Runny Eggs By Jamie Kirkpatrick

I once knew a man who hated runny eggs. He refused to eat them; in fact, he couldn’t even stand the sight of them. Maybe he was petrified they would chase him down the street before breakfast. I shouldn’t have cared, but I happen to like my breakfast eggs runny and with a dash (pun intended!) of Tabasco sauce on the side. And that’s life in an eggshell: different yolks for different folks.

I haven’t seen the man who hated runny eggs in several years, but the demise of our friendship—if that is what it was— had nothing to with his egg preferences. He simply moved away and we lost touch. But I admit that when I’m about to dig into my breakfast of bacon and (runny) eggs, I still think of him from time to time, wondering where he is and if he’s still an anti-runny eggs guy. Maybe he evolved. Probably not.

People can differ about their egg preferences, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s a relatively minor dispute. But when it comes to galloping fascism, that’s an entirely different story. Political and legal retribution against one’s perceived enemies, sending masked agents into cities deemed “too blue,” squashing dissent and free speech, none of those egregious actions fall into the category of runny versus hard eggs. In fact, those actions and their accompanying lies are brutal frontal assaults on our democracy and our cherished Constitution. If you can’t understand that, then we have a problem.

I began writing these weekly Musings nearly ten years ago. Almost from Day One, I decided not to make them about politics; there are many writers in The Spy stable more qualified than I to comment on what’s going on in Washington. So, I stayed on the sidelines, perfectly content to write about more mundane things: the weather, the change of seasons, the view from my front porch, even an occasional postcard from some far away place—any benign subject that might interest or amuse my readers but wouldn’t rile their feathers. But lately, you may have noticed a shift in the content of these Musings. I still feel that there are more qualified political pundits out there, but that doesn’t absolve me of the responsibility to raise my voice against the current tide. In doing so, I don’t mean to offend anyone; I simply cannot remain on the sidelines any longer. When all this is over—and someday it will be—I want to believe I did what I could.

So please bear with me. I’ll still write softly, but I intend to carry a bigger stick. Oh, I’m sure there will be Musedays when I fall back on old ways and write about more mundane topics like the price of eggs in China and whether there should be tariffs on them or not. Darn it! There I go again…

You can have your eggs any way you want them. But when it comes to endorsing policies that defy truth or logic, or suppressing basic human rights, we will fundamentally disagree. That doesn’t mean you and I have to think exactly alike; there is still plenty of room in the middle to civilly discuss our differences. If that’s the case, I’d be happy to meet you for breakfast. You know how I like my eggs.

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. His editorials and reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. His most recent novel, “The Tales of Bismuth; Dispatches from Palestine, 1945-1948” explores the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is available on Amazon and in local bookstores. His newest novel, “The People Game,” hits the market in February, 2026. His website is musingjamie.net.