How's The Fishing?

I am reminded by Bill Cosby that dentists always like to talk to you when they have sharp instruments in your mouth.

"Do you do much fishing?"  he would start as he described the process of a conversation between patient and provider in the dentist's chair.  I believe him all the more now because my dentist seems to have the same habit.

As dentists go, he is a good guy.  He works to keep you comfortable.  He is personable.  He doesn't pontificate about why I need to floss nineteen times a day.  He just goes about his business and likes to ask questions that can't be answered thumbs up/thumbs down.  Oh well.

If this is the biggest problem I have, I guess I don't have problems.  Good Monday to you all.

** All Point Bulletin -- All Points Bulletin: For Safety's Sake...

I apologize.  I am truly sorry to interrupt my regularly scheduled blogging, but I have to raise awareness on a serious issue affecting those who take selfies.

Okay, granted it might be argued that those who take selfies may have a body image mental health issue I think we may have missed the point.  In Spain, authorities are seeking a man for taking a selfie - while he participated in the Running Of The Bulls.

Their concern is that by taking photos or videos, he is creating a danger.  Let me say that....by taking photos and/or video while running with bulls is dangerous.  The running of the bulls they are not too worried about, but you shouldn't take a photo while doing it.  What?

Somehow I think the point will be missed and personally I hope this guy gets away with it, but the authorities desperately need to re-think the strategy on this one as it isn't the picture taking which is all that bad.

Granted I realize there is all kinds of danger in engaging in a dangerous activity, such as bull running, but the San Fermin Festival rakes in the cash I am sure as thousands of people descend upon Pampalona entirely for the purpose of running with the bulls.  As for those around him, they exposed themselves to a similar danger by running with the bulls and are in no greater danger from them than they were before.  This is I suspect the experience of a lifetime and I hope to do it myself before I can not play along with the younger crowd.

I hope that those who have no issue allowing people to endanger themselves for sport will not endanger their wallets too simply because they want to record it.  Ahem.

When Did Murders Of Convenience Become Okay?

Thankfully, I live in a state where only two theaters were playing the propaganda film Obvious Child.  The film which is described as a romantic comedy tells the tale of a stand up comedienne who after a one night affair is pregnant.  The solution: abortion.

The director claims that this isn't a pro-abortion film, but while denying the obvious the screen play includes dialogue where our "heroine" is told to "kill it out there tonight" before a set at the local comedy club.  The "clever" retort is that she has an appointment to do that tomorrow.

I am blown away.

At what point did the pro-abortion lobby admit that killing the innocent child is what they do?  Second question, when did that become acceptable?  Third, what other murders of convenience are acceptable?

Those who clamor for the rights of women and the War on Women should look around.  It isn't conservatives and the pro-life movement that is engaging in war.  If you want to talk about the peace movement, come talk to those of us in the pro-life network.  If you want to talk about death and war, you should take the blinders off and start looking in the mirror because that is where the war is.

Raise The Flag Properly...

I would like to wish you a Happy Flag Day, but first I need to go into a quick rant.

Do not, repeat do not, tell me how patriotic you are because you wave a flag.  Do not tell me how patriotic you are if you wave a flag, but care for it incorrectly.

I had a fire chief who was a terrible stickler for these items, but he was right on more than one occasion.  First, unless lit a flag should not fly overnight.  IT should also be lowered during inclement weather.

This is a huge pet peeve of mine as I see flags flying regularly in awful thunder and wind storms.  The flag ends up tattered and torn which is also inappropriate.

The flag should not be stepped on, fall to the ground, or be used as advertising, clothing,or used to carry other objects.  There are more items codified in Title 4 of the United States Code which I will allow you to read, but the next time you see the flag used as an ornament, keep in mind that its use may come from ignorance, but it may come because an adveriser is more interested in your dollars than respect for the flag they fly.

As a history lesson, it was 14 June 1885 that Bernard Cigrand, a teacher at Stony Hill School, placed a 10 inch  flag on his desk and then assigned essays on the flag and its significance. (For those who are interested, you should remember the flaf then had thirty-eight starts on it as we had not yet created fifty states.) 

This assignment commemorated Congresses adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777.  This observance was also the beginning of Cigrand’s long years of fervent and devoted effort to bring about national recognition and observance of Flag Day. Cigrand was able after years of effort to get a nation observance of Flag Day when President Wilson, on May 30, 1916, issued a proclamation calling for a nation wide observance of Flag Day.

A few items for the day to remember.

First, don't use the flag to proclaim your patriotism.  If you revere the flag do so, but do so correctly.

Two, realize that a lowly school teacher created this holiday.  He likely did it not of luck, but by persevearance and there is a lesson for all of us that is we are on the right side of an issue, even the simplest of us can create a national holiday.

In the meantime, enjoy your Saturday and enjoy Flag Day.  Go find a ballpark to enjoy a hot dog and salute proudly when the colors fly.

Manny Being Manny?

I am embarrassed.  We are all familiar in baseball with the term Manny being Manny, but is used to refer to Manny Ramirez.  If things don't change soon, it might refer to Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles.  My Baltimore Orioles.

On Friday, Manny Machado caused a bench clearing incident against the Oakland Athletics when he flipped out against Josh Donaldson for a tag that was too hard.  I realize he is recovering from ACL surgery and maybe he thought Donaldson caused the fall as opposed to his own motion which the video clearly shows.

Either way, in yesterday's game when a ball comes in and a little low, Machado seems to think it is aimed at him.  On a second throw, Machado let go of the bat well past third base.  While he claimed it "slipped" this is the type of incident that has to be policed.  I expect at least a ten game suspension from the Commissioner's Office or you will see batters retaliating for pitches they do not like.

This changes the game significantly and is inappropriate.  Machado came up as a much touted short stop, but this is not Orioles baseball and is not right.  Get it together young man because you are not bigger than the team and as of right now, your team is not in the playoffs.  Get your act together and start acting like a professional.  Act like an Oriole!

Reckless

If you had money on California Chrome in today's Belmont horse race you likely already know you lost.  Unfortunately co-owner Steve Coburn lost the point in post race comments when he complained about a process he was a part of before it began.

After his horse came in fourth, Coburn unleashed his fury in comments to NBC that "It's not fair to these horses that are running their guts out..."  When I watch the video it doesn't look like he is running his guts out.  It looks like California Chrome is being beaten like a wild animal that is out of control, not a domesticated one who several people had noted would probably have trouble with the longer Belmont track.

Second it isn't fair to complain about a process after your horse gets real close to the Triple Crown and comes up short.  In horse racing there have only been eleven horses to complete this feat.  I bet there is a reason.  Like, the tracks are different.  Like, the horses are put through the equivalent of a marathon over five weeks.

I get this is a tough loss, but Mr. Coburn you said "would go down in history."  Don't complain when the history isn't the one you envisioned.

Recently I saw a comment from a baseball mom.  It said my son never loses.  He either wins the game or he learns a lesson.  Perhaps the lesson here is stay humble in victory and find a lesson in defeat.  If that is good enough for little leaguers, it ought to be good enough for an adult man who has the money to own race horses as a hobby.

Falling A Great Distance

So how do you know?  For some folks they just know.  For others they fall in and out of love every other day.  (I have no desire for an affection that is that fickle.)

Is it his car or her clothes?  Something tells me that Oscar Wilde was right oh so many years ago when he said that love is about singing a song only one person can hear.

I think about all the times that the L word gets used on pop radio or even country radio or whatever radio for that matter.  What does it mean though?  Is it the fast love George Michael is talking about?  Is it the respectful love that Aretha Franklin was talking about?  Either way, I doubt it is the love that overcomes potholes and makes it through rough times that happen in any relationship.

In any case, today's musing is all about the one hearing your song.  Good luck with your song.

Really?

As I noted the other day in a blog piece, Yogi Berra was right when he said Little League was a good thing becase it got the parents off the streets.  If only I could keep the careless ones out of baseball coaching.

Once again, adults who barely understand the game and go out of their way to not understand its rules are jeopardizing weekend plans because they do not have their acts together.  I realize some of us are more disorganized than others, I
realize some parents have kids with ADD who do not understand how to follow instructions, but do us a favor and do not get into the coaching business then if your own game is not fixed...first.

Crazy idea I know to have your own act together before you try to help pre-pubescents with theirs.

I know the concept is a big one that you should be able to have your act together before you take on responsibility for someone else, but apparently this lesson in organization, teaching, and motivation has missed some folks and they seem to have congregated these past few weeks in little league baseball.  Let me paraphrase a great quote about baseball: nothing is easy, but nothing is impossible in the game.  That being said the adults have got to get out of the way of the kids or baseball will continue to see dwindling numbers at the youth level.  Pathetic!

...Showing Up Isn't Enough

What a wasted night.  More or less like what feels like a wasted weekend for me.

I realize Memorial Day is supposed to be about remembering our fallen, but for some reason my son's little league chose to schedule the end of season tournament when people normally go out of town.  They did nothing to commemorate the weekend for veterans other than those umpires who would turn around and thank those who served (Bravo!).

So, last night Adrian Beltre had the opportunity to finish a game in the ninth inning with a routine grounder and throw to first.  Eduardo Nunez was on second and went around him, reportedly so he could make a clean throw, but Beltre chose instead to attempt to tag Nunez who then made it safely to third and the batter to first.  What?!?  Why would you even consider this play as an option?  Needless to say, the Rangers went on to load the bases and then lose the game on a fifteen foot dribbler off the end of the bat of a AAA call up.  The whole thing was a comedy of errors that reminded me of my weekend.

This weekend our little league team found a way, well via more Errors than innings played, to give away three winnable games.  We went up against one team that had the same record as us and our 3-4 hitters decided that sttriking out four times in four at bats was the way to win a game.  In the second game against one of the top teams in the league, we led 6-1 going into the third when our second basemen decided he would stop playing because he wasn't behind the plate.  That's right, you are ahead in a game and you allow five runs on errors.  The elimenation game Sunday was more of the same.  After falling behind a higher seeded team, our 7 hole hitter punched one into the outfield for a double.  Our eight hole struck out, but could have run to first on a passed ball.  Instead he froze not realizing what to do (hence, you show up on time for games and find your way to practice now and then...read Dianne's talk for more).  So we have one out, down two, and Dodge is sure to get up.

Our nine hole hitter who has one hit all season somehow gets on base on a bobble at short stop.  He even steals second before almost getting caught out on the base paths half stealing third.  Dodge hits him over and gets himself on base.  Now what?  Well, I get yelled at for telling nine hole kid to call time because Dodge isn't in scoring position.  (Dodge is yet to be caught stealing this season and routinely steals home.)  The dad who yells at me then watches as his son pops up and he doesn'd hold his runner on the bag who dashes home only to be doubled off third.  End of game...end of baseball weekend.

Look, I don't care about your kid's ability.  As one of the coaches I will work with them...IF you will.  Yogi Berra said "Little League is a good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets."  If only that were true.  Instead of working with their kid on their chosen craft, the team was scrambling minutes before game time to figure out would we have nine to play with.  (I gave up the beach for this?)

I know it sounds crazy, but your kid can't pitch because he doesn't know how to throw from the outfield.  No, your kid can't play first because he can't catch the ball during warm ups.  He is still using a glove from teeball.  This isn't to be rude, but when you sign your kid up he needs to be ready with the right gear and the right mindset.  As an example, let me show you kid B.  Kid B has played one season previously.  He started the season in right field after basically being kicked off a pseudo-select rec team.  He wanted to learn though.  In four games he went from playing right field to being our starting third basemen.  Why?  Because he would stop grounders and threw across the diamond.  He put his body in front of the ball as we taught him and when he had success he celebrated, when he didnt have success he would ask "What can I do different?  Show me a different way coach and I will change what I am doing."  I can barely get my kid to change his deal.  He wanted to pitch so we gave him a basic drill - which he did on his own.  The season wore on, but you know what?  He pitched in the end of the season tournament for us.  His first game: 2/3 inning, 0.00 ERA with a strikeout.  He was coachable and I hope my son gets to play with kid B for a while because he is a great example of how to get better.  He shows up before time, puts in effort, and wants to help...the team.

Like the play last night...take the easy out.  Play strong fundamental baseball because showing up isn't enough.

Bull Durham

Annie Savoy: "The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self awareness."

Truer words may have never been spoken.  Some days you look around and you see people who seem successful based entirely on pure dumb luck.  They don't look in the mirror to know thyself.  They just look in the mirror.  For me that has never worked as I have always tried to follow the Shakespearean sentiment from Polonius "to thine own self be true." (Hamlet: Act I, scene 3)

In any case, this month's baseball movie is Bull Durham - the story of the Durham Bulls, currently the AAA franchise with the Tampa Bay Rays.  At the time of the movie though they were the A ball team for someone.

It seems an appropriate time to talk about working through troubles and figuring out what you need to do now - in the springtime.  Like in life, we start by learning how to play the game, and as we go through life we theoretically get better at playing the game of life until our middle years when hopefully we are at the top of our professional game.

There are some interesting parallels from the movie and life though.

One, get your team involved.  As Crash Davis noted, don't try to strike everyone out.  Throw ground balls and get your defense involved behind you.  His point wasn't to make a commentary on facism versus democracy, but to say get your people on your team working behind you.  Leaders would call this delegation.

Two, as Coach Joe Reardon said...there is no room for lollygaggers.  You have to hustle to play baseball or live life.  Hustle out there.

Finally, as Walt Whitman once said, "I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us."  I know when I have had a hard day or challenges abound, a simple game of catch helps get me through.  Few things can relax and inspire me at the same time, but baseball does and I am thankful for that.

Spend a little time thinking about the lessons in your minor league stint and I think you will find they are similar.

Into The Woods....

Ahhh...how life imitiates art.  Or is it the other way around?

I can never remember.

In any case, today was a get stuff done day and while some it got done, I enjoyed a little background music in the form of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods.  The entire play really throws the Grimm fairy tales for a loop when you consider the juxtapositionof Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and the next door baker.

The entire play really makes me think about us as we chase things and opportunities.  As was said in the movie Love Affair and I paraphrase, "getting what you want isn't hard, it's wanting it after you get it."

The bakers wife and Cinderella oppositely yearn for the Prince and wonder if he is what she wants respectively.

However, I feel like if we go back to the first Act, where Little Red Riding Hood hasjust been rescued from the mouth of a wolf that this is much like life.

So we wait in the dark

Until someone sets us free,

And we're brought into the light,

And we're back at the start.

How many of us wait in the dark or even think we know where the light is and chase after it blindly?

I was recently asked for assistance by someone in EMS.  This person is chasing their dream, not living it.  They are still in paramedic school though and our educational system has failed them.

They are a good student, do not get me wrong.  The grades are there, the effort is there, but somewhere along the line they decided they could do everything by themselves.  I guess when they were in class we didn't teach the teamwork side of things.

I guess the music going and the emails going back and forth made me think about people who want to do things on their own and don't realize there is no problem asking for help.  This is a team based sport and their decision making made me think about Jack's mother's comment during the First Midnight scene in Into The Woods.

She said "Slotted spoons dont hold much soup..."  While I think we would all agree with that sentiment, I wonder how many of us are lost in the woods looking for a bowl of soup for their slotted spoon instead of the much more filling potato that is sitting in front of them.

Here's hoping we can all find our way out of the dark and into the light.

Cano's Swing And Miss

In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned Mariano Rivera’s new book, The Closer.  In the book he talks about second base and the difference between Dustin Pedroia and Robinson Cano and that Pedroia though a former arch-enemy who plays for the Boston Red Sox would be a better second base choice that Robinson Cano.

Rivera says that while we are all aware Cano has the physical abilities to perform at a Hall of Fame caliber level, it does not appear he has to drive to do so.  Cano's answer to this was simply to note Rivera is entitled to "his opinion,"  While I get he doesn't want to engage in a he said/he said with Rivera and was smart to say he is concentrating on his new team, I am not sure he gets it.

In point of fact, he is, but he also spent several years with you Robby and happens to know a thing or two about the game.   Rivera is a first ballot Hall of Famer, or should be if I had a vote.  He pitched in seven World Series, thirteen All-Star games and holds the career record for most saves.  While we can argue the value of this statistic, you cannot argue the value of Mariano Rivera to the New York Yankees over the past nineteen years.

Cano would do well to consider Rivera's comments about drive, especially since he just left a championship caliber organization to go to Seattle that has not been in contention for the better part of a decade.  While I will begrudge no man the opportunity to follow big dollars, Cano seems to be driven less by championships than he does dollar and cents.  His retort that Rivera is entitled to his opinion indicates to me that Robbie Cano clearly swings and misses when it comes to what’s important in baseball and in life.

Setbacks

Coach Krzyzewski at Duke University recently said, "I think some parents now look at a youngster feeling as the final thing.  It's a process and failing is part of the process."

This statement is an important one for me because in life we all face setbacks of one nature or another.  Setbacks can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but ultimately the question is how do we deal with the issue of not living up to our own expectations or those of others put on us?

For me, part of the reason I enjoy playing and coaching the game of baseball is the inherent lessons of teaching how to deal with struggle.  In baseball where even when you are one of the best you fail more often than you succeed (at the plate) great hitters regularly will hit at .350 average.  That is stellar among players, but indicates that you are failing 65% of the time.  The question becomes do we use failures as an excuse to quit or do we use it as a learning tool to continue and become better players, paramedics, parents, and people?

How did you deal with your setback today?  Ready to learn or simply to quit?

Illness

The sickness continues.

I am not sure how else to describe what I saw earlier in the Washington Times, but depravity and illness.  Mostly mental.

A non-profit group in Washington, D.C. - The DC Abortion Fund (DCAF) - offered a small momento to those who contributed on an ongoing basis to their needs.  A necklace with a small hanger attached.

I guess I am silly enough to first wonder how much difficulty the IRS gave this group in establishing it as a non-profit.  Groups aimed at educating on the Constitution or balanced budgets can't seem to get non-profit status, but I bet it wasn't too hard for this group aimed at removing rights from those waiting to be born.

Part two though is why?  Why would you use a symbol of death as a sign to point to as something positive.  How did your world end up so upside down that you consider ending another life, usually for your own self advancement, a good thing?

At what point to people consider that they are celebrating the taking of an innocent?

With tens of millions killed since Roe v. Wade took over the landscape, why is it we celebrate the coat hanger?  Would we do this with the Nazi swastika?  Would we celebrate Joseph Stalin killing millions of his countrymen as a positive?  Of course not.

I say of course not because NPR would run sad documentaries outlining the carnage of Stalin today, but they remain deafeningly silent on the slaughter committed year after year in the United States.  They wring their hands over the death penalty of convicted criminals, but waste no breath on the death penalty against children.

Where is the ACLU?  They stand ready to defend those incarcerated from the evils of prison wardens who deny prisoners cable television, but do they defend those victims of Kermit Gosnell?

Truly, there is an illness in the land and it can be found in an organization that would solicit and accept donations from citizens to kill their neighbors.  I wonder when we will find a cure.





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Are You Finished Or Just Starting?

As we head into Super Bowl Sunday and the drama of whether or not Peyton Manning will take home a second title ring I heard a recent discussion about Michael Young and whether or not he belongs in the Ranger Hall of Fame or even the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  (The quick answers to those two issues are who cares and absolutely not.  I can't even believe a "journalist" would refer to Michael Young as a borderline Hall of Famer with a hits total of under 2400 and home run numbers under 200.  Perhaps ESPN 103.3 doesn't believe in drug testing its employees.)

The primary discussion centered around does Young belong in the Rangers Hall of Fame since he went to the Phillies and then the Dodgers.  The absent mindedness of the fact that the Rangers traded Young to Philadelphia is somewhat disheartening, but what was Young to do?  Stop playing?  Simply because he wasn't a Ranger anymore?  You have to be kidding right?

The discussion then moved to how the Dallas Metroplex was unhappy with Emmitt Smith continued to play football after the Dallas Cowboys no longer wanted him.  I realize the picture of Smith playing in a Cardinals jersey had to horrify Dallas fans back in the day, but as I recall he started fifteen games for the Cardinals and nearly ran for 1000 yards in 2004.  Why is it he should give up playing just because Jerry Jones wasn't smart enough to want to keep him around?

Right now, the Cowboys would kill for a guy who was a consistent 1000 yard rusher and a quarterback smart enough to hand the ball off to him.  (Given DeMarco Murrary's injury history I am not ready to pronounce him a true heir apparent to Mr. Smith, but he might be, though I doubt with Tony Romo and his five offensive coordinators, he will ever get to show it.)


Another great example of a guy who didn't know he was supposed to quit was Nolan Ryan.  I know it's a scary thought, but you will remember, even the great Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan wasn't a Ranger.  Not until the END of his career.  Before that he played for the Mets, Astros, and even the California Angels.  Was he supposed to stop playing because the team he started with no longer wanted his services?

What about Willie Mays?  Some say he was the greatest ball player of all time.  I argue that because I never saw Mr. Mays pitch, but having started his career in New York with the Giants, he ended it in New York also...as a Met.  Remember that?

I don't bring up all these examples, not to mention Mr. Manning, for any other reason than this is a child's game that adult men get to earn a living playing.  In general, their careers are short lived, perhaps four or five years if they are really good.  That being the case, why would anyone begrudge a player for taking those extra contracts to play a game?

There is a lesson for the rest of us in their pursuit.  When you find that which you are passionate about...run after it.  Go get it...seize that day.

Robin Williams character in Dead Poets Society was dead right...make your lives extraordinary:

Now I would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. You’ve walked past them many times. I don’t think you’ve really looked at them.

 

They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen. Do you hear it?

 

[whispers] Carpe.

 

[whispers again] Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.

 

 

What are you waiting for?  Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor.  Go get it.

 



Freedom: If you want to make an @$$ of you and me...

...continue to make assumptions.  A wonderful little book has been out since the late 90s, but apparently missed by a great many people, until Oprah Winfrey found it recently and re-invigorated it's standing.  The title of the book is The Four Agreements, written by Don Miguel Ruiz, and it may be the success philosophy in it which makes it an interesting read as we start a New Year.

One of the four "agreements" regards assumptions and while it is number three on his list, it is first on mine because so much of our life is based on assumption.  We plan to drive from here to there and a map and common sense tells us it should take half an hour.  Due to bad weather and a traffic accident, it takes an hour and a half.  Our day is challenged because we made an assumption on traffic patterns.

On the book's cover, Ruiz suggests we "find the courage to ask questions and express what we really want."  He goes on that we should communicate with others as clearly as possible to avoid misunderstandings, drama, and sadness.

It makes sense, but instead we prefer to make ourselves and others into horse's behinds, don't we?  How hard is it to challenge a server to make a sandwich a slightly different way at your local restaurant because you like it that way so much more.  Why is it intimidating for us to ask someone who is serving us for something as simple as sweetener as opposed to sugar with our coffee if that is the preference?

Similarly, how often do we find ourselves not communicating and standing behind "no comment" or "I don't knows" so that we can avoid real conversation?  If you need another example, think about a post-Christmas conversation with your children.  Did they get everything they want?  Maybe, maybe not.  Some kids seem to have unrealistic expectations of what. St. Nick is bringing whereas others know exactly what they want and can not communicate it.  In the case of the second child, how sad for them, they did not want to explain to mom, dad, or whoever what they really wanted under the tree that year.

In both of these situations we lose the ability to be free and find a little truth.  For me the coffee is a little bit sweeter with Equal than I get with real sugar.  You're right, Equal isn't organic and that is probably why I love it, but is it that scary to make these requests?

You're Entitled To Your Opinion As Long As It Agrees With Mine

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. – Oscar Wilde

So Phil Robertson…having a successful television show wasn’t enough?  Being followed by millions on the airwaves, currently on A&E, wasn’t enough for you to hold off on talking about God for just a little while?

It reminds me of the line in the movie Braveheart when the Princess offers William Wallace a chest of gold and he responds “…that I should become Judas?”  Amazingly enough, you stuck with God and seem indifferent to the decision by the network ivory tower types to suspend you from the show.  Great job.

Too many people in this day and age sacrifice themselves on the altar of paycheck or fame or whatnot. It is great to see someone who is not doing that right now.

Moreover, I think agree with Matt Walsh’s blog that this is the same as network suicide.  I agree with him that someone did not look at the Chick-Fil-A example a very few months ago.  Could there be a better example of boycott going wrong and responding to a vocal minority?

In any case, I don’t remember if it was Michelle Malkin or Katie Pavlich who tweeted it out, but Glen Beck has a pretty successful thing happening down the street.  Maybe he could pick you up and A&E can see how far its influence goes then.

Holiday Hate

So I write this blog and I write in a few other venues.  I get feedback sometimes.  Often it is great, but sometimes…well, wow.  A piece I recently read got a quiet comment “This is really nice” from a tough critic.  Not a bad critic, but the type who when you get a compliment like this means the world.

Meanwhile, the same article had someone telling me not to think I’m special.  Good news.  I don’t. 

I try to answer the bell that gets rung.  I try to do it better than others do and I don’t apologize for that.  What got me the most was the clear unhappiness in the e-mail. 

I am pretty comfortable I didn’t do anything to this person, but I wonder what goes on in people’s head that they want to carry this unhappiness with me.  How deep seated is the depression for people to react with words of anger towards a stranger?  I don’t know, but it reminds me of a recent homily from my parish priest that it is okay to smile AND be angry. 

His argument was that it is okay to be angry with situations that are clearly not right, but you can smile and explain that you are angry while carrying a smile so that you can carry your Christian cross of charity towards all. 

While neither the article, nor the e-mail or the homily for that matter, had any connection to Christmas, perhaps it would be useful to now go back to the homily and remember that Advent offers us each the opportunity to smile as we express our displeasure in shopping lines, at physician appointments, or even within office politics. 

We will see, but in the meantime, send in your comments…gently please.