If you’re a politician you may be celebrating and you may not. In all cases, you’ll have something to learn from the results of the Federal Election. It’s always good to get a reality check. Indeed today is the birthday of a poet who made that point among many others. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland. The gentleman’s name is Robert Burns ^[1].

If you were in Vancouver, you could be attending the Burns Supper for the Burns Club of Vancouver ^[2] this evening according to someone who is sometimes known by the alias of Toddish McWong. If you’re wanting to celebrate here, then you’ve missed it. According to their website, the St. Andrew’s Society of Montreal ^[3] held their Burns’ NIcht Supper on Friday, January 20, 2006. Ah well.

If you’re wondering about the reality check, then here’s a short section of a poem by Robert Burns:

Oh wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursel’s as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
And foolish notion.

That’s from a poem, “To a Louse”. You can find many other quotations and other links on this Robert Burns Links web page ^[4].

If you want to know exactly what it means then ask your nearest friendly Scots person. It links in with a phrase I’ve often quoted, We never know what others see ^[5]. I guess there are many politicians who are saying that today.