The KumYon Diary:A Story

Have you ever made a poor decision, one that at the time you knew might be a mistake, but you did it anyway? Leaving you with a gut-wrenching epiphany, that you should not have done it? Have you ever sat in contemplation of what it was that got you into this mess? I had bad sushi at KumYon in Coos Bay, Oregon.
We are traveling the Pacific coast, fishing village after fishing city, so I thinks to myself, I does: “Wow, the sushi in this part of the world must be amazing!” That’s what happens when you put an Aggie in the navigator’s chair of 6000 mile round-trip tour of the northwest states, armed only with his wit and previous experiences. He starts getting comfortable in his #2 chair (pardon the pun) and lets down his guard, and says to himself: “Hmm, is that the salmon?” I have a masters degree in counseling; I know enough about the importance of metacognition: that the simple question, given the alimentary nature of the query, was prognostic and worthy of ponder. If a man, seasoned in sushi-dom in H-town, cannot tell if a lump of fish is salmon (aka sake), it is for the hook or famished felid, not the enteric sensitivities of oneself.
So why mention the restaurant? Is that necessary? In a socially complex and integrated sense I would have to simply reply, “I think so.” For I am sure that not all sushi in this part of the world is toxic, otherwise this Left-Coast world of low-emission legislation would have created a ban on all legal forms of the substance. No, this is a tragic tale of neglect and negligence and bears full witness to parties involved, self included. Perhaps that’s why God sometimes is so specific in the Bible.
Wouldn’t it have been more polite of St. Paul to write something like, “Beware of bad people in certain towns like Philippi”? Does he have to mention people by name?
Or what about the Old Testament codes about mildew or sex? Couldn’t its writers simply have encompassed the big idea by writing, “Hey if it’s rotten, don’t mess with it”? But the scriptures we read aren’t that vague on many issues, and church leaders and struggling sojourners apply hermeneutics like I gauged sushi, and we both find ourselves in situations that could have been avoided if a bit more self-discipline were involved.
Well, it’s the last watch of the night and the mate has stopped coughing from yonder vapours. And I think I am ready to recline supinely, enough sitting already.
Jim (2:34 am; July 8, 2007)