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2005 New Year's Resolutions for the DC Greek Community January 5, 2005 In 2004, the focus was on the “Greek way” in Athens. In 2005, it’s time to focus again on how you can improve on yourself and our community along the way. Here’s some New Year’s Resolutions you can work on at your own pace. Reach out to new Greeks you meet… You could be the difference between the Greek-American who comes to one event and the Greek-American who becomes an active part of this community. It could be that they just moved into town, or were turned off by the community at some earlier part of their life. But if they come out to something and no one welcomes them, guess what the odds are of them returning. Learn to cook a lamb… Because you’ll always have that one relative who insists that a turkey or a ham has no place on the table at Christmas, Easter, or even Thanksgiving. Start with the oven and maybe next year you’ll learn the art of digging a hole in the backyard, filling it with wood, and setting up your own spit, and cooking a lamb without burning down every tree in the backyard. And the beautiful thing about cooking more lamb, is that you get to eat more lamb as well. Use Greek forms of address that start with “M” less… Whether you refer to every guy you know as “-alaka” or every girl you meet as “-ori,” lessening your casual Greek swearing will not only gain you more respect, but will make you respect others more as well. If you have problems with this resolution, at least try to respond to these forms of address less. Attend church service at another Greek Orthodox Church besides your own… Even if you grew up in DC and have gone to one church your whole life, don’t be afraid to check out another service. There might be something about the community, the service, the priest, the balance of Greek to English spoken, or the spread at coffee hour that makes you want to go back. If you just moved to the DC area don’t think that you should go to the church that’s closest to you. Use this year to figure out where you’d like to go, when you do go. Go to church at least once a month… Services are shorter, and some churches have more than one on Sunday. Sure we’ll never go to the 5:00 Saturday night or Sunday afternoon service, but the churches are making it easier than ever to go now. If you think you’re too old for Greek Nights, and can’t make it to a YAL event, church is a good way to stay in touch with your friends and make new ones. Quit smoking… Stop being such a Greek stereotype and you’ll find that you’ll need to excuse yourself from a Greek event less often. The classier Greek events won’t let you smoke indoors and nor will any place in Montgomery County. Don’t force those non-smokers who want to talk to you to freeze in the winter or sweat in the summer by following you to the great outdoors. Procrastinate less and be more impatient… There is no way you will eliminate all your innate Greek vices in one year. So if you had your choice of eliminating one of these, choose procrastination over impatience. Impatience may make you seem like a Greek ass, but you’ll probably be a more productive one.
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