Hey…I’m Just Saying…

There was a skit on Seinfeld — I don’t know if I actually saw it or just heard about it — but it was about what you could say to someone so long as you appended your statement with, “Hey, I’m just saying.”

“Don’t you think those pants make your rear end look a little chubby?”

“What?!!”

“Hey, I’m just saying.”

Seinfeld does not tell jokes, but he’s funny. He’s funny because he sees the ironies in life and is smart enough to think they are funny.

I’ve made statements in ETR that have provoked indignation. I’m surprised when that happens. “Hey, I’m just saying,” I want to say.

But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that some people — even some very smart people –don’t get my point. They have committed themselves to ideas that they take very seriously. And when those ideas are challenged, they don’t like it.

I can understand that. I feel that way about KFF and my children. Say what you want but don’t F with my family.

But when it comes to ideas, I don’t know. There is just too much fun in them to take them too seriously.

Ideas are more like art than like furniture. They should draw attention to themselves, not make you comfortable.

That said … hey, I’m just saying …

[Ed. Note.  Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]