Critically Claimed

On Sunday before church, some friends and I were talking at Starbucks. Kelly McCown told me that him and his wife, Shawnee, were walking around Portland the day before and she said, “I’d like to hang out with Eric and have him tell me everything he notices, just because it would be very interesting.” I took this as a compliment. You see, one night when I was at the McCown residence, I noticed there was a small dent in the wall behind the front door where the doorknob was hitting it. I also noticed the same thing at Rob and Angela Green’s house. So when Christmas rolled around, I got them both the little doorstoppers that screw into the baseboard; naturally, I got them the proper finish that matched their doorknobs.

So apparently I notice things. I think it comes from my mom. One time she told us that when she goes to people’s houses, she looks around and thinks, “How would I clean that if this were my house?”

Anyway, the conversation shifted to the way I can find something wrong with just about everything. I know; I’m a critic. We talked about how Chris Greely—with his incredible ear for audio—can probably find a flaw with any song. I asked him if he had ever heard a song that has nothing wrong with it, and he actually said yes. Here are the songs:

Lost- Coldplay

Somewhere Only We Know- Keane

Blackbird- Paul McCartney

Yesterday- The Beatles

Where the Streets Have No Name- U2

Comfortably Numb- Pink Floyd

Good songs. He said he thinks just about every song could use improvement though. So we are critics. I think very logically, and I’m a perfectionist. So let’s recap: I’m a logical critic that wants everything perfect? Oh man… pray that Amber keeps her sanity.

As I was driving home from church, I was thinking about the earlier conversation. I began to realize that I am very blessed. I have two cars that currently work, a house, an amazing wife, amazing families, amazing friends, great music gear, a brain that works, other major organs that work (to my knowledge), talent, enough money to pay bills and eat, a bright orange Nessie light (google it), 5 heightened senses since the spider bite, new floors in part of the house, etc… Sure, I can be critical and find flaws in each thing I listed—except Amber, of course—but what good would it do me? The bottom line is that I am blessed, and I’m thankful for it.