Anchors Away

After a few posts that have been pretty deep and frustrating, it is time to lighten things up a bit. Robert Jordan and Jackie Bange have been anchoring the news on WGN in Chicago for many years. Many say that they may be one of the best news anchor teams on the airwaves. Perhaps this is due to their teamwork when the cameras are not rolling. This should be required viewing for all married and engaged couples.

Tales of Contrast

Here are two recent situations in which I have been involved that might help shatter some general myths about people.

Yesterday, I took a person that uses a walker to a social event. When I dropped him off after the event, I parked briefly in a spot in the parking lot of his apartment building. All of the spots in this lot are reserved for tenants. Rather than park in the street and force my friend to walk a fair distance from the car to his apartment, I usually park in one of the spots close to his door. I am only there for a minute or two. Yesterday, the person that has the spot in which I parked screamed at me for parking there. When I explained that I would be there for less than a minute so that my friend has a short walk to his door, the woman screamed even louder and clearly stated that she didn't care about any extenuating circumstances. Her spot was her spot. It is interesting to note that this woman, like my friend, has a very significant disability. I work very closely with many people with disabilities. Some of them are incredibly selfish. People may think that it is harsh for me to feel this way - that people with disabilities might just be sick of the many challenges they face and are more quick to lash out at others. I have developed a fairly keen sense that recognizes the difference between people being selfish and people expressing frustration. This woman was simply being a jerk. My guess is that her family and others that assist her enable her to act like a jerk on a regular basis.

Fortunately, an incident that took place earlier in the day helped to provide balance. The social event that I took my friend to was a spring dance for people with disabilities that was held at a local sports pub. The pub is very large and includes an area with indoor basketball courts. This is the area where the dance took place. People in the bar area can look through window to see what is going on in the basketball area. There were over 400 people, most of them people with developmental disabilities, at this event having a good time - dancing, eating snacks, talking with friends. I learned that someone not associated with the event was looking at what was going on from the bar area. This man asked the owner of the pub what was going on. The owner told the man that the event was an anual spring dance for people with developmental disabilities. The man at the bar handed the owner his credit card and demanded that the entire cost of the event be charged to his credit card. The owner thought he was kidding. The man was not. My guess is that the charges were over $2,500. The man paid the bill and requested to remain anonymous. Nobody but the pub owner knows the identity of this generous man.

Making Economic Sense

I do not understand economics. Therefore, I am having a hard time figuring out why so many nations are currently experiencing dire economic situations. Why is it that, because so many people are not buying as much as they had been, our economy hits rock bottom? That only leads me to believe that, in order for our economy to be strong, we need to keep buying things we really don't need - that a strong economy is really based on financial "fluff".

Don't get me wrong. I feel badly for the people that have lost financial security due to the current economic crisis. However, we should not forget about the many people that had no financial security even when the economy was healthy. Imagine if those people had adequate opportunities to gain some financial security - assistance in finding employment, assistance in developing marketable skills, etc. Maybe they should be the target of any stimulus or bailout funds. Then they would be able to buy the things they need - food, shelter, clothing, transportation. That would stimulate our economy.

St. Patrick's Day Blessings

A few thoughts about St. Patrick's Day:

Are Irish people really lucky? I keep thinking of potato famine and violence in Northern Ireland.

There were no snakes in Ireland before St. Patrick drove them out. He must have brought them with him when he first arrived in Ireland.

St. Patrick was from England.

Nevertheless, St. Patrick's Day is a day to celebrate - just like the "Irish" dancers below.

Cure for the Mid-March Blues

This is a true story.

Many years ago, while a college student, I worked at university office. One of my fellow employees was a very funny guy and a manager at the office. His name was Paul Eide. He once told me that every March 15, his entire family - brother, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins - would gather together for a meal and then walk around the block. He called the event "The March of Eides".

Apologies Accepted?

Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik plan to celebrate a Service of Aplogy in April. Bishop Zubik celebrated a similar service a few years ago when he served as Bishop of Green Bay. (Rumor has it that he really liked a particular church there.)

While the first thought might be that this service will focus on those that have been victims of sexual assault by priests, the event is meant to help heal wounds caused by any wrongdoing by those in the Catholic church.

Over a generation ago, I worked at a bakery in a tourist area for a couple of summers. The owners were very fundamentalist. When I told them that I would not be returning the following summer because I planned to enter a religious order, one of the owners stated that "the Catholic church really screwed up my life". I replied that the Catholic Church has screwed up nobody's life - human beings that happen to be Catholic (or Baptist or Jewish or Muslim) do things that harm other people. He would be one that could benefit from a Service of Apology.

For a television report on the Pittsburgh Service of Apology, go to:

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/video/18919622/index.html

Summing Up Wall Street Problems

This video sums up the root causes of our current economic crisis.

8 Reasons to Cry

A little of two months ago, Nadya Suleman, a single mother of 6 children, gave birth to octuplets. From all appearances, it seems that it was her choice to have many more children (perhaps not 8 in one fell swoop).

In every single report I have seen, heard or read about this story, the focus is on the mother, Nadya: Boy, she looks like Angelina Jolie! Is she nuts? What is lost is that there are now 14 children (don't forget about the 6 children she had prior to the birth of the octuplets) that are beginning life with many challenges that other children do not face. We should really pray for these children and for their mother (but focus on the children). Seriously pray for these children. Then watch the video below. Although it pushes the borders (it is over the border if you think it is making light of the actual situation itself, but not over the border if you think it is making fun of the media coverage of the situation), it really does provide some insights into the situation. Then go back to seriously praying for the children.

Courting the Catholic Vote

One of the most reported issues related to the November Presidential election is that the Catholic vote went to Barack Obama. In the 2004 election, the Catholic vote went to George Bush.

The Republicans may have already come up with a way to ensure that the Catholic vote goes to the Republican candidate in the 2012 election. Buried in a recent article about his life in the New York Times Magazine, Newt Gingrich announced that he would soon be "swimming the Tiber". He will change his "ist" from "Bapt" to "Pap". He is converting so that he and his wife (#3 for Newt) share the same faith. Perhaps he will author a document about the need for conservative Catholics to become more active in the political arena. If he does so, I suggest the following title: The Newt Testament.