Letter: Keep an open mind, but don’t be stupid

Dear Editor:
With all due respect to you, I
enjoyed reading your thoughts and
opinion regarding “Keeping an Open
Mind.” Well written column and
thought provoking.
My utmost respect still goes to
my “Good Old Dad” (WWII-era)
and his opinion: “To keep an open
mind is a good idea! But, to know
s*** from Shinola is the best idea!”
(Excuse the vulgarity and keep
an open mind.)
J.P. Jones
No town provided
EDITOR’S NOTE:
A little research on the aforementioned
colloquialism revealed that it
originated from WWII days. Shinola
was a type of shoe polish. As the
story goes, a disgruntled GI polished
his commander’s boots with, well,
poop, declaring it wouldn’t make any
difference because the commander
“wouldn’t know s*** from Shinola.”
Comedian George Carlin would
later incorporate the phrase into one
of his routines and be arrested for it
due to obscenity laws in 1972.