10/26/2016 – J-Dub's Grin and Bear It

I remember going out in high school driving around aimlessly on Friday and Saturday nights down WW White Road up to Rigsby then out to Walzem and back on a loop. Looking for a congregation of teenagers up for some fun. It was the wild early 80s. A popular prank was to steal street signs. Now as an adult I know how absolutely idiotic that was … stealing a stop sign or a yield sign or do not enter … it’s just asking for a fatal accident.

Well my group, we never stole street signs but in the same vein we decided that we would take letters off the Peter Dunn discount sign that was placed in front of the store advertising their sales. Our goal was to get all the letters to spell our names. We were going to use this loot for room decor. Again as an adult I think how ridiculous.

4th of July sale snagged me a J and L.

Free installation got me the rest of my first name and a good start to my middle name.

It seemed harmless. We were all doing it. What could it hurt?

One evening as we drove by the store, making our regular rounds, we saw in big block letters … for all the world to see … JESUS LOVES WHOEVER IS STEALING FROM OUR SIGN!!!

Of course we panic “oh my gawd do you think they know who it is … that it is us?!?!? Now we need to go to confession!!!” As a group we decide to collect all the letters and around midnight we sneak back and returned everything!

Nothing works better than fear of humiliation. We all knew better … good little Catholic schoolgirls that we were … shame shame on us. But we learned a valuable lesson. Stealing, even signage is not cool.

As always, more to come.

With the election just around the corner, I remember my parents and how civic-minded they both were. Life experiences affects us all and you can be sure that their life experiences made them true patriots. They were voting; doing so was a privilege, a duty! Today it was said “people have died for the right to vote” Think about that people. Be humbled. Know that anyone born in the United States is truly blessed. Me, I realize I am truly blessed that my parents were such excellent role models.

I am not going to discuss politics in detail here though. Vote for who you are going to vote for just be sure to vote! This is your chance to speak up!!! Don’t be silent. Naysayers will say it doesn’t matter, what’s one vote but casting your ballot does matter even if just on a psychological level. Today I voted and it felt fantastic to make a choice.

Back to my parents, they were active participants in the political process, attending rallies, and working the polls. In the time before internet, you’d get your info from the newspaper, magazines and other print material. They’d spread out all the literature across the kitchen table and discuss the candidates. Over the course of days and weeks leading to the election, they decided who they would vote for and they ALWAYS voted for the same candidates. Sometimes there was debate and convincing going on but ultimately they said they’d be a united front and not cancel out each other’s votes. This impressed upon me as a child and I am repeating the same now. We are a voting block of three – Billy Bob, me and Lulu. Maybe five, I have not had a chance to discuss in detail with Pony and Wise.

I’d love to have the conversation face-to-face like the good old days. A true discourse and exchanging of views but here, there is too much left out of the conversation. Online it is easy to misunderstand without the chance to clarify actual meaning/intent. In the end, maybe we agree to disagree but I will still call you friend.

As always, more to come.