew that. This article is like that. I haven't decided how I feel about Sheehy, but I long ago decided how I feel about people who cannot understand common usage of the English language. When someone says they are so hungry they could eat a horse, you do not need to report it to Animal Control. When a teenager has broken curfew and says my parents are going kill me, most people would not call CPS. For the benefit of those those who do not understand, that is called an expression. Exaggeration is a common element of communication in our culture. Only the anal retentive consider it lying. 

     Years ago, during an especially bad fire season, our democratic governor said, The state of Montana is on fire (One of you can fact check old newspapers for the quote). Did he mean every inch of the considerable acreage of Montana was ablaze? No. It was just a way of saying there were a lot of fires in our state. For some reason tourism declined around that time, but we don't want tourists who are that gullible anyway. They might set up their tent on the grounds of Glacier Park Airport, not realizing it is not actually part of the park. Tim Sheehy was not announcing census statistics. What he meant was--there are a lot of bears in Montana. 

    There are analytical thinkers, and there are anal-literal thinkers. The latter drive me crazy. (That is an expression, you do not need to search for mental health clinics near me.) Having posted this blog to vent my frustration, I can now get back to biting my fingers.