Nearly 20 years ago, Mary and I were driving down the coast of California.  We stopped at a Mexican Restaurant for a repast.  Mary order Baileys with her coffee.  After a short discussion with the waiter, he came back to the table and produced a cup of black coffee, with a plate full of bay leaves on the side.

Clearly the order had been misconstrued.

Stick with me for a seocond.

Back in the day…. the way-back day…. there were a lot of shows on Saturday morning.  I loved that time of life.  I can remember watching those morning cartoons at a pretty young age… and I probably kept it up through grade school.

Any way… there is one in particular that I loved.  It was called The Secrets of Isis.  Honest to goodness.  It was about this archaeologist.  She finds this amulet-deal, that lets her turn into the super heroine goddess Isis.  And then she gets all Isis-like and fights evil. (It starred some bit-part actress).

Gosh I loved that show. It was one of the first Girl-Power Shows ever.  I would go out and play like I was that super hero.  I’d repeat her classic line… “Oh Mighty Isis!” to conjure up my very own super powers.

So.  THAT Goddess Isis was from the ancient Egyptian era.  She was worshipped as the ideal mother AND the patroness of nature and magic.

It gets better.  She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans and the downtrodden.  But she didn’t draw lines there.  Nope.   She also listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers.  She knew no favorites.

Now.  Imagine my dismay… when one of the most horrible terrorist groups on the face of the planet comes to be known as ISIS.  Some dingle-berry … somewhere… gave…… the The Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham…. the Acronym….ISIS.  Big dumb bunnies.

Why couldn’t they have nicknamed them MMF.. for “Monstrous Mudder Fockers.”   Or something like that….

No.  They had to take a perfectly good Goddess and give her a bad name.  A bad connotation. Now… ISIS is totally misconstrued.

Those dang words with two meanings… like LIE.  Either you aren’t telling the truth…   or you are resting in a horizontal position.

But back to Isis.

Certainly, we all have different perspectives on things.  But it really bugs me when things get a bad reputation, due to “guilt by association” or misconceptions, or misinterpretations.

And I guess that is the main thing to remember here.  What could have a powerful and wonderful connotation to one person…. may have an entirely different meaning to someone else.  For whatever reason.

That is where we sometimes have to tread lightly.  Gaining knowledge of the perspectives of others.  We all line up differently… that is for sure.

Be it bay leaves, goddesses, or getting settled in for an afternoon nap.

So the next time you are out…. and  order a Killer Brownie for dessert…. you better find out just who is taking the order.