Re-Post of the Batmobile Christmas Story - Cheers

Ø  I knew I was in for one of those days – A Christmas Story

It started with a stubbed pinkie-toe on the bedpost, in the dark, of a very early and cold morning. I held back the welling profanity at my lips because everyone else was still asleep. A few crippled steps later and I step in some wet slimy stuff (that turns out be dog puke I find out once I turn a light on and go back to check) and now I do swear and storm into the bathroom. I clean up after the pet, get myself ready for the rest of the day totally aware of these signs and expecting more to come. Today is my Karma payback day no fucking doubt about it. So on it goes: take the dogs out for their morning break and the screen door slams me in the elbow “funny bone”, it wasn’t in the least bit funny, and I swear again startling the dogs now a tangle in their leashes around my feet. It’s freezing outside (and still dark) and they seem to take forever to pee. Back inside and during breakfast, I drop the sugar spoon into my Cream-o-wheat and it splashes onto my work shirt. The smoke alarm begins to scream at an ear piercing level damn near rendering me immobile wincing in some weird mind-melding torture, and its going off because I’m burning my toast! Seems I must have bumped the setting knob from my perfect toast setting of 3-dash all the way to 7-dash-dash (as high as the thing goes – why? Why a 7 dash dash setting at all, hell it burns at 5-dash-dash, what the world is the reason for those other extreme settings – arson maybe?) By the time I get around to eating, every things cold – and its cold outside, and dark, because it’s still early. Now I’m wondering, actually thinking carefully and seriously, if this is some omen and I should just take my ass back to bed. Really, what next, was it even safe to try to go to work? But was it safe to stay home? Shit can happen anywhere, anytime. I decide to head to work. Everything is hunky-dory until I’m almost there. When, CRUNCH ! I get rear ended sitting at the last stoplight before getting to our work parking lot (that parking lot is a freaking hazard too, but that’s another story for a different day). I pull over and the car behind me follows along and I can see there’s some damage to the headlight and hood of this little black car. Then I notice the big white decal or painting on the hood – the Batman logo! The windows of the little car are darkened and I can’t see in, but I’m fuming and pissed, but kind of amused at the little “Batmobile” sitting there crunched. I’m already late and now this, what a screwed up day, how much more can I take, I’m sure to be dead before the end of it at this rate! I get out and still no sign of movement inside the other car, and now I’m getting even more steamed because I have to go back to this guy? He’s not getting out? WTF? I take a glance at my rear bumper and it is fine, a big somewhat rusty, heavy steel solid bumper. A bumper that is a real bumper. A bumper that stops shit. A hit me at your own risk bumper. Just as I’m getting to his hood, checking out his poor busted headlight, smashed plastic grill, dented hood crumpled just to the edge of the Batman logo, the door begins to open slowly and the loud Christmas music is pouring out and a large hand grabs the top of the door jam, and out comes a very rotund, apologizing but smiling, happy round faced black dude wearing a Santa suit ! Now I am smiling and assuring him there is nothing at all wrong with my car, apologizing to him for what has happened, refusing to let him call in the accident since there is no damage to my car and he’s worried about a ticket and his insurance. He tells me he’s on his way to Walmart, he explains to tend the Salvation Army kettle and ring his bell for the day. As I help him back into his car and he’s telling me “bless you” and “Merry Christmas”, I realize this is one of the coolest moments and experiences I’ve had and how my day had just become “one of those days”, one I’ll never forget and one I’ll tell about the rest of my life! 

Holy Holly Berries Batman, Santa is a jolly black dude that drives a Hyundai Batmobile!

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays !

Revolutionary thinking

History and change –

When I arrived in Lancaster PA, onw of my Aunts suggested I go do some genealogy research for relatives on my father’s side of our family. So I did, and I found a good deal of information and history from the mid 1700’s. It actually had a very good deal of history for as we all know European arrivals to this continent came to create a new life with freedoms not had under European rule at that time. They escaped persecution, they escaped tyranny and religious controls, they escaped hardships and feudal systems. Then they had a Revolution that establish a new democracy, a new government, founding principles, Declarations, Rights, Congressional representation, all of which have held the present test of time.

I found that I have ancestors that were gunsmiths, in fact they were very good gunsmiths and I found documents validating their commission to build arms for the Revolutionary Army. These were the famous Pennsylvania Long Rifles. A smoothbore blackpowder .50 caliber rifle. These, along with relatively few blackpowder pistols, were treasured and valued tools and were considered as personal property of the owner and became part of an estate to be passed down to younger generations. Craftsmanship, skill, and true artistry went  into the hand creation of these tools. They were treated with care and respect, and as a most valued tool for survival in primarily providing for food, and when needed, protection. As such, care and respect went into the use of the tool, and the same for the teaching of younger users to be certain no damage or harm came for accident or misuse. Respect for their power, respect for the life of the game they would hunt.

They were owned by the citizens and became the arms used to fight in response to tyranny and for revolution. When commissions were granted for building them for a Revolutionary Army, it was done by hand, no mass production was had at that time, and parts were made by hand locally and in secret, as every participant was in their action breaking the law of an English King, treasonous actions subject to prosecution by the King. They went from a family “tool”, to weapons, arms. Families split, Loyalist and Revolutionaries, or Patriots in their words, over this relovution and sided with Kings Law or with the Patriots, but until such time they were truly “free” and recognized as members of a won and newly formed Country with independent rule, the Patriots were traitors, farmers, militants, innkeepers, anarchists, subjects of England, criminals, shopkeepers. They organized and formed a citizen militia that had leaders, formed a structured representation, formed an organized Continental Army and township colonial militias. There was a common cause, organization to the goals of that cause, observance of order, structure, “rules” of engagement.

Upon winning their freedom and creating doctrines to govern, language was drafted significant to that time but also with core elements and careful wording to outline a long-term basis of Rights. There was debate, heated discussion, politics, negotiation and in the end compromise that had wisdom on ideals far more reaching than that of the day.

As this nation and the world developed so did “arms” to more effectively fight battles over conflicts. Arms were developed and improved for greater mass production, greater accuracy, and greater power to kill more people faster. Military actions, conflicts, wars, drove the enhancement of these weapons development far beyond a tool for hunting and simple home and family protection. They became weapons used in mass murders; of women and children, of elderly, and often times unarmed civilians, used on “heathens, animals, savages” , Native Americans and so often innocent civilians in their homes, beds, yards, schools, and at play. Slaughtered by weapons designed to kill, and to kill fast, and to kill many. To inflict deadly carnage en mass. And so it has continued over the ages increasing in the efficiency to kill other human beings.

My immediate family lived in Colorado and one of my daughters was attending her pre-school class on a school campus of children aged pre-school through 12^th grade. That school was less than a Mile from Columbine High School when that mass murder was committed. It shook the entire community, state and country to its core. We had school friends who lost loved ones in that horrible ordeal. We moved not long after, then moved again to quite Lancaster County PA. Home of many “Simple People”, the Amish; peaceful, god loving, farming families of German and Dutch decent, family histories in the area back to the 1700s just as as my own family ancestors. Then there came another horrific mass murder of innocent school children in a single room Amish school house. Again a community and nation shaken to its core.

Aurora Colorado, yes family leaving in that community, in fact family that frequents a movie theater there. Not on that day thankfully for them, but so tragic and horrible for many others; children, innocent, families, friends, lovers, civilians mass murdered with big powerful multi-shot military grade weapons.

Now Newtown CT. And again, I have some close association to that town, as I have driven past it, stopped in it for gas, thought what a quiet, peaceful, pretty town it is on my travels between Lancaster and Hartford CT. Who would ever imagine a mass murder taking place in an elementary school there? Innocent victims; little children, teachers, civilians, killed from multiple gunshot wounds inflicted by weapons of similar military grade.

Our Founding Fathers of a great nation formed from a citizen militia, did not draft a doctrine of Rights with the intent to allow for the mass murder of its civilians by way of the protected Right to “bear arms” to form a militia to combat a tyrannical government. And I believe by way of many years reading American History and biographies of many of those Founding Fathers, they would certainly have they wisdom, respect for life, clarity of the constitutional principal, and quite frankly they'd have the balls to establish and institute a change of laws to protect the citizens and their right to pursue “life, liberty and happiness” and still allow for the basis of the 2^nd Amendment to “bear arms and form a militia” as needed. There is a big and distinct difference in citizens continuing to have the right of owning arms for hunting, home and personal protection of property, and that of citizens forming a militia and "arming" themselves with military grade weapons to confront another opposing militia.  Those Founding Fathers would act swiftly, strongly, and as national leaders to protect innocent civilians. My greater fear is that we no longer have any congressional leaders with any balls (women of Congress included), to take a stand as bold, inspirational, and revolutionary as those Founding Fathers.

I wish you peace and strength to stand and speak out. Citizen revolutions start small these days!

Holiday from the heart

Heartfelt giving -

I find it heartbreaking that so many people feel such a need to marginalize and demonize others in an effort to establish themselves as compassionate, caring, righteous, moral and above all, superior.

I was verbally affronted the other day when dropping some clothes off at the Goodwill. As I placed my bags into the bin, a lady pulled up and hopped out of her car and began placing paper bags of items by the side of the container on the ground. “I can’t reach all the way up there to throw these in, they wash all these things before selling them anyway” she stated matter-of-factly.

“I can put them in for you” I said.  “You can if you want to but it doesn’t really matter, they have to sort through all this junk we leave and clean whatever they want to keep of it anyway. Besides those kind of people who buy it don’t expect this stuff to be perfect, just cheap!” she replied. “The Goodwill expects people to donate items that are in good shape and clean, not junk” I said with a bit of a glare at her. “Whatever, you are crazy if you spend your time washing stuff before you bring it here. I do my part for charity; I even gave some to their Bell Ringers ”.  “The Bell Ringers are the Salvation Army” came my response and then her immediate “Whatever!”Those were her parting words as she climbed into her car and sped off. 

Now I’m not so perfect and I can be as judgmental as anyone, in fact my first “judgment” was that she probably never actually even entered a Goodwill or Salvation Army, let alone considered ever buying and using something from them. Then I judged her as a prissy well to do Bitch. But I didn’t judge her that way to make myself feel better about “me”, or to belittle or demean “her kind”. My judgment was of her at that moment, of her action and of her words with me, so it was really my conclusion of her character in that brief exchange.

Regardless of whether it was my conclusion, or a judgment, or a label, or a group that I had just associated her to, I was later just as troubled with my own anger at her and that compulsion to connect her personal action and words to anything greater, to some group or class.

Finally it came to me. And it’s important this time of year as Holidays approach and with the recent weather  disaster – Charity, Benevolence, Donations, Giving , if not truly done from the heart in an action to share and care for others in good will in order to help them as equals, actually subjugates them or elevates you.

We are for the most part a compassionate and caring society, for the most part we embrace justice and equity, fairness and equal opportunity, the freedom to become better off and prosper. We want to help people with a “hand up”. But that has to be heart-felt. It has to start truly from there, from your heart, you have to feel it and believe in that. Otherwise it’s more an action of duty or a kind gesture but without real compassion. In those cases your spirit of “giving” is not present, there is no empathy. It is just another action or task or “to do” on your list; went to the bank-check, washed the car-check, dropped stuff at the Goodwill-check, eat lunch-check.

We all have our causes and favorite charities, we donate a great deal of time, money and effort into these and sometimes we really do feel a sense of caring and sharing. I have to remind myself of this often, I’m human in a very fast paced “me” world, and holidays bring out the best and worst in all of us.

Care, share and give from your heart and I believe you will “feel” a special gift within yours.

May the Spirit of giving be with you now and through-out the year, Good Will to you and yours this holiday season. Enjoy your Holiday celebration and respect others in theirs.

Peace and cheers to everyone!