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Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Richard and Betsy, I find, much to my chagrin and three weeks too late, that I neglected to thank you for your birthday wishes. Please accept my belated thanks, and my most sincere apologies. I have been living in a rather unreal world, the last few weeks. Warm regards, Victor ________________________________ From: Richard & Betsy Nunes <sourcing.nu...@gmail.com> To: goanet@lists.goanet.org Sent: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 11:24 AM Subject: [Goanet] VRR - a short note VRR - a short note. Our wishes too to Victor for a life with good health, great friends and the ability to continue in the work he so loves. Hi Frederick, Thanks. We think this is a great article. We do love your affirmation of VRR, his achievements, in particular that he is still actively involved with all that goes with editing, his desire for higher standards, and last, but not the least, your remark that you like to interact with such expats ... and we pose the question ... And why not? We also appreciate your remark, wishing the Goan society the ability to treat its senior citizens with more respect! We totally agree with this sentiment. Sadly, we have observed that there is, many a times, a total lack of this important ingredient in our society! Guess if our elders did not indulge in the Crab Mentality, our youth, our children and our Grandchilden would emulate their Grandparents / Parents. Incidentally, we both have been intrigued by the frequent use of the phrase 'Crab Mentality'. In our endeavours to understand this better, we consulted our Dictionary and it confirmed our understanding of the phrase !! See below. It certainly makes interesting reading. Richard and Betsy Nunes Crab mentality of thinking best described by the phrase "if I can't have it, neither can you." The metaphor refers to a pot of crabs. Individually, the crabs could easily escape from the pot, but instead, they grab at each other in a useless "king of the hill" competition (or sabotage) which prevents any from escaping and ensures their collective demise. The analogy in human behavior is that of a group that will attempt to "pull down" (negate or diminish the importance of) any member who achieves success beyond the others, out of envy,conspiracy or competitive feelings. Crab mentality, sometimes referred to as crabs in the bucket, describes a way This term is broadly associated with short-sighted, non-constructive thinking rather than a unified, long-term, constructive mentality. It is also often used colloquially in reference to individuals or communities attempting to "escape" a so-called "underprivileged life," but kept from doing so by others attempting to ride upon their coat-tails or those who simply resent their success.[1] To: Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994! Subject: [Goanet] VRR ... a short note I wishes Victor Rangel-Ribeiro a very happy 86th birthday on the GoaWriters network, but forgot to do so here on Goanet! Better (almost) late than never. Thank goodness for the time difference between India and the US! VRR is an inspiration to quite a few of us -- surely to me. When I see him working so hard, in the heat of the Goan afternoon, editing texts, volunteering with some of our books, holding editing workshops for us, and goading us on to strive for higher standards, I feel really blessed to be able to interact with such expats! Here's wishing VRR (as I call him fondly) many more productive years. Who can say what could be possible, considering that ex-editor (The Navhind Times and founder-editor of Goa Today) Lambert Mascarenhas gave a perfectly logical speech the other day, at the age of 97! Here's wishing Goan society the ability to treat its senior citizens with more respect, as it did in the past, and the abilities to tap on their lifetimes of achievements with even more enthusiasm! Happy birthday Victor, from me personally and on behalf of Goanet. FN --