I’m writing this very late at night on 9/11/…2025.

There’s a very silly sketch by Monty Python's Flying Circus. (And yes, I know that is a redundant sentence.)

The YouTube title is “Silly Job Interview.”  In it, a character played by Graham Chapman goes into the office of a character played by John Cleese. Ridiculous back-and-forths occur between the two when Cleese’s character picks up a little dinner bell, rings it rapidly, and sings, “Goood-niiiiigt-ding-ding-ding-ding…”

After repeating this several times, Chapman’s character whimpers, “I don’t know what to do when you do that!”  

Cleese’s response, “Then, do something.”

That line has stuck with me my entire adult life. And yes, I have applied it to everyday living. 

The only real training I have in anything is in comedy. One of the rules of improv is to meet any situation given to you by a scene partner with: YES, AND…  

This goes along with the rule: Do SOMETHING. 

Sometimes we find ourselves frozen, just waiting.  

The Great Mr. Fred Rogers sang a song:

“Let's think of something to do while we're waiting

While we're waiting for something new to do

Let's try to think up a song while we're waiting

That's liberating and will be true to you…”

Tonight, I’m thinking about what occurred twenty-four years ago on September 11, 2001. 

And I’m thinking about yesterday’s assassination of Charlie Kirk. Which brings to mind the June murders of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman, along with the shooting of Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman. And then, of course, there’s the assassination attempt on President Trump.

These are acts of political violence beset upon both wings of our political divide. 

I was on a Zoom call today hosted by my friend and showbiz colleague, David LaMotte. David is – among a whole mess of good things – a Rotary World Peace Fellow. 

Hmmm…Rotary…Rotary. Talking with David reminded me of the Covington Rotary Club. No, I’m not a member, but I recall when I was a Boy Scout in good ol’ Troup 58. We met in a building called the “Teen Can,” which is now marked the Y Youth Center on Newton Drive. Both the Rotary and the Kiwanis Clubs met there when I was a kid. Framed on the wall was the Rotary Four-Way Test. I remember staring at it.

In these coming days in our United States, applying that Four-Way test would be good for us when we encounter our fellow citizens with whom we disagree. 

FIRST: Is it the TRUTH?

SECOND: Is it FAIR to all concerned? 

THIRD: Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

FOURTH: Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? 

Communicating with my fellow citizens while practicing the above – this is what I am going to do. 

Andy Offutt Irwin is a storyteller, songwriter, and professional whistler from Covington, GA. Drop him a line at andy@andyirwin.com.