YOU: Contemplating 'whining'

Maya Angelou on the subject of complaining:

Angelou says that when "whiners" would come into her grandmother's store in Arkansas, she would go through a routine that would begin by quietly beckoning Maya to come closer.

Then she would bait the "whiner" customer with "How are you doing today, Brother Thomas?"

As the complaining gushed forth she would nod or make eye contact with her granddaughter to make sure Maya heard what was being said.

As soon as the "whiner" left, her grandmother would ask her to stand in front of her.

"And then she would say the same thing she had said at least a thousand times, it seemed to me. 'Sister, did you hear what Brother So-and-So or Sister-Much-to-Do complained about? You heard that!'

And I would nod.

Mamma would continue, 'Sister, there are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake up again. Sister, those who expected to rise did not ....

And those dead folks would give anything, anything at all for just five minutes of this weather or ten minutes of that plowing that person was grumbling about.

So you watch yourself about complaining, Sister. What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it.

If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.'"
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