Monday Musings...
Was it just me, or did yesterday seem not quite like a "Sunday"?
Maybe it was all the 9/11 programming, which I didn't mind one bit.
The most interesting show of the lot was THE RISING...all about the new WTC Freedom Tower that's going up.
And I mean interesting in the most productive way.
I didn't know ALL the things that go into building such a structure.
(so I learned something new - always a good thing)
Much of the FOX programming was devoted to personal accounts, and there are SO many stories out there that need to be told.
I finished off the day by watching CASABLANCA (again) on TCM. That movie never gets old (imho).

Naturally, the weekend in total was not without it's share of "problems".
(when is it ever?)

One of them began back on Friday.
See, our ghettohood suffers from a little-known illness, called Roaming Cart Syndrome.
Any store will lose a cart per week down here, and it will invariably wind up in OUR area.
Well, that's what you get when your tax money goes to "better the less-fortunate" among us.
(bullsh*t)
It's called STEALING a damn cart from the freaking store.
Now, in more upscale areas, they have trackers on the carts, but not down here.
And that's why these carts "roam about" until someone (like me) calls the store to alert them of it's missing.
They do come out and pick them up.
But the CAUSE of the issue is never addressed.
PEOPLE are taking the carts when they have scores of friends who can easily take them to market, or wherever else they NEED to go.
And these people are never to account for the missing carts. They are rarely if EVER cited for the theft.
Like I always say...a DOUBLE-STANDARD for people these days.
That's pretty damn sad.
Where was our double-standard on this day TEN YEARS AGO?
Short answer: We didn't have one...not on that day.
Ten years ago (on this day), we were a galvanized people. We wanted JUSTICE for what had been done to OUR people and OUR nation.
While the Good Book teaches that WE should not seek vengeance (that's the Lord's job), we needed to have something done along those lines.
Now, I'm one of those that believes that a little "righteous indignation" every now and then is justified...and even NEEDED.
Even Christ went into the Temple and turned over the money-changers' tables, fashioned a "scourge" of rope (make-shift whip) and set about clearing the place OUT. I can work with that.
And ten years ago, we wanted to enact the same upon those that killed our loved ones and devastated our country.
I believe that a lot of us are OK with that, too.
While I was listening to the police radio, I couldn't help hear that even yesterday, some people could not refrain from committing some sort of crime.
It was a relatively SLOW day, law-enforcement wise, but still, you had idiots that wanted nothing more than to PREY on others.
We had "only" 9 boomcars in the area, so a lot of folks stayed away for a pleasant change.
But those NINE people (read morons) demonstrated to me that they have NO RESPECT for the solemnity of yesterday, or for even what it stands for.
As a result, I will show them no respect in kind.
I know that's not Christ-like, but I never said I was.
We're human, and we do what we have to whenever the need arises.
We might rush into a building ready to collapse, or we might hold a door for someone.
It doesn't matter what the scope and size of what one person does to help another is...only that you have one person helping another person.
One thing I wound up doing was grabbing several packages of cookies and dropping them off at a local Fire Station (# 5 to be exact along Bluffton Rd), and initially, the firefighter I spoke with briefly seemed taken aback, but when I explained the "WHY" of my reason, he started to smile.
I'd like to think this small kindness and acknowledgment of their service and dedication to our community was repeated across the nation.
Each little kindness isn't all that much, but add them all up, and you find that Americans are pretty damn good in that regard.
So, yeah, it was a decent weekend overall.
Life IS what you make of it, that's for sure.
You want to do nothing, then that's pretty much what you'll wind up with in the end.
But, if you want to do something...for someone...for no damn reason other than the fact that you CAN...and SHOULD, the rewards will be much more than you could want.
I ain't saying that some stranger is gonna dump a million bucks on your doorstep tomorrow...that's dumb to think that.
(but still cool....lol)
You need to realize that rewards are never all about money or even possessions.
If I had all the money I could possibly need or want, but had NO character, morals or ethics, I'd be a pretty damn screwed up individual (or a politician...LOL).
Who WE are, who we have been, and who we might become should be a focus in our lives.
We affect a helluva lot MORE people than we think...and every day as well.
Besides, we'd each best get used to US, because that's who we wind up spending the most time with, right?
When Sun Tzu said "Know your enemy and know yourself", he wasn't just talking about the person (s) encountered on the battlefield.
And how many times have you heard someone say (perhaps yourself): "I'm my OWN worst enemy"?
THAT is more to what he was speaking about...
If you don't know who YOU are, you're in trouble.
I think we all knew who we WERE back on 9/11/01...
Thing is, are we still that person, and are we willing to do what it takes to remain or become that person again?
Just a little something to think about this week.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.