The Houghton Paradigm (not “diggem”)

“So whadja get outta Houghton?”people ask.
“A wife,” I always say; “and a really good one.”
Houghton (“HO-tin;” as in “hoe,” not “how” or “who”) is my college. It was very religious when I was there. Still is, pretty much.
My wife and I were both Class of ’66.
Houghton was a compromise with my hyper-religious father, who wanted me to become a Bible-thumping zealot like him. He wanted me to attend his beloved Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, to learn how to browbeat street vagrants with religion.
At that time Moody wasn’t a college — it may be now. I wanted a four-year college degree. Ergo the “Great Houghton Compromise,” since Houghton was evangelical.
My father was angry when I graduated, since Houghton didn’t “straighten me out.” There were people at Houghton who woulda loved to “straighten me out.” But our professors were more inclined to value we students, and thereby guide us into Godliness.
Houghton also left what I call “The Houghton Paradigm:” namely “get it right!” They cared about us, and that rubbed off.
A sterling example follows: “Any text by me is gonna be properly spelled and punctuated.”
“Bob,” my hairdresser says. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Do too,” I say, wagging my index-finger. That’s Houghton’s legacy, the so-called “Houghton Paradigm.”
STORY TIME:
As a retired transit bus-driver I’m entitled to a negotiated vision-care benefit. I don’t use it. I instead use Eye-Care Center in nearby Canandaigua, and here’s why:
Years ago I was doing vision-care with an HMO near Rochester. They noticed a “scar” in one eyeball, and told me not to worry. Eye-Care Center was poking around, and “you’ll see the scar,” I said.
They went ballistic. “Scar my foot! That’s a retinal tear; you need that fixed right away.”
DROP EVERYTHING! They brought in Heidi Piper, MD, to repair the tear with laser surgery.
I found later Heidi was a Houghton grad, class of ’87. Well of course. Knowledgable and extremely conscientious, and cared about what she was doing = “get it right!”
And most importantly she wasn’t pulling rank.
Why are Houghton grads possessed of “The Houghton Paradigm?” I’m old, so eventually I’ll need cataract surgery. I’m pulling for Heidi.
And now my wife is gone. I miss her immensely; the BEST friend I ever had. Cancer took her over five years ago.
Things are different since then; it comes from living alone. If I run out of carrots, it’s my fault, not her’s. Living alone I hafta be more tolerant of foul-ups; often they’re my foul-ups. If something goes awry in my house, the one fixing it is me.
What a shame I had to lose my best friend to figger that out. She had to die never getting the slack she deserved.
One Houghton professor wanted me to become a scholar. She liked my insights, and penchant for pillorying know-it-all blowhards.
I couldn’t get interested. It seemed scholarly pursuit was obsessed with scoring points. “I’m smarter than you are. Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyaaaah!”
I had a life to live, and in accordance with Houghton’s paradigm. They cared about us, and that rubbed off.

• RE: “Retired transit bus-driver......” —For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service (RTS) in Rochester, NY, a public employer, the transit-bus operator in Rochester and environs. My stroke October 26th, 1993 ended that. I retired on medical-disability. I recovered well enough to return to work at a newspaper; I retired from that 12 years ago.