This email arrived in my Inbox. I was asked to evaluate my stay at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai and I wrote a glowing review. It was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as I love the place. If only the Ruler of Dubai would lift it up and put it in Abu Dhabi I would be most happy indeed.
Dear Alexis,
On behalf of the entire hotel team, I want to thank you for sharing your Experience at the JW Marriott Marquis !!
It is always encouraging to hear positive feedback, particularly when it comes from those who matter the most – you! We have shared your feedback with our associates who we value the most when we hear from our valuable guest as a way of celebrating the great guest experiences we delivered. Once again, I appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback.
We hope to welcome you again soon.
Sincerely,
ABEY SAM
Well, of course I had to respond, and did.
I LoVEd LOVED your response! My comments were oh so true and it was a total pleasure to convey them to the outside world. Your dream of my return may become a nightmare (hahaha) . I will be back on the 16th staying until the 21st when I go to Abu Dhabi. I came back to California to move out of apartment put stuff in storage as I an coming to live in the UAE. I have a clever idea about how the hotel could ‘use’ me.
I made reservations to come back when I left but had to change them slightly as I could not get a flight that worked. You shall soon see the whites of my jet lagged eyes. Alexis
But this is the strange part. While at the hotel I met a man whose name is Sam. So I absolutely HAD to send him a text message.
Me: Coincidences abound! Wrote a glowing review of the Marriott, heard back (beautifully) from none other than Abey SAM. Yeah! Director of Guest Services.
No response yet but he is generally good about responding and, if not, he is very nice about it. He once said three times in a voice message.
He: I am sorry, sweetie!
Need I remind you that most men NEVER say they are sorry and he had a perfectly good excuse but he still said he was sorry (and three times). Now I have not heard from him in a couple of days but he is traveling again and this time I am being slightly in the space of attempting to utilize patience which is considered to be a virtue. Where in the world does that ridiculous phrase come from” This sentiment is a reflection upon someone’s ability to wait for something. By calling patience a virtue, or state of moral excellence, it leads people to believe an ability to wait without agitation is an admirable quality. … Mastering this virtue will make for a happier life.”
Well, I am actually very happy and do not have this virtue. So perhaps it is best to look into this further.
“Like many of the famous sayings we recite today, the original author of “Patience is a virtue” is hard to pin down. Some date it back to Cato to the Elder in the third or fourth century. Others attribute it to The Canterbury Tales, written during the 14th century. Since literature is quite fluid and shared by many, writers often observe similar concepts and themes. It can be difficult to attribute commonly accepted thoughts or reflections to one individual. So here is Cato the Elder’s contribution. Dating back to the third or fourth century, we know of The Distichs of Cato, commonly referred to as Cato. This was a Latin collection of proverbial wisdom and morality, becoming the most popular Latin textbook in the Middle Ages. It was considered not only a textbook for learning Latin, but good morals, too.Assumed to have been written by Cato the Elder, there is a line in this text that reads, “Of human virtues, patience is most great.” While this is a striking statement in defense of patience, Cato often gets overlooked as the originator of this sentiment.”
But do led us do more research into this. Other research dates this saying back to the fifth century. It was then that Latin poet Prudentius wrote a near thousand-line epic poem, Psychomania, describing the conflict between vice and virtue. The main characters were Hope, Sobriety, Chastity, and Humility, as they fought against Pride, Wrath, Paganism, and Avarice.
Although the famous line “Patience is a virtue” isn’t expressly stated in Psychomania, it’s one of the earliest recorded attempts at highlighting patience as a virtue, or state of moral excellence.
But the search patiently continues on. “It’s most commonly believed that the line originated from the poem, Piers Plowman, said to have been written around 1360 by English poet William Langland, about a man in search of faith. One line in the poem states that “patience is a fair virtue.”
The poem is an allegory, meaning the characters are symbolic and satirical. However, the allegory isn’t vague or abstract. Langland followed a similar pattern to Prudentius and used personification to illustrate human virtues.
The main characters in this poem include Truth (God), Wrong (Devil), Holy Church, Thought, Wit, Study, Conscience, Liar, Reason, Dowel (do well), Dobet (do better) and Dobest (do best), plus the seven deadly sins. The characters are lead on a quest by Piers Plowman. Plowman is chosen as the guide due to his state of moral excellence.”
But here is my favorite source of all things, as Mr. Chaucer is crazy about gap toothed women and I am one.
Ten years later, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales started to gain notoriety. This is another story, or series of stories, detailing virtue’s place in one’s life. The characters in each tale embark on pilgrimages, motivated by love, and characterized by self-denial and contrition.
In The Canterbury Tales, we find a similar quote, “Patience is a high virtue.” While these pilgrimages were marked by virtuous behavior, it’s made clear that the practice of patience made for a more contented journey, even in the face of self-denial and contrition.
Interestingly enough, Chaucer referred to Cato in Canterbury Tales. He wrote, “He knew not Catoun, for his wit was rude.” Although he doesn’t cite patience directly, Chaucer alludes to Cato’s text as being an authority on morality.
Well, enough about that. This is the final word as it applies to Alexis McBride.
Me: Patience is a virtue I do not have!
I recently had my statistics done again by my wonderful blog master, Computer Guru Chris. Here they are – it is WOW. (Or as Grandson says: WoooooWW). Grandson imitates a friend of his, doing funny things with his mouth that words cannot describe. The only figures I can get my mathematically impaired brain around are the 30 day ones. 811 visitors made 2,850 visits.
Please also remember that I have been doing this for five years (at leas)t. I think, but I am not sure, that is about two and a half million views. Or 705,000 viewers. (About) That is huge considering the fact that 1) I did it on my own (with Chris’ help). He paved the road, I drove the car. And then my favorite: 2) I was born in Saskatchewan.
