Imagine

Imagine that I have a huge cattle ranch that I blog about daily.  Let's say I have a guest house I'm remodeling, and I want some feedback on how it's going to work out when I actually have people come to stay in it.  
Imagine that I invite you, my blogging friend, to bring your family and be my guests.  I feed you scrumptious meals; you and your family are invited to ride my horses while you're here.  
Maybe you didn't have a good time, but you certainly seemed quick enough to accept my hospitality.  
So let's say back at home, shortly after your stay at my ranch, you announce to the world in your blog that you infested my guest house with head lice.  
Later on, you begin to criticize my blog because it isn't as funny as it used to be; you may be right, but is that the way to treat someone who welcomed you into her home?  
Then you go on to make fun of the book I wrote.
That's betrayal.    
I think such behavior shows a total lack of class.  But maybe that's just me.  
No, this didn't happen to me, but I can certainly imagine how I'd feel if it had.  

"Class,” by Ann Landers

Class never runs scared.
It is sure-footed and confident.
It can handle anything that comes along.
Class has a sense of humor.
It knows a good laugh is the best lubricant for oiling the machinery of human relations.
Class never makes excuses.
It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes.
Class knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of small, inconsequential sacrifices.
Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestors or money.
Some wealthy “blue bloods” have no class, while individuals who are struggling to make ends meet are loaded with it.
Class is real.
It can’t be faked.
Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down.
Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse.
Class can “walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch.” Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because that person is comfortable with himself.
If you have class, you’ve got it made.
If you don’t have class, no matter what else you have, it doesn’t make any difference.


As an afterthought, I'd like to tell the world that I've always considered my sister to be the greatest example of "class" I know.