Time to Say it

Well I guess eventually I was going to have to comment, so here goes.....

For a couple of weeks now I, like so many of you have for the most part quietly sat back and watched the "Occupy Wallstreet", Occupy Atlanta", or "Occupy Where Ever" groups. Initially I actually sort of applauded them. I was impressed that a group of young Americans was deciding to get engaged in the process that we call our way of life. And then, the more I observered, the more I realized, as Coach Danny Cronic use to say.......that they hadn't seen the ball since kickoff. I have to believe that somebody in that group had some idea of what it is exactly that they are protesting, but over and over having listened to interview after interview, it became sadly obvious that these young people really didn't know. They just know that they are mad, but they're not sure who it is that they are mad it.

They all like to use catch phrases like "the fat cats" on wallstreet; or "them". Who exactly is "them"? When pressed for details, most of them could not give any details.

I believe that I can tell you what it is that they are mad at and about. These kids were raised where everyone that participated got a trophy. They were taught from the earliest childhood there are no loosers nor are they're any winners. In many places throughout the US, team sports don't even exist anymore as those of you that are my age knew team sports. Yes, they have teams, and they play. But they don't keep score. And at the end of the season.......everyone wins first place. They have come to the place where they think that all they have to do is show up and at the end of the day, we will all be rich. They believe it doesn't require any work on their part, only participation.

These sad young people are falling victim to President Barrack Obama and his near continuous assault on people of success and his engaging in simple class warfare. I'm sure all of you are tired of hearing that the rich need to pay their fair share. Well, considering that the bottom 50% of income earners in the US pay zero income taxes collected; and the top 5% of income earners pay almost 80% of income taxes collected that leaves 45% of income earners paying 20% of income taxes collected, then my question is just what is their fair share?

If you listen to the rhectoric of these young people, and you are a student of history at all, you just might recognize that the things that they are saying come directly from The Communist Manifesto; to each as they have need, from each as they have ability. Hard work, preparation, dedication, is not valued any more than mediocrity in the work place. You are expected to give as you have ability, and take only as you have need. A dedicated, hard working employee does not deserve any more than someone that gives minimum required. It was suggested by either Lennon or Stallin one that they would not nor could not ever take the United States by force, but in time they would take the US simply with their ideas. Is this simply prophecy coming to fruition?

Over my last few off days I have watched with some interest various prorams on T.V. What I see and notice more and more are the various hosts with guests that are otherwise young and intelligent. Well, that is until they really start talking. If you listen to these young people it is so obvious that they wish to bless the masses with their infinate wisdom. They speak with apparent authority and suggest things that at best are half baked and ultimately would only contribute to the true demise of this great nation. My thought is this.........they need to sit down, shut up, and learn.

Yes, I am a conservative. And proud of it too. Yes, I listen to talk radio. And maybe you should too. If you do, almost every week, maybe a couple of times each week, someone will call in to any of a number of radio shows. Soon they will tell that they are from Soviet Georgia, Russia, or the old Yugoslavia. And over and over and over, you can hear them speak with pride that they escaped the socialist government of their homeland and finally arrived here in the United States; a place that still stands as a becon of hope for those that wish to pursue dreams of independence and self sufficicency. They will speak with almost fear in their voice as they warn listeners to do everything that they can to avoid what they can so easily see as an onslaught from those that would turn this great nation into what they escaped from.

My friends, it is not too late. This great nation can still be saved. But it will not happen without you. What is required from you is that you, like the uninformed idiots that are the "Occupy" groups, is that you educate yourself, that you engage in the process, and that you hold accountable those that we elect. You start simply by becoming informed.

I would ask you to not believe anything that I say. Hey, just because I say it, does not make it so. But once you have confirmed it, they you will knwo first hand. And, once you know first hand, you are in a much better position to be able to act accordingly to combat those things that are bad for you, bad for us, and bad for the US.

I would not be so bold as to tell you how to vote. But I would be bold enough to suggest that if you truly educate yourself knowing how to vote will become so easy that there will not even be a thought process, you will just know what to do.

I apologize that this post is not one of my normal "feel good" sort of posts. But it can be. If you engage, I promise, you will feel good in the long run with the outcome.

Our future is up to you. And me. And all of us that wish to see this great nation continue on.

"One Nation, under God, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

Until next time..............

Gary

Goin' Home

I was off work today and badly in need of a haircut. I needed as well to go to my sisters house and pick up something, so I decided to leave the big city this morning and drive up to Canton. For those that don't know me well, Canton is my hometown, the place where I grew up.

I don't know why, but somehow, driving up there this morning seemed somewhat different from normal. I mean, I go to Canton several times each year. I wouldn't put a number on how many times, but I would say very often. I may skip a few weeks, but then two weeks will go by where I'll be up there 3 or 4 times. But still, today it seemed somehow nostalgic. I went and got my haircut, then went to my sisters house. On the way to her house I drove though Old Canton. My how things have changed. As I passed Academy Street I remembered the the old hotel that stood where a bank stands now. Kinda funny, I don't even know the name of the bank, but it was Etowah Bank at one time. As I passed The Chamberhouse, I remembered the car dealership that was there on the right. Then of course, before Etowah moved across the street, they were there on the corner just passed the old Townhouse Restaurant, now home of R & M. Then on through the intersection on the left was the Jones Building. Sometimes I'll find myself thinking about the days when as a teenage boy getting dressed for a date on a Friday or Saturday night and would leave my house without a shirt on because I didn't have one that I could or wanted to wear. I would drive to Jones, go inside, shirtless, and Bobby Mullinax would help me find and purchase a shirt. Funny to think about it now, but I really did do that.

Right across the street from Jones was The Bank of Canton. I do miss that bank. Of course right beside the Bank was the old Canton Theatre. I saw Jungle Book when it was first released in that theatre. Almost across the street from the theatre was The Greenrail. My buddy Greg Henderson had a thread over on Facebook recently where we all reminisced about our favorite restaurants when we were growing up. Lots of people mentioned The Greenrail. Then there was Mid-city Pharmacy, Key's Jewelry, Kesslers, Rosenblums, and how many people remember Fambros I wonder? Across the street from Kesslers was Worley's Shoes. I had many pairs of shoes that came from Worley's as a boy growing up in Canton.

I passed the Old Library, and cruised on out East Main Street and finally came to my sisters street, and went on to her house.

When I left her house I drove back through the old town square area and as I passed what was the library and started down the back street of Canton, I laughed a little because suddenly I remembered when the street that drives around the old square area was not one way. I ended up making the complete circle again, but this time after I passed Darby (Huey) Funeral Home, I turned right and headed down the hill. For those that really know Canton, you know that I drove down through Happy Hollar......

At the stop sign at the bottom of the hill, I turned left and headed south. I drove all the way up to the top, turning right on the backside of the "V". At the intersection that crosses old highway 5, I went straight onto 205, Bells Ferry. Not sure how many will remember, but at that intersection there once was Fowler's Grocery Store. That place was owned by my Uncle Alonzo Fowler. As a kid, that is where we bought our groceries. And almost every time that we went there, I would go thru the door begging Momma to let me get a "dimes worth". A dimes worth would be a small paper bag with penny candy. Alonzo sold penny candy up by the cash register. I know that memory tends to change some facts, even if it is just a little bit, but I have distinct memories of getting that paper bag and filling it almost completely with candy. Alonzo would empty the bag and count it out. It was always a dime.

I drove on down to the old 4-way stop and turned right on Butteworth Road. I went out to see my old friend Randall Page. It's always good to see Randall. Randall's Dad and my Dad were buddies, and Randall was one of the Paul Bearers at my Dad's funeral. He's kinda like another older brother to me. It was good to see him. Like you might imagine, we talked about old times. After about 30 minutes I knew I had to go.

I left Randall's and made my way back out Butterworth, then right on Old 5, and on down the road to 575 south. Forty Five minutes later I was coming up on Northside/Howell Mill Road. I made my way on into downtown, but traffic was not good. So I used the home field advantage, and took Williams Street Exit and winded my way thru until I finally was back at what I call home. Well, it's where I sleep anyways............

I want to believe someday that I'll come back to Canton to stay. You know the old saying, you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. I guess that's true. And I do love the peacefulness of the country. But if I'm honest, I have to call myself a city boy too. You get use to it I guess. I have my Breeze card (for MARTA), and I use the train often. Twenty five dollars worth of gas will last me about three weeks. I enjoy the city. Lots of conveniences. But someday, whenever someday is, I believe I'll come back.

Anyway, that's my walk down memory lane. It was good to be home. And as crazy as it sounds, I get a better haircut in Canton.............

Until next time......

G

So Long to a Hero

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the death of Royal Marshall. It was one of those things that was so shocking that it just made me stop and reminisce. And I'm glad that I did. I've talked to some old friends, almost all of my family, and I've re-established some relationships that simply put are important to me. No, I haven't been able to talk to everyone that I want to, but even now, I'm no less determined.

But today brought the sad news of yet another death.

As I sit back and look at my own life, I can easily see it in various stages.

Stage one.....The Childhood stage
You know, there's not a whole lot you can say about childhood. I think that with little exception most people experience a childhood very similar to anyone. After all, you're a child. True, some children are raised in the city, some in the country. But childhood being what it is, basically, most are the same or at least very similar.

Stage two.....The Teenager stage
Teenage years like childhood are similar among lots of people. Teenage years though do have variances. A teenager raised in the city may be a little more independent than a teenager raised in the country. But on the other hand a teenager raised in the county usually knows how to drive a vehicle long before city teens. Us country kids grew up driving our tractors, moving our trucks in the pasture, etc. But still, basically otherwise, similar experiences. I know my teen years were not remarkable. I started working when I was about 13, working with my Dad at his service station, except when he needed me to help move cattle, sit with a cow about to give birth, or things like that.


Stage three.....The I just turned 19 and I know everything stage.
Now in my case, I did believe that I knew everything, but I also knew when to express this belief and when to keep my mouth shut. If Daddy was around, it was time to keep my mouth shut.

And finally, Stage four..... The I just realized that I don't know jack stage.

At about age 22 or 23 I really did realize that I didn't really know anything at all, and that at best, I will ill prepared to face life. I decided then and there that even though I didn't know anything at all, that I was going to try to figure it out. I've been working on that every since. Still don't know much, but I know enough to know that I'm still working on it.

At about age 23 I met the three people, in my case three men, that has by and large helped to shape the man that I have become. That is, outside of the influence of my parents and my family, these three men have influenced me greatly.

Neal Boortz. For those of you that don't know who he is.......well, if you know me, you know who he is............ but Neal is the host of the Neal Boortz Radio Show, airs locally on WSB Radio. Neal has been on WSB for close to 20 years now, I'm not sure exactly how long, but close to that I am sure. Before WSB, Neal was on another Atlanta station, but as I write this, for the life of me, I can't think of what that station was. Maybe it was WGST??? I don't know. Anyway, Neal is a straight shooter, of that you can say for certain. He is known as The High Priest of The Church of The Painful Truth. I was listening that day when a caller called him this. What he said as I recall was that his show was like the church of the painful truth, and that Neal was the high priest. Well, that stuck with him. If you listen to Neal whatever you hear him say you can know is the truth, even though he will tell you not to believe him until you can verify it independently of his word. I have taken that philosophy to my own life. Whenever I tell someone something, what I am telling them is the truth, but I always tell them to check it out themselves, don't take my word for it. Neal remains a strong influence in my life. I listen to him almost daily.

Lewis Grizzard. Lewis at the time that I learned of him, wrote for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He had also written several books; Don't Sit Under The Grits Tree With Anyone Else But me; Shoot Low Boys, They're Ridding Shetland Ponies; They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat just to mention a few. And one of his last, if not his last, my favorite, Don't Bend Over In The Garden Momma, You know Them Taters Got Eyes. Lewis wrote about growing up in the south. I thought the very first time that I read one of his books that he was describing my life. The things he wrote about, his experiences, his family, all of it sounded like me. Lewis passed away several years ago, succumbing to a life long battle with his heart. Lewis taught me to cherish the memories of your youth, because it is from those memories that you will reach back for and draw back to you the most valuable lessons of your life. Lewis Grizzard taught me simply the wonderfulness of memories.

Ludlow Porch. Ludlow did a radio show on WSB am radio. It was called simply enough, The Ludlow Porch Show. Ludlow was one of those people that found humor in almost everything. And he could make you laugh without any effort at all. He was a kind man with a very gentle spirit. I believe that Ludlow continued to do a show somewhere on a smaller radio station for a few years after leaving WSB but I never did hear him again after his days on WSB. Ludlow though taught me the value being gracious when dealing with people, no matter how absurd that they may be treating you, if you simply treat them with respect you will make a far deeper and longer lasting impression on them than any negative response could ever leave. Just be kind, and laugh as often as you can.

Ludlow Porch passed away this morning around 6:15. I smiled when I learned the news. I know that he graciously greeted death as he came knocking on his door. He probably paused just a second and then opened the door to death and calmly said to him, "well, I guess we better get on our way, I don't want to hold you up." Ludlow Porch was a great and gentle man.

I'm still in that I just realized that I don't know jack stage, and I expect that I will never escape it. But with truthfulness I've learned from Neal Boortz, the memories that Lewis Grizzard taught me to hold on to, the gentleness and kindness that I learned from Ludlow Porch, along with the love of my family, and the encouragement of so many friends, I may make it out of here some day myself without causing too much damage to those around me. And if I can do that, nothing else really matters, I will have lived a successful life.

To God goes all the glory. It is his wisdom that guides me to success, his strength that holds me up in my failures, and his belief in me when I'm not even sure I believe in myself.

God Bless you all..........and so long Ludlow, I'll see you 'round the corner.

Gary

Hello to All and Farewell to a Friend

Each day that we live, we rise in the morning, we retire in the evening. And everyone does this excepting perhaps those that are grave yarders, and work at night and sleep during the day. But those too, rise and retire every day. This is the cycle of our days. During our waking hours we do things that we take so much for granted. We walk. We talk. We see. We hear. We touch. We smell. We taste. We do all of these things without thought. We take for granted that tomorrow we will do these things again. And most of the time, indeed tomorrow we will again repeat each of those things, and again we will repeat them without thought. But for each and everyone of us, there is coming a day that on tomorrow we will not do those things. Because for each of us is coming that day that we won't retire, but instead expire.

Last week, late on Friday night/early Saturday morning we lost a friend. Did I know him well? Well, yes, I did. Did he know me well? Well, no, he really didn't. We lost a friend that for so many of us brightened many of our days. A man that made the phrase "keeping it real" mean so much. And when everything was said and done, and I absorbed the immediate reality of his death, the only thing I could say was "Just Damn".

Royal Marshall, Engineer and Associate Producer of The Neal Boortz Show was stricken with a massive heart attack and at the age of 43 died.

I met Royal a couple of times over my years at The Georgia World Congress Center. He was there on each occasion for some event being hosted at The GWCC. If you were to take all of the time I spent talking with him on both occasions and added it together, you might have a total of about 5 minutes. So for me to say that he knew me would be a stretch, even if you used the most liberal imagination. He did not know me. But I knew him. I knew him from 17 years on The Neal Boortz Show. I knew him from his own couple of years with his show "The Royal Treatment". I can make the same statement about Neal Boortz, or Belinda Skelton. I've listened to Clark Howard now for many, many years and feel like I know him too. Scott Slade is someone that I spend almost every morning with, so I feel I know him as well. But I have to say that over the years I had grown to really respect Royal and so much looked forward to whatever he would add to Neal's' show each day.....and over the years he added so very much.

I am 53 years old. I have in my lifetime known death on many levels. Over the last few years not only have I lost my Mother to Cancer, but my older Brother as well. My Dad passed away when I was 19 years old. My oldest sister had two sons that was born with problems that prevented them from living lives beyond just a couple of years. I've lost friends that I was close to and that did know me well. Almost all of my aunts and uncles are passed away. And there has been numerous acquaintances over the years. Yes, I can honestly say that I know what it is like to experience the death of someone close to me. But with Royals' death I have to say that somehow it has affected me somewhat differently.

Life is in fact very fragile. I know, I know. This is not an original thought. This is not the first time that anyone of us has read or heard that comment. But the reality of the comment seems to have hit me hard. I have come to the very real knowledge that at least I take so much for granted.

When was the last time that you stood and gazed with absolute wonder and awe at the glory of a sunrise? How about a sunset?

When did you last stand and listen to the stillness of the night? Or maybe looked upon a stream or river and find yourself in amazement when you realized that all of those sounds that you heard.......the water flowing, the birds chirping, the many sounds of nature as they were lifting their voices praising our creator. I'm reminded of an old song that has the line in it "if I don't praise him the rocks are gonna cry out, glory and honor, glory and honor". Yes all of those sounds that we hear in nature I do believe is nature singing loudly to the Glory of God. It is nature having a praise service. And sadly, while I can't answer for you, I know that most of the time, I don't even notice the wonderful sound of praise going on around me; I just take for granted that tomorrow I will stop and listen, after all, the river is going to flow tomorrow, the birds are going to sing tomorrow. Right?

And I have to ask myself this question.... When was the last time that I picked up the phone and just called an old friend, someone that perhaps I just haven't talked to in a while and asked them how are they doing? I'll admit that very often I think to myself that I need to call so and so, that I haven't talked to them in a while. But of course, I'm busy when I think of it, but I tell myself that tonight, once I'm home, I'm gonna call. Then a few days later, they cross my mind again. I realize that I never did call.

You know, you probably do have tomorrow. You probably can call then. Even better, you'll just go see them. You can always do it tomorrow. Or can you?

We have right now. That's all. We are not promised tomorrow, or even an hour from now. We just have right now. Of course, we can't call everyone right now. We can't go see everyone right now. We can't stop and watch the river flow every time we pass over one. We can't stand each morning or each evening and watch the sun rise or set. We can't always stand outside and listen to the sounds of the night. But............ we do have opportunity from time to time to do these things and I would encourage you as I also encourage myself, that when we have those opportunities that we should take them; latch on to them as though that very opportunity may never be given to us again. Because even thought it might. It just might not.

And to my friend Royal............. Thank you. Thank you for 17 years of The Royal Treatment. Thank you for allowing me to know you. Thank you my friend, thank you.

And to my other friends and family. You need to expect to hear from me.

I'll be calling....................

Gary

It's Time for Somebody to Say it

Okay, I've heard enough, I've seen enough. It's time for somebody to say it. It's time for somebody to point out simple common sense. And I'm thinking I've got the mouth big enough, and the constitution strong enough to just say it.

Folks, it snowed. It snowed hard. Then, after it was finished snowing, freezing rain, and ice pellets (what we once called sleet here in the south) came falling out of the sky. It was a nightmare. And now........ the crap is still on the ground. Why? Because it's cold. Real cold. Real, real damn cold. It's freaking cold !!!

And we live in the south. Did you forget that? The south. Sometimes we even still call it the sunny south. But the point here is, it doesn't do this very often here. Never mind that just 18 days ago we experienced the first white Christmas that anyone breathing and living here has ever seen in these parts.. It's been well over 100 years since this area has seen a white Christmas. That's how often it DOESN'T snow around here.

Let me say it again. We live in the south. I typed that real slow for those that can't read so fast. I hope it helped.

I'm just about sick and tired of seeing idiots on the local news complaining about how poor a job the local leaders are doing in clearing the roads. Hey, the local leaders can't give birth to snow moving equipment that they don't have at their disposal. And why you might wonder does our local governments not have more snow moving equipment? I will refer you at this point to the previous two paragraphs. And if you don't understand that, I'll even say it again here: We live in the south. (Hey, I typed it even slower this time, I know it's difficult for some of you if I type too fast).

I saw a fellow on the news a few moments ago, a trucker. Now before I go any further, for those of you that don't know.........I'm a trucker, I can talk about "us" if i want to. He made the comment something along the lines that he was just in Minnesota last week and they had even worse than this, and had no problems.

Okay, I know it should be obvious here, but it wasn't to him, so I'm thinking it won't be to others. He said he was in Minnesota.

ummm............ummmm

Clearing my throat, tyring to keep my composure.

He said MINNESOTA.

If you don't know where that is check your map. If you don't happen to have a map just right there beside you......... Minnesota is just north of Wisconsin. If you go west from Minnesota, you'll end up in either North Dakota or South Dakota. If you go east, you'll be in the chilly waters of Lake Superior. If you go further north from Minnesota, the Canadian authorities will greet you at the boarder. Minnesota - - - - part of the frozen tundra that makes up the northern United States. I wonder why they would not have any problem with even worse than this? Oh I don't know, maybe because they expect this, many times each winter. Could that be it???? No, what was I thinking, probably not. It's just that they are not from here, so they are obviously inherently smarter than we are. I'm sure that's it.

Come on folks. Go back up a little bit and read that second paragraph again.

I'm sitting here watching the local news, but you may have figured that out already. And this woman they just interviewed, I believe at the Atlanta Bus Terminal, she's just whining and crying, I mean like a child crying, sobbing, "I can't believe they let this happen, and just leave us here like this, and do nothing....." OH MY GOD..... where did they find this looser?

Hey lady, it's all a conspiracy. There was a group of us, we heard you were coming to town, and we arranged it all; the snow, the ice, all of it. We did it because we heard you were coming to town, and just thought we would mess with you. Yep, you figured it out.

Needless to say, I was not moved by her whining.

I feel like I need to say it again. WE are in the south.

Moving from the local news to the national news, this same storm is going to hit New York City and the northeast tonight. I noticed with great interest that Mayor Bloomberg has announced that their 365 sand trucks and their 1700 snow plows are on the ready. No, that is not a typo, he said that their 365, that's three hundred sixty five sand trucks, and their 1700, that's seventeen hundred snow plows are on the ready.

Now lets compare that to Atlanta, Mayor Reed announced today that they are bringing in an additional 50 trucks to assist the city in clearing more streets. Now they will have 60.

You see folks, the economics of having millions of dollars of equipment setting around so that we can handle these once a decade snow/ice events just doesn't make sense. I'm no economist. Certainly, not a financial wizard. But even me, a country boy from Canton., Georgia can figure that one out.

So for goodness sakes, just relax. Sit back and enjoy these days, because as certain as the sun rises and sets, this snow and ice will melt. And you will get back to work, your kids will return to school. And if you have to get out, please, please, please drive slow. Real slow. I had to work today, and it is slick. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not complaining, I'm just telling you it is slick out there. So if you don't have to get out.......DON'T. If you do have to get out, take it real easy, drive slow, watch out for everything, and arrive alive.

And when you hear those blankety-blank cry babies whining about how poor a job our government officials are doing, and how much better that the cities up north handle this sort of thing, I suggest you quote the late great Lewis Grizzard......."We don't care how they do it in Cleveland, if you don't like it here, Delta is ready when you are." One less loud mouthed, complaining yankee around here would not be missed. Not even for a minute.

Okay, I'll quit now, I figure I've insulted enough people for one day.

Hope your day is wonderful, your tomorrow even better. God Bless You All............

..........Gary