Context

Yuhhhh! Last week's blog came to you from Arizona and this one comes to you from California/Nevada. But regardless of where it came from, it's here for you today, after all... it is Blog Friday!

This week's post, like last week's, is also not from my "mission archives." As I have been traveling the states the last couple of days, I have developed the desire to tell you a story with some interesting real-time realizations that I have had.

Let's jump into it:

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE READ!!!!

The initial short story that you are about to read is indeed based on a true story but is written purposefully to manipulate certain emotions. Though what you are reading may seem to be against many moral standards of sorts, I strictly disclaim that the reality is certainly the opposite and will be revealed shortly after. I intend only to demonstrate a principle, not to advertise some sort of evil. This being said, if you do not read the entirety of this post, you will be thoroughly confused.

"Context" - Part 1

It was December 19th, the air was warm and the palm trees swayed in the low breeze. We arrived in Nevada late that night and stumbled up to the casino doors with achy legs and droopy eyes, but we hadn't come all this way to miss the buzz of midnight Vegas.

We checked into our room and let the grimy floors disgust us as we set our bags down and sighed in exhaustion. We were travelling in a small caravan of four. After we settled in and let a small outing entertain us,

we found a nice round table within the vicinity of the Casino and sat down for a game of cards. The dealer had a cool tone and cracked a few jokes as we played. His wife fixed us all a strong fruity drink after a few rounds but she was probably the most "out of it" out of all of us...

There were a few times I had to rest my head on the table to stabilize myself but it didn't do much, the night was already taking its toll.

"Context" - Part 2

It was December 19th, the air was warm and the palm trees swayed in the low breeze. We arrived in Nevada late that night and stumbled up to the casino doors with achy legs and droopy eyes, we had been driving for a few hours to reach Disneyland the next day and sitting for so long made it hard to stand up. We had no intention of gambling but we did want to utilize the cheap hotel rooms before continuing our trip in the morning. Tired or not, we hadn't come all this way to miss the buzz of midnight Vegas, so we looked for fun things to do before going to bed.

We checked into our room and let the grimy floors disgust us as we set our bags down and sighed in exhaustion, it was a low-rating hotel but it wasn't like we would be staying there long anyway. We were travelling in a small caravan of four, a family venture. After we settled in and let a small outing to Walmart entertain us, we found a nice round table in the corner of our room and sat down for a game of cards. "Five Crowns" was a family favorite because it was a little like "Phase Ten." The dealer, my Father, had a cool tone and cracked a few jokes as we played. His wife, my Mother, fixed us all an Orange-flavored alka-seltzer drink because we didn't want to get sick before our days at Disneyland. The funniest part was probably the fact that Mom was pretty loopy because it was pretty late and she usually says some funny things after 8:00PM.

As the sleepiness continued to hit me, there were a few times I had to rest my head on the table to stop myself from nodding off at the table but it only made it worse一the night was already taking its toll.

-Cale K. Montoya (12-22-23)

I hope you've made it this far. I was a little worried about making you think that I was writing about gambling and alcohol as the main idea, but hopefully by now, you can see that there was a reason.

The title of this small comparison narrative is "Context" for a reason. As I told you in my disclaimer, this was all a true story of my week this week but I started by telling it out of context to show you how important it is to listen and ask questions when reading or hearing a story. In today's world, there are faulty stories and fake news that are based on true stories and even tell the story with correct chronology but incorrect context.

In the first rendition of the story, without context, I added terms like "strong drink" (describing alka-seltzer), "out of it" (describing tiredness), "card games" (hinting at gambling, but meaning simple cards), and even "dealer" (to describe my dad).

Know this: if we can develop the social skills of seeing past an initial story and finding the root of all disclosure, we will be able to understand the mysteries of all information, easier said than done though aye??

Thanks for tuning in! See you next week!

-Cale Montoya