Pope Gets Caught In Record Store - Haven't We All?
Friday, January 14, 2022 at 12:53PM
So Pope Francis snuck out to Rome (remember Vatican City is separate from Rome) to visit friends who own a record store. The Pope was gifted a classical CD and was hoping the little visit would be private, but a reporter was in the area and recorded it all via cellphone.
The shop is called StereoSound. The Pope visited to bless the shop because it is newly renovated. I guess it really does pay to have friends in high places! The shop owner did not say what CD the Pope was gifted.
Pope Francis has found the humorous side after his unannounced visit to a Rome record store was caught on camera. He wrote to the Vatican reporter who captured the moment, saying it was just his luck that a journalist was waiting for a taxi nearby. https://t.co/QJ1hgkBkJ0
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) January 14, 2022
Classical, Pope Francis
Reader Comments (10)
And a good start to a joke, "So the Pope and Papa Emeritus walk into a record store . . . ."
Have a good weekend everyone!
The Popes visit ended quickly when he learned young boys don’t buy physical media anymore…. His organization is culpable for some horrendous things.
I think you chose the right word, Kixchix: organization. Therein lies the problem. Organizations, no less the bureaucracies that under-gird them, tend towards corruption or, perhaps more kindly, policies which protect them while not always weeding out the problems therein. That's why, as a general rule, policing one's self is a bad idea.
On the other hand, there are a lot of decent people in these organizations who do good work, some of whom shine a light on the problems and others who live by a standard that is philosophical consistent with the founding principles and not with the rot and treachery that the organization perpetuates.
Note I avoided the 'R' word. And for good reason. This issue is common to lots of organizations. It also points to a sad truth: human institutions (another word for organizations) tend to reflect the best and worst of what makes us unique. Why? Because we are a messy mix of great and horrid. For every Maximilian Kolbe there is a Larry Nassar. And notice that the Catholic Church and USA Gymnastics are worlds apart save in one key way: they are organizations. At their best, both celebrate the human condition. At their worst, they defile what it means to be human.
not really, but at least I read.
and try to make a meaningful difference
And Googling Max and Larry doesn't hurt. As I suggested, the human condition has at least two sides. Knowing what to celebrate and what to condemn helps us to figure out how to fit our aspirations into the time slot we have on this spinning marble. But thanks for reading.
Also, my editor made a mistake: the word is "philosophically."
Years ago when my wife and I first started being foster parents, we lived in a small Cape Cod house. We had a bedroom on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second floor. We made one bedroom a rec-room with an additional TV, the computer, a gaming system, etc...
We first were fostering one male teenager, then a second male preteen, then after a while, a 6yo boy. They all shared the bedroom upstairs. One night, the preteen was taking a shower and I went upstairs to check on our other foster sons. I opened the bedroom door to find the 6 yo sitting on his bed in his underwear and our teenage son standing around naked.
who immediately started to clothe himself
I immediately and, then, continually reported my concerns. (And, apparently, still am). I took my concerns to our caseworker, the supervisor, the director, the teenager's therapist and the agency psychologist, repeatedly. I was ultimately told that, upon their inquiry and discussions, there is nothing improper about a teenage boy changing his clothes in his bedroom in front of his "brother". It was "normal".
I replied, "So, you wouldn't have a problem if I had all three of my foster sons sitting on their beds in their underwear as I was walking around naked"?
Trust me. I'm being delicate.
Carry on, Fletch. Carry on.
Hear!, Hear!, HIM! … This is some of your best writing on here ever!
“Up The Organization”!
Speaking of Organizations, I worked for many, and made millions for them.
It IS true, they are all the best and worst places to work usually simultaneously, though most have one dominating the other and believe me, Captain Obvious here, it’s far better to be working for one that is predominantly better!
And here’s another example … How about the Metal band, The Organization? … I found them hard to listen to but some of you may find their shrediness appealing … Cool name, cool logo, cool album cover … but do tell what you think of the music!
The Organization?!?! You mean Death Angel-light? Never really like DA and had a hard time figuring out what TO was up to, trying, offering. They had Metal Blade backing. But it sorta' sounded like they were trying to catch the crest of a wave that had already passed by integrating trendy influences. Sorta' like if Suicidal Tendencies decided to mix in a little bit of Ska. Just my take.
She was fired a few months later (didn't know why) and her children were removed from her care. Nobody believed me that she was nuts and I was embellishing the story.
She was ultimately found to be an appropriate parent and her children were returned to her. Then, she and her paramour raped and killed her daughter. BIZARRE!!!
No one listened when I told them that something was very wrong with her. This time around, I kept written documentation of the incident and aftermath confirming my story.
My old foster care's mantra: "If we don't have kids is foster care, we don't have jobs".
I've tried to expose nuttiness, but organizations have a great deal at stake. I can't tell you how many people contacted me after Sara Packer was arrested and told me how right I was. But, due to the atrocity of her actions, I take no delight. Instead, I tend beat myself up a little, thinking how I might have handled the situation better and presented my concerns to the powers that be better, so that they might takey concerns my concert seriously. Same with the aforementioned story. You have no idea.