I can’t remember which of my Aunts first said the expression. I can hear their voice today as I think the about it, “Someone sure passed the Buck on that deal!”Passed the Buck? Try to teach that one in an ESL Class (English as a second Language) if you will!!! What good is passing a Buck? If I passed a Buck to someone I know – they would spend it!
But then in Canada when my Aunt said that – we had a Buck. Now it is the Loonie – with our paper money being changed to a $1 coin with a picture of a Loon on it (thus a Loonie).
But this expression seems to have come from an earlier time when American’s had a Silver Coin that was their Dollar Bill… not their paper money of more recent times.
But “passing the Buck” also had a cousin expression that stated, “The Buck Stops Here!”
If I passed the Buck to my friends, either paper money or the Canadian Loonie – it would definitely not go further – it would stop wherever I passed it. But even before that I would not have passed it on… I would have kept it. I mean a Buck is a Buck… and if you can collect One Million Bucks – it all starts with one of them!
However the Buck referred to with the first and second expression is not the money “Buck” – but rather originally a large hunting knife known as a “Buck Knife” – made with an antler handle of a large male deer – called a Buck. The knife would last forever.
In a Poker Game, it is said, that the deal of the playing cards would be passed around the table – with each person taking a turn. The Buck Knife was passed from person to person showing the others who dealt that hand. “Buck” was the knife’s nickname so to speak.
A dealer could at times be accused of doing something not so nice – cheat a little shall we say. Rather than be accused he simply passed the Buck to some one else.
But when some one wants to emphasize the fact that they will take care of the business at hand – and perhaps there has been conflict with others around the position, they keep the Buck and state, “The Buck Stops Here!”
Today’s Buck Passing…
I have been listening to the reports that have come out of the UN this past week… and the G8. The “UN Summit on Climate Change” has caught my attention. The reports about who is saying what and what they are really saying – whether it be posturing and puff – or the real deal is not clear where they will commit their country to a solid change that will help the environment.
Our world is filled with polluters… and pollution. It is positively yucky to live in. Not something nice to pass on to your grandkids and great grandkids. But unless something changes radically and quickly there will not be much left for anyone to enjoy.
Two days ago as the Grade Five student waded in the Indian River with me looking for some creepy crawlers, the excitement was heightened as the 10 year old saw the bright object at the river bottom. She scooped her capturing net into the river bottom thinking she was getting a prized shell. “Yuck!” was her comment as she retrieved a pop lid from a can of pop.
There was more than one on the bottom of this pristine river ambling through the lush countryside.
We are filthy creatures that lay our garbage down wherever we darn well feel like it.
Two years ago as my wife and I visited Africa it was a dream come true. We visited Kenya – Nairobi and Mombassa – two big and important cities.
The beauty and lushness of Africa was all around us from the moment that we arrived. You would think of it as perpetually clean – not so!
The cities were jammed with vehicles of all sorts. Sitting in a low car placed you closer to the road than you would have been – if you were in a Lorry – or a Truck. Most of the time you were nose to tail pipe with these mega-trucks that were diesel powered monsters.
At many intersections you could not read the licence plate of the truck in front of you because the BLACK CRAP spewing from the Tail Pipe filled all the air between you and the plate.
On one hill we climbed with the motor laboring. We were about to pass a large truck that was also pushing its power up the steep and long hill. On the side of the road was another vehicle that was man powered – an old Bicycle powered by a man with a scarf wrapped around his face. We couldn’t see him until the cloud of diesel fumes pushed aside. The poor guy couldn’t breath so he needed a scarf to filter out the black matter.
Not all diesels pollute – but in Nairobi their is little or no vehicle standards for emissions like we do in our country. They have a simple standard – if it starts up and move ahead it gets a pass mark – roll it on out!
Hong Kong was the same. So was China and Thailand… All were dirty and filthy as far as emissions were concerned. And that was just the dirty vehicle emission – not yet looking at the factories and the horrible air producers.
It didn’t make much sense to me until that night in Nairobi, Kenya when the pollution of that past day finally did my lungs in… I couldn’t breath or get my breath. I thought is was a cold… fought it for a few days and grew worse.
The Doctor that saw me stated that I needed to get home to Canada and the fresh air. He said that my breathing was being affected deeply with the poor quality of air in Nairobi. “If you are not careful you could put your life in danger.”
Dirty air could kill me. A sobering thought. But the thought is not nearly so hard to handle as the other thoughts that come – will I get enough breath this next inhale to stay alive? Do I need a breathing tube right now? Will I make it through the night? I cannot go to sleep – because I cannot breath!
So who passed the Buck on this one? Who will say, “The Buck Stops Here” as far as pollution is concerned?
I am going to stand up and say, “ME, I will do something now! Count me in – NOW!”
~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_passing
http://www.g8italia2009.it/G8/Home/News/G8-G8_Layout_locale-1199882116809_1199901276169.htm
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