Two Perspectives, Two Truths.

Today the following picture appeared on Facebook, shared by my niece, Talya McDougall.  I liked it very much, but also saw another side.  That response is below the picture.

I did, but:

In those days, my friends were all local, rather than all around the world. We shared our narrowness, prejudices, and ignorance of the wider world. Protestants felt guilty if they entered a Catholic church. Catholics feared eternal damnation if they reciprocated. If we were lucky, our parents were educated well, and instilled human values that allowed us to see past those sorts of prejudices, but if not, we became nasty little bigots.  It took bleeding together in Vietnam to teach us that whites and blacks are simply men and women, and that all are in the same bind. We are all here on Earth, mortal, and we all are just trying to do our best for ourselves and for our families. What I like best about the Internet is that it has made us more aware of those facts. Wherever you are, my friends on Facebook [or here in my blog], you have my respect. For together, we share the human condition.

I Love Cluj and ProTV

Andre MUTU, Founder of Facebook's "I Love Cluj"

I went to the office today expecting to spend the morning productively.  There is always plenty of work to do, and this morning it was to be ACBSP work, reading the voluminous self-study of a university business school seeking accreditation, and preparing to lead a visiting team to the school's campus in March to assess their readiness for accredited status.  But then my Facebook messenger lit up, and Andrei MUTU (above) of UBB-Cluj came online.

Dl. MUTU Andrei is the creator/owner of the beautiful FB site, "I Love Cluj."  The photos on his site have been contributed by hundreds (if not thousands) of us who share his feelings for the amazing city of Cluj-Napoca, Heart of Transilvania, Romania.

Andrei said to me in FB-chat, "ProTV is wanting to interview someone from outside the county [sic].  Can you do a one-minute Skype interview today?"  As it happened, I could, though I had neither Skype nor a camcorder in my office.  To do so I had to leave my office, drive to the Inn where Visiting Prof. Alexandra Muţiu is living, borrow her PC, and log into Skype from her Inn's parlor.  I had 20 minutes to do all this.  Then, when I did make Skype contact with Domnisoara Loredana Danciu of ProTV, she could see and hear me, but I could not see or hear her.  And, she told me, via Skype's SMS Chat, that she would be on the air in 5 minutes.

Though Loredana never did solve her microphone problem, I looked into the camera, told the truth about my feelings for Cluj, for Romania, and for the I Love Cluj page in Facebook.  Loredana seemed satisfied, and thanked me in the Skype Chat box.  I replied, "Cu placere!" 

So, dear reader, if you are in Romania and saw me on TV today, now you know how I got there!