Don’t Get Too Big For Your Britches

W.J. Astore

A lesson from my dad

One of the sayings my dad taught me was “don’t get too big for your britches.” It’s sound advice. Too many people are too quick to try to punch above their weight, to push and boast and to try to take charge when they shouldn’t. It’s a lesson my friends and I used to quote from the movie “Magnum Force,” where Inspector Harry Callahan, played to perfection by Clint Eastwood, reminds those around him that “a man’s got to know his limitations.”

You’re in the CCC now. My dad is on the far left, seated in front.

Recently, I was reading my father’s journal that recounts his days in the CCC, or Civilian Conservation Corps, during the 1930s at the height of the Great Depression. My father had ringside seats to a boxing match that didn’t end well for a fighter who most definitely didn’t know his limitations and got too big for his britches. But I’ll let my dad recount the story:

James Strollo was a misfit and a welterweight boxer on our team.  About 5’6” tall, he was a “no mercy” fighter.  A tall Irish boy who was a lightweight sparred with him but later refused to box with him.  Jimmy would try to knock out anyone he trained with.  But a bantamweight boxer, Jimmy Souza who fought professionally was a good friend of Jimmy Strollo—about the only feller he wouldn’t try to hurt while sparring.

Well, Al Gelinas was a pro boxer from Holyoke, Mass., who agreed to help our CCC boxing team.  He was a ranking welterweight and a real nice guy.  He agreed to fight an exhibition match with Jimmy Strollo.  The show was put on for all the CCC camp members.

The bell rang for the first and only round of the Gelinas/Strollo fight.  I was standing next to the ring and had a good view of the match.  Well, Strollo made a big mistake.  Instead of just boxing and putting on a good show, he started to pressure Al and tried to knock him out.  Well, two left jabs, a left hook, and a beautiful straight right and Strollo was K.O. right in front of me.  What a sight.  Strollo went glassy eye from the punches and collapsed on the canvas.  All the fight was taken out of him.  Nobody blamed Al Gelinas for the K.O. of Strollo.  I hope Strollo learnt a lesson.

Willie, most fighters are the nicest people you can meet.

Be careful picking your fights — and be very careful fighting against someone more skilled than you. Push too hard and you’re likely to be knocked on your britches.

19 thoughts on “Don’t Get Too Big For Your Britches”

  1. Your father was paraphrasing the spirit of these words;
    Don’t be called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brethren.
    And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
    Neither be you called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
    He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
    And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

    But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in.
    Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.
    Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

    Who could talk like that to the Religious Establishment and get away with it?
    From then to now not much has changed.

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      1. After overturning the tables on the Bankers and Merchants working the Shopping Mall on Temple Property in a Kosher deal with the Priests of the Jewish Religion HQ, his words when they asked him by what Authority he did that, were sharper than a 2 edged sword and more upsetting than chasing the Bankers and Merchants out of the Temple.
        Is it not written, My house shall be called of ALL nations the house of prayer? but you have made it a den of thieves.
        In other words, the Christ was telling the Leaders of the Jewish Establishment not only were they thieves, but they no longer had exclusive claims on Almighty God.
        That was the last straw for the Establishment!
        He knew he was facing the pain and torture of the cross in his FLESH.

        While his closest Disciples slept, he was alone in the Passion praying to God he would be spared Crucifixion, as it’s written, “Going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
        He could have run and got out of Jerusalem, starting over someplace else.

        It had to be at Jerusalem because of what’s happening with the new government in Jerusalem TODAY.

        It’s a FACT in my Curriculum Vitae, in 1976, the Secret Service called me out of the compressed crowd of delirious Republicans in the Lobby of The Crown Centre Hotel looking up to the Secret Service restricted Mezzanine with the President’s podium set up expecting President Ford to be standing there after winning the Republican nomination over Ronald Reagan.

        To my wonder and surprise I was not questioned in some anteroom, but the Secret Service Agent led me to stand right at the President’s podium and questioned me Face to Face, eyeball to eyeball, in view of the compressed crowd below.
        If that wasn’t surprise enough, after a dozen or more questions he laid these exact words on my ears, “Are you Jesus Christ?”
        Having no illusions about that THEN and NOW, in a nanosecond answered, “NO!” in the Spirit of these words,
        “The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
        He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

        It’s the Fundamental of the Christian Faith for all who sincerely believe, the same Christ Spirit Jesus revealed in Jerusalem during the Roman Occupation of Palestine 2000 years ago, would live and guide those individuals who accept him wholeheartedly through the Trials and Tribulations of this Material World as it is TODAY.

        About

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  2. Pingback: Porkies – Sasha V's Sesquipedalian Soliloquies

  3. As for why Jesus had to be crucified in Jerusalem because of what is happening in Israel TODAY, this is the latest salvo by the Supremacist Apartheid government making headlines,

    ‘Israel security minister bans Palestinian flag-flying in public’
    ‘Israel orders police to remove Palestine flags from public’

    ‘In ‘Act of Fascism and Supremacy,’ Israel Bans Palestinian Flags in Public Spaces’
    After protests in which tens of thousands of Israelis marched “together against fascism and apartheid,” Israel’s far-right security minister on Sunday ordered police to tear down Palestinian flags wherever they are found in public.

    https://portside.org/2023-01-12/act-fascism-and-supremacy-israel-bans-palestinian-flags-public-spaces

    Biblical Armageddon starts in Israel recreated from the Bible after an absence of some 2700 years.

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      1. Like you, I enjoyed reading it! I like sharing good things.
        Maybe Harry and Meghan could have a Reality Show – Royals vs Rebels?

        $20 Million advance on the book isn’t bad either or is it? Netflix paid something like $200 Million.
        A Princely sum, no doubt!

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  5. An email notice referred me to this man I never heard of before. Starting to read his article ‘Wars make nations’ this am, I looked up more information on who he is and this profile I found on Linked in;

    Gilbert Doctorow holds a Ph.D. in Russian history from Columbia University and is a fluent Russian speaker. He spent most of his professional life in corporate business with a focus on Russia. Doctorow has authored five books of essays. He also has participated in expert forums devoted to international affairs and appeared in Russian domestic political talk shows on all national channels.

    His latest book, the newly published “Memoirs of a Russianist, Volume I” directs attention to two periods of his business career when his perch afforded him a rare opportunity to observe and interact with the people and institutions shaping economic, cultural and social life in Russia, 1976-80 and 1989-2000. In the first period he was a consultant taking senior executives from some of America’s best known corporations to negotiations in Moscow with Soviet end-users over turnkey manufacturing projects. In the second period he was the corporate executive planning and running ongoing operations, including as expatriate general manager on the ground. The book will be useful to business school students and those embarking on careers in Emerging Markets, where the challenges of maintaining one’s footing can be formidable and where the fastest moving objects in FMCG companies may be the managers themselves. Available from Amazon.com and other leading online retailers.

    He describes a new Russia being remade as a result of this War and naturally from the Russian perspective, they would see the US dominated, weak Canadian and the 30 European NATO Vassal States united against Russia, they see the EXISTENTIAL THREAT and have to deal with it before Americans do.

    The US/NATO MSM Manipulate the Minds of the Masses to believe Russia and Putin are Evil and must be destroyed.

    Dr. Doctorow points out no matter how dire US WAR Propaganda “Experts” paint the Russian Economy to be in because of the US/NATO Economic/Military WAR against Russia, he points out the many positive things, Spiritually, Socially and Culturally, uniting the Russian People with Putin, the Patriotic Russian Leader leading for the Love of Russian and it’s People, and not for the Love of Money ruling over the Western nominally Christian Apostasy.

    https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2023/01/02/wars-make-nations/

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      1. Expanding my contacts, now Dr. Doctorow knows about me,
        From: gdoctorow@********.com
        To: ray032@sympatico.ca
        Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2023 4:03 PM
        Subject: Re: [Gilbert Doctorow] Contact

        MANY thanks for your letter.
        I am now travelling but will respond at the earliest opportunity
        Gilbert Doctorow

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  6. You made me aware of AI Chat before the MSM started reporting on it.
    After posting the preceding post, I used it again for the 1st time since your AI article with this command;

    Write an essay within these parameters -no matter how dire US WAR Propaganda “Experts” paint the Russian Economy to be in because of the US/NATO Economic/Military WAR against Russia, he points out the many positive things, Spiritually, Socially and Culturally, uniting the Russian People with Putin, the Patriotic Russian Leader leading for the Love of Russian and it’s People, and not for the Love of Money ruling over the Western nominally Christian Apostasy.

    This is what came out in seconds;
    Despite the dire predictions of US war propaganda “experts” regarding the state of the Russian economy due to the economic and military pressures exerted by the US and NATO, there are a number of positive factors that are uniting the Russian people under the leadership of President Putin. These factors include a strong sense of spiritual, social, and cultural cohesion, as well as a deep sense of patriotism and love for the Russian nation and its people.

    One of the key factors that is uniting the Russian people under Putin is a sense of spiritual renewal and connection to traditional Russian values. This is reflected in the resurgence of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has played a significant role in promoting a sense of national identity and cohesion in the face of Western cultural influences. Additionally, Putin’s leadership has also been characterized by a strong emphasis on traditional family values and a commitment to preserving Russia’s cultural heritage.

    Another important factor that is uniting the Russian people under Putin is a sense of social and economic stability. Despite the economic sanctions and other pressures exerted by the US and its allies, Putin has been able to maintain a relatively high level of economic growth and stability in Russia. This has helped to ensure that the majority of Russians have access to basic necessities and that the country’s social welfare system is able to provide for those in need.

    Finally, Putin’s leadership is also characterized by a strong sense of patriotism and love for the Russian nation and its people. This has been reflected in a number of initiatives aimed at strengthening the country’s military and national security, as well as a commitment to preserving Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Additionally, Putin has also been a vocal critic of the West’s nominally Christian apostasy, and has sought to promote a more traditional and conservative set of values in Russia.

    In conclusion, despite the dire predictions of US war propaganda “experts”, there are a number of positive factors that are uniting the Russian people under the leadership of President Putin. These factors include a strong sense of spiritual, social, and cultural cohesion, as well as a deep sense of patriotism and love for the Russian nation and its people. Additionally, Putin’s leadership has been characterized by a commitment to preserving traditional Russian values and a strong sense of national sovereignty, which has helped to ensure that the Russian people remain united and strong in the face of external pressures.

    Some smart artificial Intelligence!

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  7. Bill, a really good article you wrote for Tom Dispatch Today, ‘Imperial Dominance Disguised as Democratic Deterrence’
    The Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy Drives Record Military Spending

    It’s really a continuation of this article.
    The US has become too big for it’s britches and other Nations are pushing back.

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