The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Archives for April 2011

We Don’t Care About People

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(I promised a friend that I would run this again.)

Every year I blog about why I hate hearing about the Christmas spirit. Inevitably these posts generate a variety of emails from my readers ranging from those that politely try to explain why I am wrong to those that suggest I might engage in some sort of anatomically impossible act or better yet…die.

Well my friends I suppose that were I flexible enough I might consider the middle option. It would save a lot of time and money. Just think I wouldn’t have to engage in small talk, cuddle or try to silently sneak away. The third option isn’t quite as interesting to me as I have quite a few things to do and death is really far down the list. However, I would like to address the man who says that I am going to burn in hell because I don’t share his beliefs. Yes, I am sure about my own beliefs and I don’t need to promote them by engaging in religious terror, but thanks for playing.

The real point of this nonsense is to remind everyone that hunger, hopelessness and hurt do not magically disappear after the holiday season. I simply hate the idea of focusing our attention on giving because of the time of year. I have heard all of the arguments about why it makes sense to make the appeal now and I just don’t buy it.

But this year I want to point the spotlight at a different group as well. Let’s not focus the beam on those who are living on the streets or who are “traditionally” poor. Let’s talk about our friends and family who are struggling in silence. They are college educated, hard working members of society who have fallen upon hard times.

They are men and women who have always been productive members of society, but for one reason or another they are struggling now. They live among you. You know them. You see them on a regular basis but you probably don’t hear their stories. They are sad, heartbroken and uninterested in pity. They don’t want to be lectured about what they could or should have done. They don’t want to be judged for for their situations.

All they want is an opportunity to take care of their families. They don’t want hand outs, but a hand up and their numbers are growing. Each day they are beating their heads against stone, fighting for each inch and wondering what they must have done wrong. It may sound like hyperbole or some sort of sad story that you would see on Lifetime, but it is not.

It is life and it is killing people. Their spirits are being broken and their faith is being crushed. The hardest part for many is the feeling that they are dying a slow death. It is like fighting a giant anaconda that slowly squeezes you to death.

And that my friends is my very happy message of cheer and good will towards men.

 

Write, Write, Write and Write Some More

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(I shared this on Studio 30 Plus)

Writing is my passion. It is where I share pieces and parts of my heart. It is where I empty out the contents of the cavernous hole that exists between my ears.

Thoughts and ideas that swirl inside are translated and transcribed with the hope that they will work together to construct something meaningful and significant.

So I write and write and write and then I write some more. My words are displayed here and elsewhere. Most of the time I write without any regard for who might read these things.

But sometimes I succumb to the same desires, fears and insecurities as others and write with the hope that these words will resonate with more than just myself.

Father Son Moments

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The kids are in the middle of a two week long vacation. I have dubbed this time heaven and hell. I love having them around all the time but spend more than a few minutes rolling my eyes and muttering under my breath. It is one of the challenges of having a home office, especially when they see themselves as having constant access to me. I am constantly striving to achieve that zen state of balance where I am able to work without interruption and yet still spend time with them. Thus far I haven’t figured it out, but I am nothing if not stubborn and am working on it.

In the interim I have had more than a few moments that are worth chronicling here in cyberspace.

Tuesday afternoon that dude I once dubbed as ‘Little Jack’ and I are going to take the afternoon off to participate in the Stain Games,a program hosted by Frigidare. I’ll provide more specific details about what happens that day, but if you want a sneak preview you can visit the Make Time For Change Facebook page and or visit the Make Time For Change website.

Anyway the little mister wanted to know why he gets to participate and if it is related to work. I told him that he gets to participate because it is work, he is my son and I need his help. In return I received a big hug, a huge smile and a promise to make sure that I am successful. I smiled back at him, thanked him and then told him that he needed to ask another question. He looked up at me and waited for me to tell him that question was. I explained that he needed to find out what it was that I needed to accomplish and that without understanding the objective it would be more challenging.

Granted that might sound like telling him how to build a clock when all he wants to know is what the time is. But at the same time I saw this moment as a chance to try and teach him a few things that would be useful. So he looked at me and asked me to tell him what the objective was so that he could help me. I told him that all I cared about was that he have fun and then he asked me why I shared the line about determining what the objective is. So I told him that my job as his father is to provide him with the tools he needs to figure out life and that this was one of those moments.

He smiled again and told me that he would try to do whatever it was he could to help. I thanked him again and told him that aside from having fun I wanted him to tell me after it was done what his favorite thing was because I would write about it. He said that he could do that and asked if I was told what to write by the people who were hiring me for this job. I told him that no one owns me and that I share my real opinions and thoughts. I told him that it is important to stand on our own and not be bought. It led into an interesting conversation about what that means and whether people have a price.

So we spent some talking about whether I could sell something that hurt people and if so, how much would it take to “buy me.” It is a pretty sophisticated conversation for a kid who isn’t quite 10.5, but I think that he followed most of it. While the specific details aren’t important I’ll note that I told him that if someone offered me enough money to take care of the family I would have to consider it.

I also told him that  I would disclose my relationship with Frigidaire and that this was part of my demonstrating that I wasn’t bought.

“My participation in Frigidaire’s Stain Games event was sponsored by Frigidaire
who provided me with travel arrangements to and from Los Angeles to participate.”

My favorite part of the conversation was when he asked me how I could be fair if people gave me free stuff. It is an excellent question and I was proud that he recognized that without prompting from me. The answer was simple. You do your best to establish honesty and trust with the readers/friends/family whomever and then it is up to them to decide what to do about what you say.

These Posts Have Risen…Again

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What does a Jewish kid do on Easter? The answer is that he does the same thing he would do on any other day. And on this day it is family stuff, errands, house repairs, playing with the kids and more. But should you find yourself searching for things to read the “stat’ programs say that these posts are among the most popular here: