Walgreens and Me

I was sick last week and the doctor gave me a prescription for some medicine. It was late and Walgreens was the only drug store opened. I walked in and I was one of just a very few people who were in the store. I went to the pharmacy and handed the guy behind the counter my prescription and he shouted back, "There are at least 14 people before you. It will be a fifteen minute wait."

Well, I saw no one in the store, but didn't feel well enough to argue, so I sat down and proceeded to wait. After about five minutes another man walked up to the pharmacy window with a prescription that needed filled. The same man behind the counter looked at this guy and said, "There are at least 32 people ahead of you. It will be a forty five minute wait."

I have no way of knowing whether the guy behind the counter was busy or not, but it sure seemed to me that he just didn't want to be bothered by work.

There is no real point to this story. It was just something I witnessed that made me reflect on my own actions when I don't want to be bothered. And I think I just might have learned a lesson here.

What The World Needs Now

Living in the midwest, I and many others experienced yesterday 40 mile an hour winds, blowing and blinding snow, below freezing weather, a dangerous driving environment and basically blizzard like conditions all day long.

Having to be out in the weather driving for a portion of the day I noticed how everyone on the road looked out for each other. After all, we were all in this situation together. People were friendly and helpful to their neighbor and there was peace and good will - at least on the roads.

During all of this, race, religion and political views were never an issue. It was just one day of helping our fellow man without making judgements or having opinions.

Maybe the world needs a good old-fashioned snow storm to remind us that we're all in this together and hatred, war and gridlock is not good or helpful to anyone.

Thanks For Your Loyalty, Mister Santo

When I think of my childhood, I think of Ron Santo. This goes way back to the 1960's when a neighbor boy asked me if I was a Cubs fan or a Cardinal fan. I had always been a fan of Baseball and didn't know I had to choose sides - something I still don't understand. Anyway, I couldn't give my friend an instant answer, so I told him I would sleep on it and get back to him.

I decided that since the Cubs were from Chicago and I lived in Illinois, then I would be loyal to my state, so I proudly told my friend that I was a Chicago Cubs fan. And now some four decades later I remain one.

The Cubs had some pretty good players back then, which included three future hall of famers and one guy that played just as good, but for some reason or another never quite made it into that exclusive club. That player, of course, was Ron Santo and his sixty decade love for his team is what inspired me most about him.

To me, Mister Santo was more than just a good ballplayer and passionate announcer. Instead, I looked at him as an embassador of loyalty. In this day and age of "me first," it was always nice to look at a man who sincerely cared about an orgainization that gave him his start.

All of us can learn a lot from Ron Santo's loyalty. And not just for our favorite sports team, for it goes much deeper than that. It starts with the people that shaped us into who we are today like teachers, family members, spouses, mentors, bosses and the list goes on and on. It's important that we remember these things and sad that it often takes death to remind us of what really matters. Thanks, Mister Santo, for when I think of your life, it gets me back on course.

Overcoming Disappointment Through An Unlikely Source

There are times in life when we have to face disappointment. This can take on many forms. Sometimes it's in the guise of a family member or friend. Other times disappointment can be related to work or even play. All of these frustrations eventually work themselves out either by moving on or accepting the way things are with the person or problem that has you disillusioned.

However, one of the hardest obstacles to overcome is when we feel disappointed in ourselves. Often it's something we said or did, or didn't say or do. Other times it's looking at the so called success of our peers and feeling a sense of failure or incompleteness within our own life.

When this happens, we sometimes find ourselves fighting these feelings of self disappointment with denial or justification or give into it completely by going into depression or self doubt. These are all natural feelings, but ultimately time wasting.

The best way to learn about and overcome disappointment is through baseball. Yes, I said baseball. Look at the facts. The best hitters in the game get out seventy percent of the time. What's more important, though, is that they get chance after chance to redeem themselves. A batter could strike out three times in a row, but still has the opportunity to win the game with a home run. Just like real life.

A person is like baseball. They can go from goat to hero with just one swing. However, the secret is to keep on swinging.

The Mystery Of Christmas

It's Christmas time once again.

It's that time when Atheist's celebrate a religious holiday and the believers celebrate a birthday that happened in July.

It's that time when good hard-working people often spend money they don't have on a gift they really don't want to buy because they couldn't find the gift that they were really looking for in the first place.

It's that time when we reflect on the mistakes of the past year, with the knowledge that we will most likely make them again.

However, it's also that time where the words peace, good will and family take on a special meaning - a meaning that often gets lost come January.

The Choices Of Yesterday

Some people just have bad reputations. There is usually a reason for this. Most always it's self-inflicted - like making a mistake and then repeating it. Or it could be as simple as choosing the wrong people to hang out with.

Whatever the reason, these things happen. And more often than not, they happen to regular people. Most, eventually learn from the bad choices they made in the past, but sometimes that learning comes too late.

It's never too late, however, to start over. One must realize, though, that a reputation damaged (no matter who or what is to blame) has its consequences and might just take a lifetime to repair. It's the choices we make that deterimine our real future - and ultimately, our own happiness.

Tiger Woods And Celebrity Worship: My Two Cents

I've said this before and I'll say it again and again and again.

NEVER put athletes and entertainers on a pedestal. One can admire their talents, but why idolize a person without even knowing them? People do this all of the time and quite frankly this behavior is very shallow.

Here's a novel idea. If you want to look up to someone, why don't you start with a family member or friend or co-worker - at least someone you know. And if you don't know anyone with qualities that you want to admire - then maybe you, yourself could become the person that others can look up too.

I'm sure there are athletes and celebrities out there that are good, honest people, but if you don't know them personally, then how do you really know? You certainly can't believe what you read because famous people have the money and the power to create their own image whether it's real or not. Sorry Mister Woods, but you are a perfect example of this.

If more people would stop idolizing the famous, then maybe these celebrities would stop getting these ridiculous salaries and the money that these sponsors shell out could go to something a little more important than an expensive mansion that nobody really needs. This would also free up news programs that seem to think that the rich and famous are news worthy every hour of every day.

It's great to enjoy the talents of a certain athelete or entertainer, but to admire someone that you don't know personally? Come on, get real.

The Last Laugh

I'm old enough to remember watching The Beatles when they made their American debut on the Ed Sullivan Show way back in the early 1960's. I remember me and my family all gathered around the television and the reactions all of us had as we saw John, Paul, George and Ringo for the very first time.

We had never seen or heard anything like The Beatles before and our initial reaction was to laugh - and that's what we did.

Years later I was in a movie theatre and they showed a preview for this new movie called "Star Wars." It looked really silly, and I remember everyone in the theatre laughing all the way through the trailer.

Several years later you could not turn on your televsion set without seeing the ads for a new station dedicated to just music. Everywhere you went you heard "I want my MTV." And of course, we laughed.

All of this kind of makes you wonder what the future holds for the people and things we are laughing at today.

Good, Bad Or...

Every once in a while I am reminded of the behavior of people. It amazes me how some can be so generous and giving while others cruel, self-centered and downright mean. What amazes me more, though, are the people that are neither.

Sadly, I and many others I know fall into the "neither" category. We love, we laugh, we care and we give, but all of that is often just within our little circle of family and friends.

Every service organization is always in need of volunteers. Whether it be homeless shelters, food banks, or numerous others, there is always someone that could use the help of others. On the rare occasions that I have offered my services I have felt tremendous pride and inner peace for the time I committed to the less fortunate. It seems, however, that I always have an excuse to never go back and help again.

I guess that makes me neither good or bad - just ordinary. What about you?

Leave It To A Song

I've been to many weddings in my fifty-two years. Including my own. I've seen couples flourish and others fail.

One can dissect the secret to a successful marriage all they want, but I think the answer lies in the lyrics of an old "Asleep at the Wheel" song. They go like this.

You've got to dance with who brung you
Swing with who swung you
Life ain't no forty-yard dash.
Be in it for the long run
In the long run you'll have more fun
If you dance with who brung you to the bash.

I think those lyrics say it all.

Opinions And Behavior

I don't believe in abortion. However, I believe that abortion should stay legal. I am also for the death penalty, but if I was on a jury, I could not condemn a person to death. I also believe that I am not alone in these thoughts.

For those of you who call me a hypocrite - I say look in the mirror. We all do or say contrasting things in the course of a lifetime, but when we do, we usually become very politician like and ignore the fact that we sometimes believe one way and behave the other.

So are all people hypocrites? I don't know, but I do know that we are all human.

Rudy Ray Moore - Gone But Not Forgotten

Rudy Ray Moore died one year ago today. His death didn't make the national news in print or broadcast, but thankfully the internet was around to inform his fans.

His party albums of the 1970's were funnier and dirtier than the much tamer Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx. Moore was a true original who never changed his style to accommodate television or Hollywood. And because of that, he became an underground cult figure instead of the superstar that he could have been.

His movie "Dolemite" was mentioned in the New York Times as "the Citizen Kane of kung fu pimping movies," and his rhyming routines of the 1970's earned him the title "The Godfather of Rap."

His originality and his conviction to stay true to himself should always serve has an inspiration to any writer or performer.

Star Wars

It's interesting that the day after President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States blast two missles into the moon.

Of course, I know that the moon mission was all done for the sake of science. Either way, I'm happy for both NASA and our president.

After Obama's surprise award, maybe other nations will now look at the United States as a country that is trying to change the way the rest of the world views us.

After all, now more than ever, we need all the nations to come together. It's the only hope this planet has in fighting off the alien invasion that is most likely to follow as a retaliation to us bombing the moon.

Man And Machine

When a television or computer is on the verge of breaking down, we often smack, shake or curse it back to something we can live with. This method will often work for a while until the objects finally frustrate us into giving up.

When a human being is in the same state of disarray, we frequently do similar things, which often have the same results.

Thoughts On A Busy Life

Most people are busy. And if you ask them, they will say that they are too busy. Many people tend to over extend themselves either at work, play or with various family activities or problems. Often times all of the above.

Being married adds to the confusion because your stress becomes your spouses stress, which then adds more stress to the stress that both of you already have.

You find yourself dreaming of time alone or just a night out with your spouse to get away from all of the high maintenance people or problems or obligations that dominate your life. On the rare occasion that you are alone or with your spouse, you find yourself thinking or talking about all of the high maintenance people or problems or obligations that dominate your life.

More rare than that is the hour or two where there is peace, which is always interrupted by high maintenance people, problems or obligations.

There is a solution to all of this. This solution takes courage, guts and a commitment that every busy person must make to find tranquility. And that is simply saying "no" without a guilty conscience. And the only way to do that is to not be afraid to be selfish every once in a while.

Now, if I could just practice what I preach.

A Rocky Foundation

Hatred, laziness, prejudice and selfishness are four words that are born out of ignorance and greed - two things which sadly seem to have shaped the world that we live in.

We are living in a time where political leaders are not trusted and overpaid entertainers and athletes are put on pedestals. The technical advancements of computers and games are making exercise for children a chore instead of a natural thing and the older generation is split between progress and refusing to adapt.

Maybe it's time to not worry about the big picture and put our focus on ourselves and families, because I have this feeling that the world as we know it, is only going to get more convulted.

The Holy Robots

When I was younger I was always annoyed at church by the people that would be one step ahead of everyone else. You know, the ones that stand up or sit down a half second before the rest of the congregation, or are a few words ahead during the "Our Father."

I used to feel that these people were showing off and that for some reason, they felt that praying was a race and the first one to finish would be rewarded in the end. I don't think that way anymore.

I have lately started to observe the people that get ahead of the Sunday morning church crowd. I have come to the conclusion that these are not people showing off. No, they are rather people caught up in the church routine. They know the words and actions inside out. They know them to the point that they are responding without thinking, without feeling, without knowing what it is they are even saying or doing.

And I sometimes have to wonder if that is worse than showing off.

Age And Time

It's true, most of us can't do the things we did when we were in our twenties or thirties. However, we can do things now that we won't be able to do in our seventies and eighties.

From age thirty on, people tend to feel older and often dream of the days that will never come back. So instead of getting depressed about a youth gone by, maybe it's time to make the most of right now. After all, whether time flies, stands still or passes us by, it's still time. And we owe it to ourselves to make it time well spent.

The Strength Of Defeat

Defeat is a strong beast. It can stop, cripple or kill and idea, an attitude or even a person. It's born out of rejection, laziness and fear of failure and takes on many shapes, sizes and identities. It's here, there, everywhere and nowhere. It's within the people we know and the places we work and can be responsible for the downfall of character, pride and a persons general outlook.

Defeat can only be beaten by strength. That strength can be found in persistence, concentration and even ignorance. Every person large or small, young or old, has the ability to overcome defeat for as strong as it may feel at times, it can be broken by will power, flexibility and determination - just to name a few.

We all have the power within us to win at anything we do, for defeat is not so strong that it can't be broken.

The Short Ride Through Life

When walking through the halls of a nursing home, it's easy to forget that the old suffering people in the rooms all around were once vibrant human beings that laughed, loved, worked and played.

Some of those worn out bodies have children to carry on their memories. Others don't. For them, they are not only looking at the end of their lives, but also at the end of the line. All of their life long possessions have dwindled down to just the necessities that will fit in a space the size of a dorm room. Some clothes, a small television, maybe a radio, or a bible and a few pictures of people that no one else knows is all that's left of a life once-lived.

When that person dies, Goodwill will get what it needs of their belongings, while the trash can will get the rest. And not only is a life gone and forgotten, but the people and lives in the memories of that person disappear as well.

Eventually this will happen to all of us. That's why it's so important to make an effort to enjoy living and all of the wonders that it brings. Everyone gets their time in the cycle of life. Take pleasure in it while you can.