Yes, it’s Friday . . . and I’m going out on a limb with this one … T.G.I.F.!
Have you ever faced a time in your life when you didn’t want to say thank you for a situation that you had no control over? And, it turned out alright anyway?! My parents used to call that “faith”. I am sure that for them, like many African Americans who made it through the era of lynchings and bombs being placed in churches, not to mention crosses being burned on a front lawn, faith was an important part of life. Now, there are other ethnic groups – like the Jews, if you will; better still Native Americans – who experienced extermination type activities against their “people”, if you will, again. I remember when I attended Christian Life Center regularly and Pastor Max Yeary, an older gent firmly trained in the Pentecostal faith often used a phrase, ” … for such a time as this!”
Well, us humans are still at it. We come in all forms, shapes, sizes, hues of the rainbow … and various attitudes, too! Have you ever wondered why you feel a certain way about certain things? Do you think it was our upbringing and the values we were taught … if any?! I think of rappers like Jay Z or Eminem … Dr. Dre even. Their situations drove them to accomplish things in their lives! I am sure we each know someone like that. “Yes, indeedy!”, as my friend Petey used to say. People do make the world go ’round!
Two such examples outside of my own . . . Did you know that the Super Bowl was the best time of year … for prostitution?! Now, I can’t say that I’ve rubbed shoulders with the populace surrounding that age old profession. But, I had no idea that business was best for them during the Super Bowl. As I watched the news last night, there was a story on about how many prostitutes had already been arrested for solicitation in the New York and New Jersey area. The governor and another gent spoke about how they would be sure to burst anyone’s fantasy of prostitution at the Super Bowl with specially ordered handcuffs!! Of course, then there was a brief interview that followed with an experienced madam, if you will, who said when asked if prostitution could be stopped during the Super Bowl, “No!”, and shook her head as if the politicians had no clue how extensive the network is at an event like the Super Bowl.
On another note, I must say there were refreshing stories of how “people help people”, strangers even, during the confusion on that highway going in and out of Atlanta this past week with the snow and frozen rain covered roads! The one I liked the most was the story of the African American woman who was stuck in her car with a toddler girl, her daughter, and she couldn’t reach her husband because his phone had died … Okay, so, there was a page created on Facebook by a white woman for people stuck on that road. This woman tried to send out “feelers” for those in the most need. Her husband, a white gent, got home through the freezing rain and dangerous roads and saw on that Facebook page that a woman with her baby was stuck on the road with few diapers and less food for the baby and none for herself! So, he turned around after taking hours getting home to his wife, went back out on that treacherous road, found the woman and her child and guided them between tractor trailers and cars, spin outs and crashes, back to his car … and home! He never knew the woman but considered this his “human” duty to help them out … out of the hundreds, probably thousands of people stranded on that same road for approximately 24 hours! Teachers entertained kids stuck at school and many many others toughed out their situations. That’s a lesson for me, too!
Enjoy your weekends, including the Super Bowl, which is considered to be the biggest event on Earth, and be kind to one another.
Peace,
John I. Cook, Director
Educational Excellence 