Over the last several years of my life, I've lost several people who were -- and still are -- very close and dear to my heart. Those losses, while tragic and deeply heartbreaking, also in many ways spurned Ginger and I on to live better lives. To enjoy every day a little more, to try to love others a little more, to not miss moments while we're in them, to not miss chances to tell others we love them, and to chase our dreams a little harder. In the end, each of those people made our lives a better while they were alive, and their passing taught us that life is precious and we should try to live every day to the fullest.
I lost another friend last week. He was not a friend I saw or spoke to with any regularity. In the last several years, hardly at all. He was a man I met many years ago, formed an incredible bond with, and then we moved on with our lives. Our paths crossed often over the years, though not often enough. But as with many great friendships, a great deal of time could pass between meetings, but the meetings themselves would feel as though no time had passed at all.
But this man had an impact on my life I can never accurately describe -- one of those life-altering impacts with lessons I carry with me to this very day. I hold a respect for him that cannot be measured. And my heart hurts deeply that he's gone.
John Myers was a hero in every sense of the word. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend. And those aren't just words. In the years I knew him, our paths crossed most often at a sporting event for his kids or grandkids. Heck, he'd even show up to watch me play softball, or my own kids play ball. In fact, as I look back over the years, I can rarely recall a time we got together that DIDN'T involve some sporting event involving our kids or friends.
John Myers was a Vietnam Veteran. A war hero. A man willing to put his life on the line for others. There are thousands like him, and yet so very few among us everyday. It's not often one gets to interact with a real-life superhero. Shame on us we don't cherish it more when we do.
The truth is that in the latter years of my father's life, John was my Dad's best friend. That's how I came to know him. And subsequently, I met his wife, and his children, and I became good friends with them. His daughter, Amber, is still someone I have a severe crush on to this day (Don't worry... Ginger knows all about it!) Amber grew up to marry another great friend of mine -- a man, who at 15 years old, stood beside me as a groomsman in my wedding.
John's son, Johnny, has grown up to be a man of integrity himself, putting his life on the line everyday for the rest of us as a state policeman. Johnny is a dear friend of mine. We've shared many battles together on the softball field over the years. When he married his beautiful wife, Wendy, they honored me by asking me to serve as the DJ for their reception. That very day, I traveled five hours back to Indiana from Nashville, TN, and arrived late for the reception wearing only jean shorts and an Hawaiian shirt. But I was not going to miss that wedding. And they were not fazed by my attire at all.
Over the years, I've become friends with several of my parents' and step-parents' and in-laws' friends. I'm close with many of them.
But John Myers was different. And it all comes down to a single moment on a very stressful day.
The details of that moment belong only to me and John. The moment is for me. I've shared the details with only a select few, including my wife. But mostly, I keep it to myself. It's deeply personal. I'm sure to John, it was just another moment of John just being John. But for me, it was life-changing.
I'll just say this: In that moment, John pulled me aside and spoke healing words to me. He spoke moving words that were personal, and honest, and helpful, and impactful, at exactly the right moment, during one of the most stressful times of my life. He didn't have to. He was hurting too. It made no difference in his own life, and his own family. But he did it simply because it was the right thing to do. He saw a moment where something he could say or do could help someone else, and he did it. Just that simple.
And it changed my life. And created in me a respect for him that cannot be described. And it gave me a lesson I've tried to live by ever since. A sense of responsibility, maybe. To desperately try to do or say the right thing, at the right time, whenever the opportunity might present itself.
We all hope to be considered by others to be a "good man." Integrity and honor is something we pursue our whole lives. Whether or not we achieve any of that is up to others to decide. Sometimes, those verdicts aren't reached or even recognized until after someone passes.
But on those rare occasions, we can make that assessment about someone while they're still living amongst us. I pegged John Myers nearly 28 years ago. A good man. A man of integrity and honor. Because in a moment no one else noticed, when he had no real skin in the game, he did the right thing.
And he changed my life for the better. I will be forever grateful.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Coronavirus Part 3: Craziness Like Never Before.
I am as conflicted about how I should feel these days as perhaps I have ever been in my life. A mixture of pride, joy, a sense of goodwill, relaxation, fear, frustration, anger, disgust, amazement, and shock are all permeating through me at the same time. Not to sound boastful, but I don't get rattled too often. By that I mean, I'm usually pretty headstrong in whatever I might be feeling at any moment, with a strong sense of what I believe and the path I'm on at the time. But this whole Coronavirus thing has knocked us all for a loop. Nobody really knows how to feel. Hysteria and Panic have permeated our society in such a way as I've never seen, certainly in my lifetime. Nobody is thinking for themselves. Everyone is just sorta wondering around in a daze like sheep waiting to be told what to do next. And I've never found myself so unsure about how I'm supposed to approach each day.
Most of what we see on the news, in the media outlets, and on social media is pretty grim. It's statistic after chart after curve about how bad things are, and how bad they have yet to be, and how many people are dying every day. At the same time, one can find several examples of heroic behavior, happy moments in the simplest things, heartwarming acts of kindness and giving, the situation bringing out the best in people and the inherent goodness of humanity all over the world. But there's no pattern. The good and the bad is all mixed together on a daily basis.
Half the country believes our political leaders haven't done enough to curb this virus, and the other half thinks the government has far overreached their boundaries in prohibiting freedom and liberty of the general populace. And for every doctor who goes on TV and tells us the world is coming to an end, gazillions of people are going to die, and our entire healthcare system is going to be overrun, I can, at the same time, find an equal number of videos and stories of any number of healthcare officials who say the panic is way overblown, and that simple, basic precautions should be taken.
Personally, I've been accused of not being sensitive enough because people are dying, and also been praised for putting on my little Friday night concerts to provide a little relief from the craziness. Sometimes both by the same people!
It's madness. All of it. It really is. And I can't find any toilet paper.
Here's one thing I know: The numbers, and the data, have never been there to support the response we've put in place. Not ever. They've not come even close to matching a single projection -- both before the lockdowns, and during. The pro-quarantine crowd is going to claim victory. They're going to say it was because of the measures we put in place that kept the numbers from ballooning to such grim proportions. Some of them are going to claim the victory while at the very same time blaming our President for not doing enough -- which is, of course, absurd and downright moronic. Regardless, the data simply has never matched up. The projections have gone from mind-numbing proportions to now barely above the common flu, and the numbers have never caught up to it. The curve we were supposed to flatten never materialized. Sure, there were a couple of hotspots -- New York being the most prominent -- but otherwise, it doesn't exist, and never did. Hospitals weren't overrun. The triage field hospitals never got used and were torn down. Here in our own county, the hospitals are laying off workers as we speak because there simply is nothing for them to do. Along this whole trajectory, the numbers simply haven't reached the levels that warranted the response we gave it.
Here's something else I know: Killing off Americans and destroying lives by plunging them into financial ruin -- which is already happening -- to save others from dying from a foreign virus is not a net gain. People are dying and will continue to die on both sides of the issue. Choosing one over the other is not a win, and it's certainly not noble. Worse, taking a self-righteous position on one side or the other and condemning those on the other side for their views is not only wrong, its the worst kind of degenerate behavior. I've seen a lot of heartlessness in people's compassion the last few weeks and it's been very disconcerting.
I know people who have the virus. Some who are still really struggling with it. I also know people who are going to lose not only their jobs, but their businesses, and they may never recover from it. So whose side should I be on?
If I support those who are beginning to protest the lockdowns, then I'm an insensitive prick who doesn't care to watch people die. But I find a great deal of those who are against the protesters are people who still have to go to work every day and are still getting paid.
Let me be CLEAR: I wholly support and appreciate the first responder and healthcare workers. They are indeed true heroes. They chose this career path, to put themselves in harm's way on the front lines to help save the rest of us. They deserve every accolade they get, and they certainly deserve our deepest thanks, appreciation, and respect.
But this is where it gets dicey, and I'm sure to catch some flak: They work in the middle of this everyday. They are surrounded by sickness and death 24/7. It's all they see and experience. And being singularly focused on one particular issue can tend to blind one to what's going on in the outside world.
AND, they still get to go to their job everyday -- even if they would prefer not to -- and get a paycheck. In some instances, they're getting not only overtime, but hazardous pay as well.
So inasmuch as I cannot fathom what they must endure in their jobs on a daily basis, they cannot relate to the business owner that is watching his business go bankrupt and his life savings being flushed down the drain. They can't see the young family who are all now jobless and probably won't be able to buy groceries this week, let alone pay the rent or the mortgage. They don't know what it's like for the retiree who is watching his life savings and the only income they will have in the future being drained out of the stock market, with no hope of ever recouping those funds. They may not understand that while, yes, thousands are tragically dying from the virus, still millions more are at this very moment wondering how they're going to be able to feed their kids tomorrow.
I have dear friends who are nurses and doctors and emergency workers. If, God forbid, I should ever find myself in some form of danger, or sick with an illness, give me one them to stand by my side and take care of me. I will be forever grateful.
But I also have dear friends whose entire lives are slowing dripping away as we speak. They are at the brink of financial ruin and only God knows how they will be able to survive when we all emerge out the other side of this.
Try telling someone who has lost a loved one to this monster that they should be more concerned about the business around the corner. Then try telling that business owner who will be bankrupt by Monday and doesn't know how he's going to be able to take care of his family that he should be more sensitive to someone else who is sick.
Death by this virus is not the end-all-be-all determining factor here. I'm sorry, it's just not. Not because every single life isn't precious, but because as a society, we have never, ever, treated it as such. We still drive cars every day, even though tens of thousands die every year in car accidents. We have always packed ourselves tightly into public arenas and stadiums even though the flu contagion kills tens of thousands of people every year. We still stuff ourselves full of sugar and fat, even though hundreds of thousands die of heart disease and diabetes every year. We still allow abortion to be legal, even though it kills millions of babies every year.
And all that is just in the United States. Every year.
So it seems a bit disingenuous that so many have suddenly become the keeper of humanity now with Covid-19 when the harsh truth is, they simply never cared about their brother before all this.
But then, if we're desperately honest with ourselves, it's not our brother we're really concerned about, is it? Could it be we're only really concerned for ourselves? It makes us feel better about ourselves when we say we're protecting our elderly and the less healthy amongst us but not passing the virus along to them. But is that our real concern? Is it possible our real concern is we don't want to catch it and die ourselves? That's just human nature. But we don't like to admit such things because it makes us look and feel bad, so we have to cloak it in some sort of righteous dignity.
I believe people's general concern for others is genuine, I do. And we all want to support causes that benefit the greater good. But there is no way we would put up with allowing our government to arbitrarily strip us of our rights if we didn't think we were saving our own butts in the process.
Cynical? Perhaps. But if you're being honest -- truly honest -- I would defy you to tell me I'm wrong.
Look, I don't have all the answers. I wouldn't begin to pretend I do. Most of this is just my rant amidst all the craziness. But I do know that most of this craziness is craziness we've created ourselves. Whether you agree with the mitigation or not, what the government has done in shutting everything down is not, at it's core level, anywhere near legal. And we've allowed them to strip us of rights without so much as even questioning all the reasons. People have died as a result of our going about our everyday lives since the beginning of mankind, and that certainly isn't going to stop now even after this virus is over.
Instead of dealing with this thing the way we've dealt with virtually every other health crisis in our history, we've allowed our way of life to be taken away and it has created more fear and chaos -- and ultimately, death -- than the virus alone could ever have hoped to.
Things got back to "normal" after H1N1. Things got back to "normal" after MERS, and ZEKA, and SARS. Heck, things even got back to "normal" after the Spanish Flu 100 years ago. You can guarantee that things will never get back to "normal" after this. Because we've fundamentally "changed" what normal is now. We allowed it to be changed without any input from us. To our detriment, most likely.
But we have an election coming up in November. And we can change out our elected officials to ones who will be more attuned to what we want.
If only we have the guts to do so. After watching how people were so willingly led around like sheep during this pandemic, I question whether or not we do.
Most of what we see on the news, in the media outlets, and on social media is pretty grim. It's statistic after chart after curve about how bad things are, and how bad they have yet to be, and how many people are dying every day. At the same time, one can find several examples of heroic behavior, happy moments in the simplest things, heartwarming acts of kindness and giving, the situation bringing out the best in people and the inherent goodness of humanity all over the world. But there's no pattern. The good and the bad is all mixed together on a daily basis.
Half the country believes our political leaders haven't done enough to curb this virus, and the other half thinks the government has far overreached their boundaries in prohibiting freedom and liberty of the general populace. And for every doctor who goes on TV and tells us the world is coming to an end, gazillions of people are going to die, and our entire healthcare system is going to be overrun, I can, at the same time, find an equal number of videos and stories of any number of healthcare officials who say the panic is way overblown, and that simple, basic precautions should be taken.
Personally, I've been accused of not being sensitive enough because people are dying, and also been praised for putting on my little Friday night concerts to provide a little relief from the craziness. Sometimes both by the same people!
It's madness. All of it. It really is. And I can't find any toilet paper.
Here's one thing I know: The numbers, and the data, have never been there to support the response we've put in place. Not ever. They've not come even close to matching a single projection -- both before the lockdowns, and during. The pro-quarantine crowd is going to claim victory. They're going to say it was because of the measures we put in place that kept the numbers from ballooning to such grim proportions. Some of them are going to claim the victory while at the very same time blaming our President for not doing enough -- which is, of course, absurd and downright moronic. Regardless, the data simply has never matched up. The projections have gone from mind-numbing proportions to now barely above the common flu, and the numbers have never caught up to it. The curve we were supposed to flatten never materialized. Sure, there were a couple of hotspots -- New York being the most prominent -- but otherwise, it doesn't exist, and never did. Hospitals weren't overrun. The triage field hospitals never got used and were torn down. Here in our own county, the hospitals are laying off workers as we speak because there simply is nothing for them to do. Along this whole trajectory, the numbers simply haven't reached the levels that warranted the response we gave it.
Here's something else I know: Killing off Americans and destroying lives by plunging them into financial ruin -- which is already happening -- to save others from dying from a foreign virus is not a net gain. People are dying and will continue to die on both sides of the issue. Choosing one over the other is not a win, and it's certainly not noble. Worse, taking a self-righteous position on one side or the other and condemning those on the other side for their views is not only wrong, its the worst kind of degenerate behavior. I've seen a lot of heartlessness in people's compassion the last few weeks and it's been very disconcerting.
I know people who have the virus. Some who are still really struggling with it. I also know people who are going to lose not only their jobs, but their businesses, and they may never recover from it. So whose side should I be on?
If I support those who are beginning to protest the lockdowns, then I'm an insensitive prick who doesn't care to watch people die. But I find a great deal of those who are against the protesters are people who still have to go to work every day and are still getting paid.
Let me be CLEAR: I wholly support and appreciate the first responder and healthcare workers. They are indeed true heroes. They chose this career path, to put themselves in harm's way on the front lines to help save the rest of us. They deserve every accolade they get, and they certainly deserve our deepest thanks, appreciation, and respect.
But this is where it gets dicey, and I'm sure to catch some flak: They work in the middle of this everyday. They are surrounded by sickness and death 24/7. It's all they see and experience. And being singularly focused on one particular issue can tend to blind one to what's going on in the outside world.
AND, they still get to go to their job everyday -- even if they would prefer not to -- and get a paycheck. In some instances, they're getting not only overtime, but hazardous pay as well.
So inasmuch as I cannot fathom what they must endure in their jobs on a daily basis, they cannot relate to the business owner that is watching his business go bankrupt and his life savings being flushed down the drain. They can't see the young family who are all now jobless and probably won't be able to buy groceries this week, let alone pay the rent or the mortgage. They don't know what it's like for the retiree who is watching his life savings and the only income they will have in the future being drained out of the stock market, with no hope of ever recouping those funds. They may not understand that while, yes, thousands are tragically dying from the virus, still millions more are at this very moment wondering how they're going to be able to feed their kids tomorrow.
I have dear friends who are nurses and doctors and emergency workers. If, God forbid, I should ever find myself in some form of danger, or sick with an illness, give me one them to stand by my side and take care of me. I will be forever grateful.
But I also have dear friends whose entire lives are slowing dripping away as we speak. They are at the brink of financial ruin and only God knows how they will be able to survive when we all emerge out the other side of this.
Try telling someone who has lost a loved one to this monster that they should be more concerned about the business around the corner. Then try telling that business owner who will be bankrupt by Monday and doesn't know how he's going to be able to take care of his family that he should be more sensitive to someone else who is sick.
Death by this virus is not the end-all-be-all determining factor here. I'm sorry, it's just not. Not because every single life isn't precious, but because as a society, we have never, ever, treated it as such. We still drive cars every day, even though tens of thousands die every year in car accidents. We have always packed ourselves tightly into public arenas and stadiums even though the flu contagion kills tens of thousands of people every year. We still stuff ourselves full of sugar and fat, even though hundreds of thousands die of heart disease and diabetes every year. We still allow abortion to be legal, even though it kills millions of babies every year.
And all that is just in the United States. Every year.
So it seems a bit disingenuous that so many have suddenly become the keeper of humanity now with Covid-19 when the harsh truth is, they simply never cared about their brother before all this.
But then, if we're desperately honest with ourselves, it's not our brother we're really concerned about, is it? Could it be we're only really concerned for ourselves? It makes us feel better about ourselves when we say we're protecting our elderly and the less healthy amongst us but not passing the virus along to them. But is that our real concern? Is it possible our real concern is we don't want to catch it and die ourselves? That's just human nature. But we don't like to admit such things because it makes us look and feel bad, so we have to cloak it in some sort of righteous dignity.
I believe people's general concern for others is genuine, I do. And we all want to support causes that benefit the greater good. But there is no way we would put up with allowing our government to arbitrarily strip us of our rights if we didn't think we were saving our own butts in the process.
Cynical? Perhaps. But if you're being honest -- truly honest -- I would defy you to tell me I'm wrong.
Look, I don't have all the answers. I wouldn't begin to pretend I do. Most of this is just my rant amidst all the craziness. But I do know that most of this craziness is craziness we've created ourselves. Whether you agree with the mitigation or not, what the government has done in shutting everything down is not, at it's core level, anywhere near legal. And we've allowed them to strip us of rights without so much as even questioning all the reasons. People have died as a result of our going about our everyday lives since the beginning of mankind, and that certainly isn't going to stop now even after this virus is over.
Instead of dealing with this thing the way we've dealt with virtually every other health crisis in our history, we've allowed our way of life to be taken away and it has created more fear and chaos -- and ultimately, death -- than the virus alone could ever have hoped to.
Things got back to "normal" after H1N1. Things got back to "normal" after MERS, and ZEKA, and SARS. Heck, things even got back to "normal" after the Spanish Flu 100 years ago. You can guarantee that things will never get back to "normal" after this. Because we've fundamentally "changed" what normal is now. We allowed it to be changed without any input from us. To our detriment, most likely.
But we have an election coming up in November. And we can change out our elected officials to ones who will be more attuned to what we want.
If only we have the guts to do so. After watching how people were so willingly led around like sheep during this pandemic, I question whether or not we do.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
The Next Coronavirus: Part 2
So here's the question no one seems to be addressing: What are we going to do next time?
Oh yes. There will be a next time. As I stated in my previous blog, if there's one thing we're certain of, it's that we've seen a new virus or strain of the flu that freaks out the CDC every year or two at least for the past few decades.
You see, everybody is on board with the idea that this is going to pass and we'll all get back to normal at some point. "We'll survive this!" seems to be everyone's mantra. But what happens when the next virus hits?
We've set the bar awfully high now, haven't we? Can we reasonably ignore 30,000 flu deaths anymore? I mean, in the past, when he CDC issued warnings, they were bilaterally ignored. But not now.
You can bet there will be something new coming down the pike in the next year or two. What will we do then? Will we again cancel school for months, and shut down all concerts and sports games, and ban all travel every time a new strain of the flu comes out, or the "horse-virus" or "Budweiser-virus" hits?
I think it will be reasonable to ask, "Why did everyone freak out so bad over the Coronavirus, which turned out to be such a dud, and yet nobody seems to care when my best friend dies from the flu?"
We've set a dangerous precedent here I don't see anybody considering. Not only have we set the bar that we should bring all life in the United States to a screeching halt every time some dude in the back woods of China gets a cold, but we've also now placed the burden on those of us who are relatively healthy to ensure those of us who aren't don't further compromise their shaky immune systems.
In a large number of people's way of thinking, we've shifted the responsibility to keep everyone healthy away from those who are actually sick to the shoulders of those who aren't. We've said, "Yeah, you're tough enough to muscle through, but because others might not be, you should quarantine yourself as well."
For years, I've heard parents and school officials alike say, "If your kids are sick, keep them home, so they don't get other people sick." That's pretty good advice that most everyone seemed to accept.
But not now. Yes, we're placing those who get the virus in quarantine, but at the same time punishing everyone else who isn't sick because they might carry the virus to someone who isn't healthy enough to fight it off. At least that's what the shamers on social media are saying. "Stop being a tool. You might be healthy, but others aren't and that's why we have to make you stay at home."
There's nobility in that, for sure, and I'm not saying it's completely wrong. I'm saying we've set the bar to that level now. Which would be fine, but most are not willing to do that in all other aspects of their everyday lives.
The general populace isn't willing to stop driving cars, even though tens of thousands of Americans die every year in car accidents. The government doesn't say, "We must clear all roads and interstates so as to stop people from crashing into each other."
We're not going to clear the roads for drunk drivers. We're not going to say, "Well, there's likely people out there driving drunk, so let's clear all the roads so they can't hurt anybody." It's absurd.
Heart disease and cancer are the top two killers in the US each year, knocking off roughly half a million people each -- every year. But aside from saying, "Hey you need to eat a few more vegetables, knock off the sweets, and exercise more," we're not really doing anything to prevent the deaths. We've reasonable said, "Look, people have a right to live their lives the way they want. If they want to live a lifestyle that kills them, that's up to them." The government hasn't stepped in and made everybody stop eating Ding Dongs and sign up for a gym membership.
I know there's always some who will say those are bad comparisons. But the principle is legit. After every tragedy or disaster, there are laws either proposed or enacted that essentially punish law-abiding citizens far worse than those who choose to commit crimes. Now we're doing it with healthcare. We're telling perfectly healthy people it is now their responsibility to make sure others don't get more sick.
We all have a moral obligation to look after those who are less fortunate. It's Scriptural, its heart-felt, and just plain right. We should be doing that anyway. But I think it's a slippery slope to start laying out blanket guidelines enforced by the government that in the end will only be enacted and followed when it's convenient, or worse, politically prudent.
Some might say, "You dolt! The measure are in place to ensure your safety as well." OK, but to what end? I'm being forced by the government to shut down my life -- which, to some, is no kind of life at all -- just because I might get sick?
It's true what they're saying. This is dangerously close to what socialism looks like. And it happened in a matter of weeks.
In the end, you can bet that there will be far more people plunged into financial ruin by all of this than will actually die from the virus. Right now, the more self-righteous among us simply do not care. To them, having someone's life completely ruined is a better alternative.
There's been one death in South Carolina from this virus so far. One. But the measures that are being put in place to prevent even one more have the potential to ruin the lives of thousands of others. Employees, retirees, and business owners alike. Is that worth it? You tell me.
Fear. Panic. Hysteria. Mania. Financial ruin. With very little data and mostly speculation and forecasting to back it all up. All in the hopes of preventing more deaths.
So what will we do next time?
Oh yes. There will be a next time. As I stated in my previous blog, if there's one thing we're certain of, it's that we've seen a new virus or strain of the flu that freaks out the CDC every year or two at least for the past few decades.
You see, everybody is on board with the idea that this is going to pass and we'll all get back to normal at some point. "We'll survive this!" seems to be everyone's mantra. But what happens when the next virus hits?
We've set the bar awfully high now, haven't we? Can we reasonably ignore 30,000 flu deaths anymore? I mean, in the past, when he CDC issued warnings, they were bilaterally ignored. But not now.
You can bet there will be something new coming down the pike in the next year or two. What will we do then? Will we again cancel school for months, and shut down all concerts and sports games, and ban all travel every time a new strain of the flu comes out, or the "horse-virus" or "Budweiser-virus" hits?
I think it will be reasonable to ask, "Why did everyone freak out so bad over the Coronavirus, which turned out to be such a dud, and yet nobody seems to care when my best friend dies from the flu?"
We've set a dangerous precedent here I don't see anybody considering. Not only have we set the bar that we should bring all life in the United States to a screeching halt every time some dude in the back woods of China gets a cold, but we've also now placed the burden on those of us who are relatively healthy to ensure those of us who aren't don't further compromise their shaky immune systems.
In a large number of people's way of thinking, we've shifted the responsibility to keep everyone healthy away from those who are actually sick to the shoulders of those who aren't. We've said, "Yeah, you're tough enough to muscle through, but because others might not be, you should quarantine yourself as well."
For years, I've heard parents and school officials alike say, "If your kids are sick, keep them home, so they don't get other people sick." That's pretty good advice that most everyone seemed to accept.
But not now. Yes, we're placing those who get the virus in quarantine, but at the same time punishing everyone else who isn't sick because they might carry the virus to someone who isn't healthy enough to fight it off. At least that's what the shamers on social media are saying. "Stop being a tool. You might be healthy, but others aren't and that's why we have to make you stay at home."
There's nobility in that, for sure, and I'm not saying it's completely wrong. I'm saying we've set the bar to that level now. Which would be fine, but most are not willing to do that in all other aspects of their everyday lives.
The general populace isn't willing to stop driving cars, even though tens of thousands of Americans die every year in car accidents. The government doesn't say, "We must clear all roads and interstates so as to stop people from crashing into each other."
We're not going to clear the roads for drunk drivers. We're not going to say, "Well, there's likely people out there driving drunk, so let's clear all the roads so they can't hurt anybody." It's absurd.
Heart disease and cancer are the top two killers in the US each year, knocking off roughly half a million people each -- every year. But aside from saying, "Hey you need to eat a few more vegetables, knock off the sweets, and exercise more," we're not really doing anything to prevent the deaths. We've reasonable said, "Look, people have a right to live their lives the way they want. If they want to live a lifestyle that kills them, that's up to them." The government hasn't stepped in and made everybody stop eating Ding Dongs and sign up for a gym membership.
I know there's always some who will say those are bad comparisons. But the principle is legit. After every tragedy or disaster, there are laws either proposed or enacted that essentially punish law-abiding citizens far worse than those who choose to commit crimes. Now we're doing it with healthcare. We're telling perfectly healthy people it is now their responsibility to make sure others don't get more sick.
We all have a moral obligation to look after those who are less fortunate. It's Scriptural, its heart-felt, and just plain right. We should be doing that anyway. But I think it's a slippery slope to start laying out blanket guidelines enforced by the government that in the end will only be enacted and followed when it's convenient, or worse, politically prudent.
Some might say, "You dolt! The measure are in place to ensure your safety as well." OK, but to what end? I'm being forced by the government to shut down my life -- which, to some, is no kind of life at all -- just because I might get sick?
It's true what they're saying. This is dangerously close to what socialism looks like. And it happened in a matter of weeks.
In the end, you can bet that there will be far more people plunged into financial ruin by all of this than will actually die from the virus. Right now, the more self-righteous among us simply do not care. To them, having someone's life completely ruined is a better alternative.
There's been one death in South Carolina from this virus so far. One. But the measures that are being put in place to prevent even one more have the potential to ruin the lives of thousands of others. Employees, retirees, and business owners alike. Is that worth it? You tell me.
Fear. Panic. Hysteria. Mania. Financial ruin. With very little data and mostly speculation and forecasting to back it all up. All in the hopes of preventing more deaths.
So what will we do next time?
Monday, March 16, 2020
The Insanity of the Coronavirus
My best friend died from the flu a few years ago. So I'm not insensitive to the fact that people die from viral-related illnesses. When he contracted the illness, he had a myriad of other underlying health issues that rendered his body incapable of being able to fight off the virus, and he succumbed to it.
I only mention this because as I proceed, I don't want anybody to accuse me of being insensitive, callous, selfish, uncaring, unloving, or any combination thereof. Of course I want people to be safe, and I'm all for doing whatever we can to ensure that people protect themselves from unwanted illnesses.
But I have some questions. And some of those questions pose further questions I'm not sure everybody is thinking of down the road. So here we go.
Where did the sudden concern for humanity come from? By that I mean, why have we, as a society, virtually ignored every single pandemic, virus, and flu-related illness that's come down the pike in the last 100 years or so, with nary batting an eyelash, but all the sudden, at the mere mention of the word "Coronavirus," the entire country has virtually been shut down?
Somebody please explain that to me.
According the Centers for Disease Control (the CDC) the flu alone has killed well over 30,000 people, including my best friend, each year since 2010, and that's just the past 10 years.
And here's the stats I found on H1N1, the "swine flu" that was all the rage back in 2009 and 2010. Direct from the CDC website: "From April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, CDC estimated there were 60.8 million cases (range: 43.3-89.3 million), 274,304 hospitalizations (range: 195,086-402,719), and 12,469 deaths (range: 8868-18,306) in the United States due to the (H1N1)pdm09 virus.
Over 300,000 flu-deaths in the last 10 years, and nearly 12.5 thousand deaths from H1N1 alone in one year, and not a single shutdown. Not a single sports contest cancelled. Not a single travel ban. Not a single school closure. Not a single concern that doctors and hospitals would be overwhelmed.
None. Why now?
Please don't throw speculation at me. It's not as though there has never been global health crises before that affected other countries dramatically and yet had very little impact here in the US. It's happened plenty of times. The data so far on this one doesn't back up a single shred of the panic we've seen. China's #'s alone for the Coronavirus, (albeit, likely under-reported from their Communist regime) don't warrant the kind of panic we've seen, let alone the absolute minuscule numbers we've seen here in the US so far. I can't speak for Italy, or Iran, or South Korea. God only knows how truly prepared any other country is, or how much their governments remotely care about their people. I only know that so far, here in the US, even until we started seriously social-distancing from everyone, everything cancelled, and all overseas travel was banned, the total amount of cases in general, let alone the deaths, were barely worse than a bad weekend in Chicago. As of this writing, there are a total number of 68 deaths nation-wide, and roughly 60% of those cases are in one nursing home in Washington State. That's 20-30 deaths otherwise in the US. More people have been killed in crimes in Indianapolis so far this year.
Look, if in the past, in a response to H1N1, or SARS, or Ebola, or the ZEKA virus, or the common flu, we'd seen even a remote attempt at stopping the spread -- a mild travel ban, the cancellation of a few games, the closing of a school for a week or so -- anything at all, then one could remotely justify the panic we're seeing now.
But nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
Until now.
So why?
Look, I get it. One death is one too many. I understand that. And I'm not saying precautions shouldn't be taken. I'm not even saying I think we shouldn't be doing what we're doing or that what we're doing is wrong... well... sort.
What I AM saying is that the panicked response to this, given the data, and in the absence of literally anything for the virus-related illnesses of the last decade simply makes no rational sense.
If anyone can give a rational answer to that, I'm all ears. Otherwise, we are left to speculate.
In general, I believe in the overall good of people. I believe people don't want ill to befall other people. There's a moral vapidness that is gradually overtaking our society, but otherwise, I like to believe the general populace wishes well-being on their fellow man.
But I've seen several social media posts in the past several days that basically read like this: "Sure, you might be able to go out in public right now and survive the virus, but you might carry the virus to some other poor schlub who isn't as healthy as you, and they might not survive. And that's the problem." I've seen that post in several variations over the past few days, and they all follow that same vein.
And while that scenario might actually be true, my question is simple: Where has this concern for others been over the past decade or so? Why have we not given a lickety-spit as over 30,000 people were dying from the flu each year, and all the sudden we're shaming people for stepping outside their house?
Why? It literally makes no sense. Did everyone suddenly gain a conscious? Did everyone suddenly find some heretofore unearthed love for the fellow man they hadn't noticed before? Do the heads of state suddenly have access to health information they've never had before?
I'm sorry, but while the optimist in me wants to believe in the good of people, the skeptic in me doesn't buy it for a minute. Because a great deal of the posts I've seen like that have been posted by people who I know would dance a jig tomorrow if our President were assassinated.
We've gone from literally ignoring every virus of this kind we've ever seen in modern society to losing our collective minds and shutting down the entire country over a death count that so far is barely greater than a bad bus accident Albuquerque. (Shouldn't a taken that wrong toin!)
It. Makes. No. Sense.
Could the "conspiracy theorists" be right? Could this be a media-driven false panic? Worse, could it be yet another insane hail-mary to bring down our President? Could it be a purposeful bio-attack from China in retaliation for losing the trade war?
I have my suspicions, but I'm not gonna come right out and say it. I'll just say this: I've racked my brain and I can't come up with any rational answer. And worse, I can't get anybody else to give me one either. There is but one variable that's changed from this pandemic vs. all the others: Donald Trump wasn't President during those others.
And here's how we'll know whether my suspicions are right or not: What are we going to do next time?
(Spoiler alert: I'm saving that topic for my next blog.)
There will be a next time. That much is for sure. If we've learned anything from the past few decades, it's that every year or two there's a new virus or a new strain of the flu that's going to ruin the world. Will we flip out as we have on this one, or will we completely ignore it as we have done with every one before? There will be some very reasonable questions raised depending on our response, whatever it is. And it will be interesting to see who the President is and which side of the aisle he is from.
Fear. Panic. Hysteria. Mania. With very little data and mostly speculation and forecasting to back it up. Complete lunacy. Pure insanity.
If you've got a rational reason for all this, please, by all means....
I only mention this because as I proceed, I don't want anybody to accuse me of being insensitive, callous, selfish, uncaring, unloving, or any combination thereof. Of course I want people to be safe, and I'm all for doing whatever we can to ensure that people protect themselves from unwanted illnesses.
But I have some questions. And some of those questions pose further questions I'm not sure everybody is thinking of down the road. So here we go.
Where did the sudden concern for humanity come from? By that I mean, why have we, as a society, virtually ignored every single pandemic, virus, and flu-related illness that's come down the pike in the last 100 years or so, with nary batting an eyelash, but all the sudden, at the mere mention of the word "Coronavirus," the entire country has virtually been shut down?
Somebody please explain that to me.
According the Centers for Disease Control (the CDC) the flu alone has killed well over 30,000 people, including my best friend, each year since 2010, and that's just the past 10 years.
And here's the stats I found on H1N1, the "swine flu" that was all the rage back in 2009 and 2010. Direct from the CDC website: "From April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, CDC estimated there were 60.8 million cases (range: 43.3-89.3 million), 274,304 hospitalizations (range: 195,086-402,719), and 12,469 deaths (range: 8868-18,306) in the United States due to the (H1N1)pdm09 virus.
Over 300,000 flu-deaths in the last 10 years, and nearly 12.5 thousand deaths from H1N1 alone in one year, and not a single shutdown. Not a single sports contest cancelled. Not a single travel ban. Not a single school closure. Not a single concern that doctors and hospitals would be overwhelmed.
None. Why now?
Please don't throw speculation at me. It's not as though there has never been global health crises before that affected other countries dramatically and yet had very little impact here in the US. It's happened plenty of times. The data so far on this one doesn't back up a single shred of the panic we've seen. China's #'s alone for the Coronavirus, (albeit, likely under-reported from their Communist regime) don't warrant the kind of panic we've seen, let alone the absolute minuscule numbers we've seen here in the US so far. I can't speak for Italy, or Iran, or South Korea. God only knows how truly prepared any other country is, or how much their governments remotely care about their people. I only know that so far, here in the US, even until we started seriously social-distancing from everyone, everything cancelled, and all overseas travel was banned, the total amount of cases in general, let alone the deaths, were barely worse than a bad weekend in Chicago. As of this writing, there are a total number of 68 deaths nation-wide, and roughly 60% of those cases are in one nursing home in Washington State. That's 20-30 deaths otherwise in the US. More people have been killed in crimes in Indianapolis so far this year.
Look, if in the past, in a response to H1N1, or SARS, or Ebola, or the ZEKA virus, or the common flu, we'd seen even a remote attempt at stopping the spread -- a mild travel ban, the cancellation of a few games, the closing of a school for a week or so -- anything at all, then one could remotely justify the panic we're seeing now.
But nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
Until now.
So why?
Look, I get it. One death is one too many. I understand that. And I'm not saying precautions shouldn't be taken. I'm not even saying I think we shouldn't be doing what we're doing or that what we're doing is wrong... well... sort.
What I AM saying is that the panicked response to this, given the data, and in the absence of literally anything for the virus-related illnesses of the last decade simply makes no rational sense.
If anyone can give a rational answer to that, I'm all ears. Otherwise, we are left to speculate.
In general, I believe in the overall good of people. I believe people don't want ill to befall other people. There's a moral vapidness that is gradually overtaking our society, but otherwise, I like to believe the general populace wishes well-being on their fellow man.
But I've seen several social media posts in the past several days that basically read like this: "Sure, you might be able to go out in public right now and survive the virus, but you might carry the virus to some other poor schlub who isn't as healthy as you, and they might not survive. And that's the problem." I've seen that post in several variations over the past few days, and they all follow that same vein.
And while that scenario might actually be true, my question is simple: Where has this concern for others been over the past decade or so? Why have we not given a lickety-spit as over 30,000 people were dying from the flu each year, and all the sudden we're shaming people for stepping outside their house?
Why? It literally makes no sense. Did everyone suddenly gain a conscious? Did everyone suddenly find some heretofore unearthed love for the fellow man they hadn't noticed before? Do the heads of state suddenly have access to health information they've never had before?
I'm sorry, but while the optimist in me wants to believe in the good of people, the skeptic in me doesn't buy it for a minute. Because a great deal of the posts I've seen like that have been posted by people who I know would dance a jig tomorrow if our President were assassinated.
We've gone from literally ignoring every virus of this kind we've ever seen in modern society to losing our collective minds and shutting down the entire country over a death count that so far is barely greater than a bad bus accident Albuquerque. (Shouldn't a taken that wrong toin!)
It. Makes. No. Sense.
Could the "conspiracy theorists" be right? Could this be a media-driven false panic? Worse, could it be yet another insane hail-mary to bring down our President? Could it be a purposeful bio-attack from China in retaliation for losing the trade war?
I have my suspicions, but I'm not gonna come right out and say it. I'll just say this: I've racked my brain and I can't come up with any rational answer. And worse, I can't get anybody else to give me one either. There is but one variable that's changed from this pandemic vs. all the others: Donald Trump wasn't President during those others.
And here's how we'll know whether my suspicions are right or not: What are we going to do next time?
(Spoiler alert: I'm saving that topic for my next blog.)
There will be a next time. That much is for sure. If we've learned anything from the past few decades, it's that every year or two there's a new virus or a new strain of the flu that's going to ruin the world. Will we flip out as we have on this one, or will we completely ignore it as we have done with every one before? There will be some very reasonable questions raised depending on our response, whatever it is. And it will be interesting to see who the President is and which side of the aisle he is from.
Fear. Panic. Hysteria. Mania. With very little data and mostly speculation and forecasting to back it up. Complete lunacy. Pure insanity.
If you've got a rational reason for all this, please, by all means....
Friday, February 7, 2020
Kim Ward
I lost one of my best friends today.
Her name was Kim. And while I didn't share with her golf, or baseball or any of the other hundreds of things guys can bond over, I was as close to her as I was any guy throughout my lifetime.
I loved her. Not the way I love my wife, and not the way I love my sister. Ours was different. I've tried to figure some way to describe it, but that's the best way I can describe it.
Different.
We didn't fight the way brothers and sisters do. It was an altogether different kind of respect. And things almost turned romantic once. But somehow we both knew that wouldn't be right either. And so we just continued on, being there for each other regardless of whatever situation we found ourselves in at the moment.
Some of the fondest memories I have of my childhood involve her. Her parents and my parents were best friends. So we spent a lot of time over there. She was too young to be close to my older brother and sister, so we spent our time together. At her house, at my house, camping, wherever. I looked forward to being with Kim.
As teenagers, we leaned on each other. She made the turbulent times of adolescence survivable, because I was always able to go to her and talk to her when I needed a shoulder or an ear. And I did. And she did the same, confiding in me about life and sharing her hopes, dreams, hurts and fears. It didn't matter that she was a girl and I was a boy. There wasn't anything she and I couldn't and didn't talk about.
She asked me to her prom once, knowing, of course, that it would be a night out on the town for a couple of friends. I declined, because of some other commitment. I regretted it, and, you know, now it’s kind of funny, because, now, I remember the invite, but I don’t remember what I did instead of going to her prom with her.
I remember going to her high school graduation party. I was heavily sedated after having all four of my wisdom teeth cut out of my face a couple of days earlier. Even though I was sick all the day previous, I didn’t want to miss this special time for her. Feeling better, and wanting to see Kim, I got up, dressed up, and went to the party. Upon my arrival, my nausea returned and I spent practically the whole party sleeping in her bed. She wasn’t upset at all. Just happy that I was there.
When I began dating my wife, I made sure she met Kim and that I had her stamp of approval. I'm not sure what I would have done if Kim had been disappointed by my choice, but I would have been torn, you can bet on that. She introduced me to her husband to be. I’m not sure she was presenting him to me for my approval, but I’ve always believed she would have been torn as well. How could I not approve? Greg saw in her what I’d seen for years. And he was no dummy.
As the years went by, we spent less and less time together. Occasionally, we would meet for lunch. Once, my wife’s aunt, who just happened to work in the same building as Kim, saw me pick her up for lunch, drop her off, and give her a kiss goodbye. She told my wife. When the Mrs. found out who it was, she had to inform the aunt that there was no problem. She smiled and said, “It’s just Kim.”
We met more frequently at first, and then diminishing with time. We had our own families, you know? Kids to raise, places to be, work to be done. When you live over 50 miles apart, you might as well live on separate coasts. Over the past several years, it’s just been the occasional family get-togethers (although her family and mine are not really related. Who knew?)
A couple of months ago, I saw her at a family wedding. We caught up a bit, and I told her I missed having lunch with her. I would call soon, I promised, to have lunch again.
It was the last time I saw her.
She loved Jesus, which comforts me. And she is, as they say, in a much better place now. But then, that’s where Kim always was – a much better place than the rest of us. You see, her Mama and Papa raised her right. She was always a little happier, a little bubblier, and, despite her chronic arthritic pain, always felt a little better than the rest of us. I lost touch over the years, but there’s no doubt in my mind she was the same girl I was proud to call my friend for nearly 40 years. If you look closely, you will see it now, I’m sure, in the love of her husband and the eyes of her two beautiful children.
I have lots of memories of Kim. But they’re mine, and I really don’t want to share them with anybody else. I’m going to be selfish, and right now, my heart hurts pretty bad. But I look forward to the day we can have lunch again. I will pick her up, kiss her goodbye, and be sure not to let so much time go before we meet again.
I look forward to it a lot.
Her name was Kim. And while I didn't share with her golf, or baseball or any of the other hundreds of things guys can bond over, I was as close to her as I was any guy throughout my lifetime.
I loved her. Not the way I love my wife, and not the way I love my sister. Ours was different. I've tried to figure some way to describe it, but that's the best way I can describe it.
Different.
We didn't fight the way brothers and sisters do. It was an altogether different kind of respect. And things almost turned romantic once. But somehow we both knew that wouldn't be right either. And so we just continued on, being there for each other regardless of whatever situation we found ourselves in at the moment.
Some of the fondest memories I have of my childhood involve her. Her parents and my parents were best friends. So we spent a lot of time over there. She was too young to be close to my older brother and sister, so we spent our time together. At her house, at my house, camping, wherever. I looked forward to being with Kim.
As teenagers, we leaned on each other. She made the turbulent times of adolescence survivable, because I was always able to go to her and talk to her when I needed a shoulder or an ear. And I did. And she did the same, confiding in me about life and sharing her hopes, dreams, hurts and fears. It didn't matter that she was a girl and I was a boy. There wasn't anything she and I couldn't and didn't talk about.
She asked me to her prom once, knowing, of course, that it would be a night out on the town for a couple of friends. I declined, because of some other commitment. I regretted it, and, you know, now it’s kind of funny, because, now, I remember the invite, but I don’t remember what I did instead of going to her prom with her.
I remember going to her high school graduation party. I was heavily sedated after having all four of my wisdom teeth cut out of my face a couple of days earlier. Even though I was sick all the day previous, I didn’t want to miss this special time for her. Feeling better, and wanting to see Kim, I got up, dressed up, and went to the party. Upon my arrival, my nausea returned and I spent practically the whole party sleeping in her bed. She wasn’t upset at all. Just happy that I was there.
When I began dating my wife, I made sure she met Kim and that I had her stamp of approval. I'm not sure what I would have done if Kim had been disappointed by my choice, but I would have been torn, you can bet on that. She introduced me to her husband to be. I’m not sure she was presenting him to me for my approval, but I’ve always believed she would have been torn as well. How could I not approve? Greg saw in her what I’d seen for years. And he was no dummy.
As the years went by, we spent less and less time together. Occasionally, we would meet for lunch. Once, my wife’s aunt, who just happened to work in the same building as Kim, saw me pick her up for lunch, drop her off, and give her a kiss goodbye. She told my wife. When the Mrs. found out who it was, she had to inform the aunt that there was no problem. She smiled and said, “It’s just Kim.”
We met more frequently at first, and then diminishing with time. We had our own families, you know? Kids to raise, places to be, work to be done. When you live over 50 miles apart, you might as well live on separate coasts. Over the past several years, it’s just been the occasional family get-togethers (although her family and mine are not really related. Who knew?)
A couple of months ago, I saw her at a family wedding. We caught up a bit, and I told her I missed having lunch with her. I would call soon, I promised, to have lunch again.
It was the last time I saw her.
She loved Jesus, which comforts me. And she is, as they say, in a much better place now. But then, that’s where Kim always was – a much better place than the rest of us. You see, her Mama and Papa raised her right. She was always a little happier, a little bubblier, and, despite her chronic arthritic pain, always felt a little better than the rest of us. I lost touch over the years, but there’s no doubt in my mind she was the same girl I was proud to call my friend for nearly 40 years. If you look closely, you will see it now, I’m sure, in the love of her husband and the eyes of her two beautiful children.
I have lots of memories of Kim. But they’re mine, and I really don’t want to share them with anybody else. I’m going to be selfish, and right now, my heart hurts pretty bad. But I look forward to the day we can have lunch again. I will pick her up, kiss her goodbye, and be sure not to let so much time go before we meet again.
I look forward to it a lot.
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Singing (or Trying to) with John Andretti
So John Andretti died today. Very sad. I have a John Andretti story that spans 20 years...
Many years ago during the month of May in Indiana… in my karaoke DJ years in the 1990’s, my best DJ buddy and I were hired by a local radio station to run karaoke for a 500 driver’s signing party being held at an Indy car dealership. As it was, they set up our stage right next to the table where John Andretti was sitting to sign autographs for the patrons. There were a dozen or so drivers there that night — some heavyweights with the names of Foyt, Bettenhausen, Unser, and of course, Andretti.
We tried like crazy all night to get any driver to get up and sing a song and were unsuccessful except for Raul Boesel, who, despite a very thick Brazillian accent while speaking, sang the Beatles Yellow Submarine with almost perfect English dialect. It was weird, but I digress.
We were particularly ruthless and annoying in our pursuit of John Andretti, who put up with our relentless attack like a champ, mostly because he had no choice, being right next to our stage and all. My friend and I were renown for stopping at virtually nothing to coax someone into singing a song, and we really let John have it all night long. Afterward we thanked John for being such a sport and we all went our way.
Flash forward to over a year later. At the time, I also owned and operated a karaoke/recording shop in Union Station in downtown Indy. One afternoon, a local news station was doing a live broadcast from the entertainment stage in the food court. My shop was located in the food court, and I was working the shop that day. Just so happened that John Andretti was one of the featured guests on the news broadcast. I decided to mosey on over and see if I could tease John — if he even remembered me — into coming into the shop and recording a song. After the broadcast, he was talking with another person and I walked up and waited my turn beside them as they finished their conversation. They finished up, John turned and looked at me, and before I could say a word, he exclaimed, “I’M NOT SINGING A SONG!”
I laughed and said, “You remembered!” And we both shared a chuckle and chatted for a few moments and that was that. He wouldn’t come and record a song, needless to say.
Flash forward many years to 2011. I was asked by a friend to volunteer at a charity event downtown at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse that featured race drivers from all different genres racing against each other in go-karts. There were Indy Car guys and Nascar guys and Truck Series guys and Dirt Track guys all battling out against each other. Again, names like Tony Stewart, Austin Dillon, Josef Newgarden, and Ed Carpenter, and yes, John Andretti battled it out with Stewart winning the event.
I had the fortune of working in the driver’s hospitality room, meeting the guys and escorting them back and forth from that room to the pit area. Several years had gone by and I was fairly certain John wouldn’t recognize me. He was putting on his driver’s suit when I said, “you may not remember this, but I ran a karaoke stage many years ago next to you at a driver’s event.” He looked at me and said, “I’m still not singing a song!”
Again we laughed. He admitted he didn’t recognize me, but said he clearly remembered that night and how much a “pain in the ass” we’d been. I again thanked him for being such a sport, and he kindly chatted with me each time we had a chance the rest of the day.
John didn’t get the press his cousin and uncle did, but he was every bit the gentlemen, race driver, fierce competitor, and ambassador for the sport they are, and just an all around heck of a nice guy. Every time I hear his name, or see him on TV, I’m reminded of the fond memories.
I’m bummed he’s no longer with us.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Save the Whales! (Or the Possums.) EDITED!
Back when I was in high school, I had the fortune of attending a Christian youth event at which the featured speaker of the week was a gentleman named Dave Busby.
Listening to him speak changed my life.
Actually, I should clarify a bit and say that a dear friend of mine had attended an event some months before at which Busby spoke, purchased cassette recordings of those talks, and let me listen to them. I'd never heard of Dave Busby to that point, and hearing those tapes inspired me to attend the event at which I could hear him speak in person.
Dave Busby, God bless him, passed away many years ago. If you know who he was, then you know the life force for God he was. If you never had the honor of hearing him speak, simply put, you missed out. Fortunately, his family and friends have a website in his honor, where you can learn about Dave's life, and still hear his dynamic messages. Run -- don't walk -- there now and check him out.
Busby had polio as a child, and a myriad of other diseases as he grew older. Doctors had predicted he wouldn't live much past his adolescent years. Despite the daily struggle of his health issues, he lived into his 40's.
I only tell you this because the words I heard him speak all those years ago still resonate with me today. He challenged me with Godly principles I still try to live by even now. During that weeklong event, not only did I get to hear him speak multiple times, but one afternoon, I got to have lunch with him and talk to him, one on one. For an 18-year old boy still trying to find my way in life, it was an experience that will last with me a lifetime.
One particular topic Dave touched on during those talks 30 years ago was in a story he shared. He mentioned he had been following a car one day while he was out driving and happened to notice a bumper sticker on that car in front of him. It read, "Save the Whales."
Dave mentioned that while he in no way condoned the senseless killing of innocent animals, he nevertheless had this to say, and I remember it verbatim. He exclaimed, "I don't give a rip about whales! I hope that when I die, they put something more important on my tombstone than, 'He saved whales.'"
That has stuck with me for 30 years. The concept that we should be focusing our lives and energies and passions on things that actually matter. Things that have Kingdom consequences. Things that positively make peoples lives better.
Again, understanding that we're not for killing off whales just for the sake of killing off whales, saving whales is way down on my list of causes to support when I think of the literally thousands of things more important than that in our everyday lives.
I'm reminded of that because of something that's happened here in Hilton Head over the past couple weeks. Some golfers on some golf course here locally encountered a small possum on the golf course some days ago. Unfortunately, they chose to bash it with a golf club, and rather than killing it, they rendered it severely injured and blind. Now, I'm not sure at all how that story made it's way into the news, but it did, and now the whole island is up in arms about it.
They're calling for the golfers to be prosecuted, if anyone can identify who they are. Some are calling for the course itself to be held responsible. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with the possum's vet bills, even though it appears the bills have already been taken care of. The whole vibe of the island has been shifted off it's axis.
For a possum.
A possum.
A teenage boy was murdered in his car in the parking lot of a church here in Bluffton a few days before Christmas. While it certainly made the news, I can say without equivocation that I've seen almost 10 times the amount of social media posts concerning the possum than the murdered teenager.
I looked for a GoFundMe account for the murdered teenager this morning. I didn't find one. If there's a memorial fund set up for him, I'm not aware of it.
Last night, a post was made on our local Ask and Answer Facebook page of a Change.org campaign that's been set up, where one can sign a petition that the responsible parties be prosecuted for the crime.
For the possum.
For animal cruelty, to be precise. Golfers, in the middle of the day, beat what they likely suspected was a rabid, wild possum with a golf club, and there's a Change.org petition you can sign to support animal cruelty charges against them. As if a Change.org petition has any legal weight at all.
I've seen no Change.org petition set up for the killers of the young, local teenager. Nothing.
I commented on the Ask and Answer post last night. Here was my comment:
"I’m not at all for hurting animals senselessly, but I hope that when I die, I will be known for more important things than signing petitions to save possums."
For that, I was called both a DB (which I assume means "douchebag") multiple times, and a Putz. Here's a couple of the other responses, verbatim, (I fixed no grammar, punctuation, or spelling) just so you can see for yourselves the well thought out, reasonable, educated responses:
Paul Uhls maybe you Conan be known for being kind:)
Paul Uhls hey you senseless person. It’s about the abuse the cruelty the beating what these horrible beings did to a animal which by the way was created by god. And your sick if you had to post this
Leave this group. We don’t want You posting
Listening to him speak changed my life.
Actually, I should clarify a bit and say that a dear friend of mine had attended an event some months before at which Busby spoke, purchased cassette recordings of those talks, and let me listen to them. I'd never heard of Dave Busby to that point, and hearing those tapes inspired me to attend the event at which I could hear him speak in person.
Dave Busby, God bless him, passed away many years ago. If you know who he was, then you know the life force for God he was. If you never had the honor of hearing him speak, simply put, you missed out. Fortunately, his family and friends have a website in his honor, where you can learn about Dave's life, and still hear his dynamic messages. Run -- don't walk -- there now and check him out.
Busby had polio as a child, and a myriad of other diseases as he grew older. Doctors had predicted he wouldn't live much past his adolescent years. Despite the daily struggle of his health issues, he lived into his 40's.
I only tell you this because the words I heard him speak all those years ago still resonate with me today. He challenged me with Godly principles I still try to live by even now. During that weeklong event, not only did I get to hear him speak multiple times, but one afternoon, I got to have lunch with him and talk to him, one on one. For an 18-year old boy still trying to find my way in life, it was an experience that will last with me a lifetime.
One particular topic Dave touched on during those talks 30 years ago was in a story he shared. He mentioned he had been following a car one day while he was out driving and happened to notice a bumper sticker on that car in front of him. It read, "Save the Whales."
Dave mentioned that while he in no way condoned the senseless killing of innocent animals, he nevertheless had this to say, and I remember it verbatim. He exclaimed, "I don't give a rip about whales! I hope that when I die, they put something more important on my tombstone than, 'He saved whales.'"
That has stuck with me for 30 years. The concept that we should be focusing our lives and energies and passions on things that actually matter. Things that have Kingdom consequences. Things that positively make peoples lives better.
Again, understanding that we're not for killing off whales just for the sake of killing off whales, saving whales is way down on my list of causes to support when I think of the literally thousands of things more important than that in our everyday lives.
I'm reminded of that because of something that's happened here in Hilton Head over the past couple weeks. Some golfers on some golf course here locally encountered a small possum on the golf course some days ago. Unfortunately, they chose to bash it with a golf club, and rather than killing it, they rendered it severely injured and blind. Now, I'm not sure at all how that story made it's way into the news, but it did, and now the whole island is up in arms about it.
They're calling for the golfers to be prosecuted, if anyone can identify who they are. Some are calling for the course itself to be held responsible. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with the possum's vet bills, even though it appears the bills have already been taken care of. The whole vibe of the island has been shifted off it's axis.
For a possum.
A possum.
A teenage boy was murdered in his car in the parking lot of a church here in Bluffton a few days before Christmas. While it certainly made the news, I can say without equivocation that I've seen almost 10 times the amount of social media posts concerning the possum than the murdered teenager.
I looked for a GoFundMe account for the murdered teenager this morning. I didn't find one. If there's a memorial fund set up for him, I'm not aware of it.
Last night, a post was made on our local Ask and Answer Facebook page of a Change.org campaign that's been set up, where one can sign a petition that the responsible parties be prosecuted for the crime.
For the possum.
For animal cruelty, to be precise. Golfers, in the middle of the day, beat what they likely suspected was a rabid, wild possum with a golf club, and there's a Change.org petition you can sign to support animal cruelty charges against them. As if a Change.org petition has any legal weight at all.
I've seen no Change.org petition set up for the killers of the young, local teenager. Nothing.
I commented on the Ask and Answer post last night. Here was my comment:
"I’m not at all for hurting animals senselessly, but I hope that when I die, I will be known for more important things than signing petitions to save possums."
For that, I was called both a DB (which I assume means "douchebag") multiple times, and a Putz. Here's a couple of the other responses, verbatim, (I fixed no grammar, punctuation, or spelling) just so you can see for yourselves the well thought out, reasonable, educated responses:
Paul Uhls maybe you Conan be known for being kind:)
Paul Uhls hey you senseless person. It’s about the abuse the cruelty the beating what these horrible beings did to a animal which by the way was created by god. And your sick if you had to post this
Leave this group. We don’t want You posting
I know, of course, what they're trying to say, even if in their anger they haven't quite grasped the nuances of writing a coherent sentence. They're passionate about animals. I'm OK with that.
I'm not trying to embarrass anyone. I'm also not begrudging anyone their love of animals and nature. Anyone who knows me knows my love for animals. I'm the proud owner of two small dogs, and have been a pet lover and owner my whole life. I'm not a hunter. Not my thing.
I also desperately hope that when I die, I'm known for something bigger, better, greater, more important, and more life-changing than saving possums, or whales, or dolphins, or dogs, or gorillas, or any other animal you can think of. (Sloths, maybe.)
For every person who thinks I'm a DB (their words) for not caring about a wild possum, I hope another family knows that I cared about their murdered child, their drug-addled teen, or their aborted baby, or their lost loved-one.
I hope I'm known for telling people about Jesus, and how He can change their lives if they'll only let Him. I hope I'm known for not being afraid to stand up for what I believe in, and that those causes for which I do stand actually make a difference in people's lives. Things like speaking out against those who support killing babies, and trying to encourage others to vote for people who feel the same, elected officials who actually have the power to stop the murders.
Not for signing meaningless petitions to save a possum.
Three months from now, no one -- no one -- will be talking about this little possum. A year from now no one will remember the story.
I want to be known for caring about things that will last for eternity. For putting my time, energy, and passion into things that make a difference in people's lives forever. For caring about causes people will be talking about centuries from now.
If that makes me a Putz, then I'm a Putz.
P.S. Evidence is still coming out that many of the details in this story as it has been reported are pure speculation. There's no hard evidence at this point that the possum was even found at a golf course, let alone that golfers were responsible for the beating. Don't believe everything the media feeds ya, kiddos.
P.S. Evidence is still coming out that many of the details in this story as it has been reported are pure speculation. There's no hard evidence at this point that the possum was even found at a golf course, let alone that golfers were responsible for the beating. Don't believe everything the media feeds ya, kiddos.
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