Kurt Anderson has written a book entitled How to Back up a Trailer and 101 Things That Every Real Guy Should Know. The book is a humorous how-to manual regarding things that real men should be able to accomplish. As the title suggests, one of the things that Anderson says a real man should be able to do is to back up a trailer. In addition, he says that every real man should be able to change a tire, change a car's oil and spark plugs, throw a curve ball, start a fire outdoors in rainy weather, and ride a motorcycle.
I was put in mind of Anderson's book when I read Roger Ailes' comments about Tony Snow. Ailes is the chairman of Fox News, and upon hearing of Tony's death, Ailes noted that Tony was “a renaissance man.” It occurred to me that a renaissance man is the ultimate real man -- the man who knows how to do everything. And so if we really want to know how to be a real man, then maybe we would be better served by looking at a good example of a real man rather than by reading a book. After looking at the life of Tony Snow, we can make the following co
A real man should know how to work as an advocate for the mentally ill and the developmentally disabled.
A real man should know how to teach calculus and art.
A real man should know how to teach physics and East African Geography to Kenyans.
A real man should know how to play the flute, alto flute, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, and the guitar.
A real man should know how to tell the President of the United States that he will take the job offered to him only if it does not interfere with his time with his family.
A real man should know that his priorities are always faith first, family second, and everything else third.
After receiving the news that he has colon cancer, a real man should know how to stay up-beat and positive in a manner that brings guilt to the conscience of anybody who ever complains about having a bad day.
After having his colon removed, a real man should know how to forget his own difficulties and fulfill the responsibilities of one of the world's most stressful jobs and to do it in a superior manner.
On a day in which he receives chemotherapy, a real man should know how to ignore his own exhaustion and join his band in playing at a fundraiser for cancer research.
When on his death bed, a real man should know how to continue working on his latest project by means of speaking into a tape recorder.
A real man should know how to do all of the forgoing with an humble attitude and with a constant smile on his face.
When confronted with the life of Tony Snow, many of us must admit that we fall far short of that which is expected of a real man. When can only be thankful for his example and strive just that much harder to be the real men that we should be.
Lord, you have taken one of your servants home to be with you, and, quite candidly, there are some of us here on earth that are not too happy with your decision to do so. We know that Tony was a real man, and we believe that we could have learned a great deal more from him in the matter of how to be a real man. We defer to your greater wisdom in these matters, but we request a favor. Many of us never had the opportunity to meet Tony, and so, being the humble, unassuming man that he was, he has no idea how he impacted our lives. Please just let him know that we are thinking of him. Please tell him that we are grateful for the example that he provided during that short time that he was here. Please tell him that we are all striving to be real men.
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