Starting a Revolution

It was a fantastic Sunday here in Tennessee. It was quite sunny and not too hot outside. After looking at baby furniture with Jennifer this afternoon, I needed to mow the lawn before our trip to Virginia next week. I waited until around 6pm to let the sun start the process of resting over Tennessee and began to mow the front yard. While I mow the lawn I can relax, listen to the iPod and let my mind wander and allow it to have a recess from the daily activities.

After the front was completed, I caught myself thinking about my neighbors. The patriarch is was laid off due to the failing economy. He found some work in Louisiana that keeps him away from home several weeks out of the month. Every few weeks, I see him with his family for a few days and he's off again trying to be a good husband and provide for his family. I thought that it would be a nice gesture to help his family out by cutting his front yard for his family. The wife and children were not home, so I figured that it would be a great time to do something for them without them knowing about it. I was not looking for any credit- just the idea of doing something for someone in need would be something that we should do more for one another.

I brought my mower over and quickly cut the front. In and out- like a sniper completing a clandestine mission. It didn't take long. About 20 minutes was all it took to do something nice for someone. It really got me to thinking about our society...

I don't have a lot of money to help someone- but that is not what this is really about. It's about giving someone something that you cannot get back. It's the one thing which everyone on earth is given the same amount. It's the gift that you cannot keep, the currency you cannot save, and the great equalizer of the rich and poor: time. Giving your time means much more than money. If someone has millions of dollars and gives a hundred thousand to a cause, it is a nice gesture. But did it really hurt to give that amount? You have millions to to still go home to at the end of the night. Just like the parable of the widow: Jesus said the woman humbly giving all she had left despite the amount was more than the pharisee proudly giving much more.

What if each of us began to do something nice for someone without looking for any return? How would this world be different? The payoff for taking 5 or 10 minutes out of your day to do something for someone could be tenfold! I am challenging each person that reads this blog take 5 to 10 minutes out of their day sometime this week and give a part of yourself to someone you work with, a neighbor, or even a stranger. There is a reward that you get that is better than money and recognition- it is letting someone know that you care. It may be the one thing that changes their mind from doing something regrettable. It may be the the thing that someone needs to lift up their spirits on an otherwise tough road they are traveling. It lets them know that even if they feel isolated and alone, there is hope even in the darkest hour.

Leave a reply and let me know what YOU did to make someone else's life better!

Thanks for reading...

m

Choice of Words...

My Dad sent me an email which stated that he was thinking of starting to use curse words because he is at an age where no one can tell him what to do anymore (except Mom, of course). Obviously he was joking, but I decided to write him a response rife with foul language to get a good laugh from him. Here is a excerpt:

"You can learn to do something new! Hell- I think you could get pretty f$cking good at cursing. It takes a lot to practice all of that bull$hit to cruse like a bast@rd sailor, but damn it- I think you can pull that $hit off!"

That said, his email did cause me to reflect on the use of language in our society today. I have always subscribed to the notion that cursing looses its effectiveness if used too often. If they are used in the proper manner (that doesn't sound right...), the words can instill anger, fear, and motivation. All too often a person intending to inspire others use the words so frequently that the words loose their "punching power." The best example I can give you is my father. He is a man that rarely uses foul language and would rather not hear it at all. There have only been a couple of times where I have heard the words he despises spewed from his mouth. Once uttered, everyone within earshot knew- now is not the time to mess with him. As a matter of fact- the president contacts the military to issue DEFCON-1. A two-hour hiatus occurs before returning to DEFCON-5.

Furthermore, I believe that curse words are used by less-educated people that lack the cognitive ability to articulate themselves in a more dignified manner. (How eloquent was that?) How often do you hear someone describe an object with f$cking (insert adjective here)? What about the world-famous simile, "like $hit?" You know- "their new album sounds like $hit," or "that lasagna tasted like $hit." There are numerous ways to formulate thoughts. Those that continue to use such language on a continuous basis are telling others, "My vocabulary is severely limited and I cannot carry an intelligent conversation with others. Can't talk now- Maury is on and I want to see if any of the 5 guys on stage is this kid's father!"

When my 5-year-old son gets older (much older in fact), I am going to give him the 2 Rules of Cursing:

1. Never use curse words in normal conversation. It is uncalled for at all times.

2. Only use curse words for emphasis or to show that your intensity has been raised to the highest level.

Actually- these rules are a lot like my rules for fighting, but that is for another post...

We Live in Filthy Times...

I know that most of us were told to wash our hands after using the restroom. Unfortunately, there are people who have not heard this sanitary message.

On my break last week, I went to the restroom to take care of things when I noticed a guy already in a stall and another at the urinal. I pulled up to the other urinal and did my thing as the other guy finished his business. He then proceeded to the sink, only to look at himself, turned to the door, and pressed his disgusting hands on the door to exit the room. Are you kidding me? Now I am pressed with the task of washing my hands and figuring out a way out of this place without touching the door...

There is nothing worse than people not washing their hands after using the restroom in a public facility. If you don't want to do that in your own house, that's fine- I don't ever have to use the restroom in your house. I wouldn't want anyone to look at me in disgust as they walk out of a restroom. Moreover- I could not imagine walking around knowing that other people know I did not wash my hands in the restroom...

Along these same lines- there should be few laws that should be enacted from a national level:

1. Every restroom should have hot water. I can't stand turning on the faucet and not having hot water in the restroom. It helps to kill germs and cleanse the hands while using soap.

2. Bathrooms must have paper towels. There is nothing I hate more than the jet-powered air machine that "dries" hands by simply blowing the water off of the skin. Sure it may not be better for the environment, but at least I don't have to finish drying my hands on my pants.

3. Build every restroom door "pull in/push out." Seriously, does it take a genius to realize that no one wants to touch a filthy door handle that has probably never cleaned to get our of a facility just after you cleaned up? I hate having to use that paper napkin as a barrier to the filth on that door handle.

There you have it. From now on, I wash my hands of this issue.

Don't Vote- Please!

Everywhere I look, there are people telling me to vote. Celebrities, athletes, musicians and news anchors all telling everyone to "go out and vote" tomorrow. MTV running the "Rock the Vote" campaigns makes my skin crawl. Sure- they are not necessarily telling you who to vote for, but the majority of these people are devout liberal democrats. That's not so hard to decipher in inference there... What scares me the most is that many of the citizens in this country will go out and do just that: vote! The worst thing that can happen is if everyone actually DOES go out and vote tomorrow. Don't believe me? Read on...

Everyone has the right to vote, but not everyone should vote. The last thing America needs is to have an uninformed electorate determine the next person to lead our nation in this crucial time. In a time of financial, social and military turmoil, the last thing we need is to have a mass of uniformed yokels determine our next president. The same people that will listen to the idiots they see on TV are the same idiots that will vote for a person because Oprah did. In essence, Oprah herself may actually have millions of votes in this election all over the country.

The fact is that most of the people in our country are more disappointed that their favorite show is going to be bumped to cover the results of the election. Most of these people also are not truly aware of the positions of the candidates. Instead, they believe one or more of the items below:

1. The miscommunication of what one candidate says about the other.

2. The rumors spread around on the internet

3. The unchecked facts they hear from their friends and associates.

The fact is that the majority of the voting public is not truly prepared to make an educated decision. I have heard some of the most ridiculous comments I have ever heard about these candidates. Among them are these:

1. If Obama wins, it is a sign of the Apocalypse. In short, a man from the Middle East will rise to power.... yadda yadda yadda...

2. McCain wants rich people to keep their money and spend it as they see fit (spewed by a newspaper "journalist")

3. My personal favorite: Authorities cannot validate that Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States. Meaning, there is no proof that he was born... well- American.

The best part about the third one is that when the statement was made, everyone bought it without thought and commented that there is a conspiracy to elect a "foreigner." I actually heard a person say that "no one has been able to produce his birth certificate and there is no proof that he was born in the US." Immediately, those hearing this started to vent about it swearing a conspiracy was in the midst.

Really? Are you kidding me? From a completely unbiased point of view, let me take you through US Government 101. There are only 3 general requirements to run for the office of President:

1. You must be age 35 or over.

2. You must be an American born citizen.

3. You must have lived in the US for a minimum of 14 years.

Knowing this, do you think that the Democratic Party would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a man to become President without asking these 3 questions? Seriously? No way. The Democrats could have easily find another stiff that could beat the Republican's stiff...

My point is that instead of researching the candidates and reviewing the issues at hand, many Americans will vote based on who received a donation from their favorite celebrity. There is some good news in all of this...

The fact is that most people do NOT vote. Young people will either forget, not care enough, or may not have even registered to vote. Others will be so immersed in their own life that they will forget to stop by the polls on the way home from work. There will even be some that will forget to bring the required documentation to vote. Either way- the fewer people that vote the better.

I am voting tomorrow, but I always keep my original blog in mind when making my selection: Pick your poison- which tastes better going down because neither are good for the country.