Essays From A Dead Poet

By Chaz Van Heyden

Stunning essays, like being hit with a stun-gun. You will laugh, weep, cringe, gasp, anger but mostly surprise.
55 essays including How To Have A Happy Death, Wisdom That Is Timeless, Athleticism Is Superior To Capitalism,
Etiquette Before Righteousness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chaz Van Heyden
• Release date: Jul 11, 2020

Chaz Van Heyden

Van Heyden has been writing and publishing for the past 14 years. Many of his first books display 'Chaz' Van Heyden.Charles loves children, loves pets, especially retrievers and Dalmations. He's a big fan of and plays tennis well. Likes fast cars. Likes wooded environments, and loves winding roads that disappear to seemingly nowhere-and explores them. Took up professional chauffeuring and now is retired from that occupation in preference for writing as a profession.Loves researching strange topics and coming up with unusual or little-known facts about people and events. Can be found to supply the correct 'phrase' or saying for the misquoted one. And he plays a good game of 'Trivia' (not the game so much as the exercise verbally with his passenger / riders. When he is professionally chauffeuring them.He won’t stop writing for a long time to come, and he won’t be going to the Great Beyond anytime soon.

Book preview

Etiquette Before Righteousness

For a long time Americans have witnessed the alacrity which one individual will show in saying or trying to prove another wrong. Ex: Political campaigns. In no other endeavor, that can be construed, is it vital to observe this: no being is ever wrong. To state someone is or try to prove another wrong is inviting immediate failure, to communicate, to obtain the effect desired, or at best inviting chaotic interplay of the highest order. If that be the true intention then let those games continue.

However, if in any given situation optimal behavior or correctness of data is being pursued, then the only worthy act is to state That is wrong, about what was said or done. This is not an essay on rhetoric, rules of, this is about what works in human relations.

To say bluntly, You are wrong, is a false statement in itself, since the person is standing in front of us and is alive, so they can’t be wrong.

To say You are wrong is a complete falsehood and sends the discussion or argument off on the wrong tangent.

Usually, one will find that an individual eager almost panting to prove or state another is wrong is himself or herself lacking confidence in what they know. Let's examine also a recognized authority: let’s look at what Benjamin Franklin says about the subject.

We sometimes disputed, and we were very fond of argument, and very desirous of confuting one another—which disputatious turn, by the way, is apt to become a very bad habit, making people very dis- agreeable in company, by the contradiction which is necessary to bring it into practice, and thence be- sides souring and spoiling the conversation, it is productive of disgust and perhaps enmities where you may have occasion for friendship. (Ben Franklin’s autobiography)

One place this wisdom is violated most often is in chat rooms and comments on Internet video pages. Another place is in blogs. And still another arena for this is in polemics and in homilies (sermons). Not to mention street conversations overheard.

Most of us could withstand the most coruscating criticism of our actions or words, so long as the person criticizing stoops not to involve us personally in their depredations, such as is witnessed today in the campaigns of candidates for president and other major government offices.

Surely, a sign of lack of confidence in one’s plat- form and ability to influence others. It's one of the hallmarks of a statesman and (underlined) a person who has realized Etiquette does come be- fore Righteousness.

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Why Is Charles Walking

Charles had a car once that he drove to a North American university campus and there he went into the library most every day to work. What did Charles work on? His book of poetry, Poetry My Mother Would’ve Approved. His mom died a year later. He spent quite a long time each day learning about the publishing industry and how to compile and present his work so that it could be and would be accepted for publication. Then on the night of July 31st 2009 his car burned up on the local highway coming back that rainy night from a nearby city, after having flown in from L.A. from his mother’s funeral service given at sea. The head gasket is what burned up – they go when the heat of the engine exceeds a certain degree, and that is because…? Several possible reasons. Nevertheless, Charles brought his car to a man named Quinn who had done work on the car before and said for 375.00 he would repair the gasket. The main street auto repair wanted $800. Charles has limited funds, he had to go with lowest quote.

After paying an initial sum of $150 to Mr. Quinn, asked by Mr. Quinn up front, Charles watched a 15 year old boy named Jimmy spend more than three hours tearing down the engine. Jimmy hadn’t done this type of work before as was evident by the way he looked and looked for the identity of parts in the engine that he could remove to get to the head gaskets. Normally this type of job takes at most three hours. Jimmy was not an experienced mechanic at all, and this was even more evident when he put a greasy car part inside the car for storage.

Weeks later, Quinn tells Charles that it’s going to cost another $50 dollars because the back head is cracked, so says the grinding shop that checks for this situation be- fore they regrind the head, which is needed to be done in order to guarantee a smooth fit with the new gaskets. Charles pays the $50 and tells Quinn in a note to keep the cracked gasket and all parts replaced. When Quinn tries to get more money from Charles for the grinding service, Charles succeeds in prevailing over Quinn since the agreement was for Charles to supply the parts and Quinn supplies the fixed car. Several weeks go by and Charles makes more incremental payments so that by the time the car is ready he’ll only have a small or last payment to make.

Meanwhile Charles is walking to the UNA campus daily from his home two miles away.

Then Charles checks with Quinn to see if the damaged head (and new / used replacement) are back from the grinders. They are, and Charles buys a head gasket kit for $100 and gives it to Quinn to install. A head gasket kit costs twice more than just the head gaskets because there are auxiliary gaskets, such as the intake manifold gasket, that to be sure should also be replaced when a head gasket blows. Quinn installs the kit. October 18th. By Nov. Charles has enough money to make the last payment and pick up the car. Then Quinn tells Charles that the wires are no good, meaning the spark plug cables and caps. This is $40 at AutoZone, best price. Charles presents new cables to Quinn and asks him if knows the correct timing order. See Charles has watched another mechanic tag each wire before pulling them off. But Quinn assures him that he does know. So Charles comes back a couple of days later. But when Quinn tries to start the car it doesn’t start and even begins smoking! Not getting it started Quinn blames on the battery. But the battery was taken out of the car so it couldn’t be stolen (they’ve had thefts) and hasn’t been used in the intervening months, and shouldn’t