A viewpoint

I just finished reading a post on social media when someone interject race into the tragedy that happened with the school shooting yesterday. I posted a comment to this and I wanted to share it with you all.

You see that some people focus on the wrong thing. You can't let things and people breathe. People just lost their children, family members and friends due to this tragedy and you have the nerves to talk about race. You don't know the makeup of those kids and it shouldn't matter. The topic is violence and the question is how to stop so many of these acts from happening. It's time to wake up from a negative place in this world and start talking about how to positively change it. We are all people and it is time we start acting like we care about all people.

It's time for me to say something

On Friday, a terrible tragedy happened in Colorado that resulted in twelve people dead and many more injured.  As this news settled in, I had several thoughts that I need to share. First of all, my thoughts and prayers goes out to the victims and their families. No one, I mean no one, should have to go through something that horrific.

As a comic book and movie geek,  I understand completely of the feel of going to a midnight showing of a comic book movie. It's like a mini comic book convention. You get to gather in one place with people that has the same interest as you. You get to see people dress up as their favorite character on that showing as well. To have that bond and shared enjoyment severed by a madman bent on death and destruction is unfathomable and heartbreaking. I, myself, went to the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises and enjoyed myself. When I woke up to this news, I put myself in their shoes. What if that had happened to my midnight showing. I think everyone had that thought in some way. Regardless if you're a fanboy/fangirl or not, that core group that went to see that movie represented the diversity that makes our country great. The melting pot that the United States was formed on was there that night, no matter what color, age or religion. You knew somebody in your life that could have been in that theater.

We get so separated in life that we fail to see, hear and connect with one another. A simple conversation turns out to be an all out brawl with people sometimes. We have to get back to the days of open conversations with people in this world. While no one agrees on everything, we can discuss things and still find common ground. I, for instance, am not a big fan of guns. I agree with the main reason of why some people want a gun: to be safe. There is a way to have talks about gun "common sense". The word control just puts people in defense mode and does neither side any good. We do not want tragedies like this to continue. I am sad and heartbroken about what happened in that movie theater that night. The thing that gives me hope is the gathering of these different people in one place for one cause. Also,by the love and support that flows to those in that theater from their families and strangers they never knew. I, for one,will strive to keep the heart of their mini convention going safely so we can still believe in the superheroes in all of us.

P.S. Remember to say something nice to a person today. We all can use light in a dark day.

A moment to remember

I had to stop to reflect on something this week.

 In 1997, I was working at Blockbuster Music at the Brandon Town Center. This particular day, I noticed a customer come in on crutches. I've had to do the crutches thing before and I know it's no fun. So, I go to greet that customer and see if he needed any help. I remembered that he was looking for some CD's to add to his collection. It took me a minute to noticed that I was helping out a celebrity. Then I asked :
"Are you Dwayne Schintzius?"
"Yes I am", he responded back.
I was so excited. I followed Dwayne Schintzius even since his time at The University of Florida. Granted, some of those times made me cry as a Florida State fan. Regardless, when I thought of the top centers in the state(since I started watching basketball), his name was high on that list. 

I asked him a bunch of questions while I helped him pick out some music. It ranged from his playing time to his role in the movie "Eddie" with Whoopi Goldberg. The conversation was less like a star and his star struck fan. It was more like two people hanging out and just talking. I think I helped him for maybe 15-20 minutes. He left an impression on me on that day. You can be famous/talented and still be down to earth. It also reminded me that we all can connected to each other in some way. When I heard his name since that day, I always smiled and thought "He is a down to earth, cool guy". When I found out one of my friend was married to his brother, I said that is so awesome. So, when I found out through my friend that Dwayne had passed away(on April 15), I stopped and I cried. Even though I had one conversation with him, I knew what type of person he was. I hope that, in writing this, I can add this story among the others to remember him by.

RIP
 

Observations From Within by Chuka McCoy | Make Your Own Book

Hooray!

I did it! I got my poems that I've been writing for twenty years now in a book and published it. I am so happy to get my stuff out there for rest of the world to see. Here's the link for my book. http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/2675805#promote-pane

I'm closing one door and running through another

I am officially done and cutting the cord. I have said it's not a constant thing that keep happening. Today, I realize it is in my best interest to stay away from you, Wendy's. I have put in order after order at this restaurant chain. For the last month and a half, I had to drive back to a Wendy's because the order wasn't right. Some of you may have the classic Joe Pesci line from Lethal Weapon II in your head while I say this. It has happened in the lobby as well as the drive thru. Today was the last straw. I ordered a sandwich with bacon on it and surprise....no bacon. I wasn't upset but wanted to get it corrected since I wasn't that far away.   While I was waiting on the sandwich, I went to stretch out my arms.  I didn't really notice this big not so soft plastic sign out way beyond where it should be. By the time I noticed it, the sign already got a big chunk of flesh off of my left arm. I have a scar on that same arm from a decade ago before I knew about Neosporin. As I stared at both marks on my arms, I said to myself "You know, I don't need to eat here that bad anymore". It reminded me of the decision I made last night. Starting Monday, I'm going to increase my exercise that I do throughout the week. It will help me with some of the things that I have coming up. I'm on record,folks.

What I saw this week

I've noticed a few things this week that I had to comment on.

1. I witnessed a person crank up their vehicle, pull out of the parking spot and then load up their groceries. What type of sense does this make? None, in my opinion. You're wasting gas and blocking other people to find a parking spot. Thank you for the consideration of others.
2. I had a woman come into the store talking as loud as possible trying to find stuff. As she gets to the counter, her son is running around and talking loud as well. She tells him to use his inside voice. Wow, ironic statement.
3. As I walked out of Wal Mart, I heard a woman behind me say"Oh My God! It's like raining. I can't like walk home in the rain!". Really? Is it the 80's again? The main part of this one is that it was only sprinkling.
4. On a happier note: I found a Monopoly piece from McDonald's for a free Quarter Pounder. Yay!

That's all for now. More posts to come soon.