Thoughts of a Common Man

I don’t eat at fast food places. But when I was out in Kansas (after some prompting by Pops) I went to Chik-Fil-A. Damn! The spicy chicken sandwich is good! (I usually had more than one), and I stopped every time I went to the job in Olathe. Well, big news!!! We have one in the Buffalo area. I was happy to hear that, but I grew a little perplexed when I heard that people were camped out in the parking lot awaiting the grand opening. The prize for doing so is a free chicken sandwich a week for the entire year. Dudes... ...it’s a chicken sandwich! They’re $3.00!! I wouldn’t camp out for Bruce tickets at this point in my life. A chicken sandwich???? I’m sure that I’ll make my way over sometime soon... ...but given the reaction to the opening it may be a little while. Cripes! Chicken sandwiches topped our local news! They’re on the hot trail of the rotund, orange clown and Russia is attacking their neighbors... ...and here in Buffalo... ...we’re camp...

On Thanksgiving a story broke about a 5-year-old child losing his life, one town over from where we live. I saw the headline: Wouldn’t click on the story. Saw an update a few hours later, the kid was struck by a car. There were a few of those in my youth. They were too sad to think about. Yet, the story was even sadder than that. His father was behind the wheel. I just couldn’t even read the story. Sometimes life is way too cruel. As a Dad, I didn’t want to think about it. As a man, I would be destroyed by the particulars. I’ve dealt with sadness in my life and at my job. “How does that family survive?” Someone texted me. “Love,” I answered. “It’s their only chance.” I thought about faith, and friends, and the love of the man’s spouse, and other children... ...but even then... ...there will be a huge hole in a space where all that was there was love. I didn’t want to think about it from the perspective of a Dad, or a friend, or even a stranger a Town over......

What kind of mess is this guy in? Just a couple of years ago, he was your run of the mill rich dude. He joined the Trump campaign and all hell broke loose. He was arrested and there was a raid on his home and business. They allowed him to stay out of jail, but he was confined to his home as he awaited trial. There wasn’t a whole lot of suspense in his trials. He was found guilty on every count, and for good measure he stood accused of trying to tamper with witnesses. Went straight to jail, but there was still a chance to get a reduced sentence. He was probably hopeful of a pardon, but a lot of the charges were state charges... ...so he sat in an isolated area of jail. Then we heard that he was a cooperating witness. Uh-oh! There was so much speculation about what might happen. The squeeze was on and at the age of 69 he was going to come with the information so that he didn’t have to spend the rest of his days in jail. And on Monday the cooperating witness deal was...

There are people out there who are strongly opposed to abortion because all life is sacred... ...they are also of the opinion that those slaughtered in school shootings are collateral damage to keeping gun rights intact. There are people who loudly proclaim that God is necessary to Make America Great Again...they let all know that following Jesus is essential... ...but ignore that Jesus was especially kind to the least of his brothers. The anti-abortion crowd is also, usually pro-death penalty. Those who want to make sure that women have their children... .,.don’t much care if those children, once born, can be fed, clothed or properly cared for. Putting Christ back in Christmas is important... ...to people who would reject Jesus, Mary and Joseph if they appeared at the border looking for a room at the inn. That family might actually be tear-gassed if they showed up. ‘Cause given their country of origin... ...they weren’t the preferred race of people who deserve ba...

I must confess, it was a rough couple of months for me. It’s not a secret that I don’t care for change, but what I hate more than change is clutter or a mess. The house felt overly messy to me. We desperately needed an interior paint job, and there were a few nicks and holes in the drywall in a couple of spots. I learned to patch a hole, and then I started painting. I would do a room at a time, and after finishing each one I said, “I can’t do this.” But I did. A couple of weeks of pure hell, and the one thing I did was ruin the carpeting. We were replacing it anyway. I put in the order, and picked out what we wanted. The set the appointment out 10 days. Then they postponed it. On Wednesday, they were due. But they came in the early afternoon. “Should only take a few hours,” the crew leader said. They got started at 1:00. Didn’t finish until 9:00. I spent that time locked in my room with the dogs. I put everything back where it belonged and then noticed tha...

We were all chatting about the summer we spent in California. “That was ‘83,” I said. “I don’t remember,” Mom said. Yet I asked her if she remembered the flight we took that year. She laughed. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was just me and Mom flying out because I’d just finished my first year of college, and she was going with me for a visit. She’d return a week later to ride out the school year with the others. We got stuck in Chicago for a few hours (flights delayed). “Let’s get a drink,” Mom said. (I was legal to drink at 18). Some 5 hours later we met Dad at the San Francisco airport. “What the hell?” Dad asked when he saw us. “You two are pissed up!” We had laughed hard all day. Then, of course, the famous first trip over the Golden Gate Bridge. Just as we got on the bridge, Mom opened the window and flicked what was left of her cigarette out the window... ...and straight into the backseat where I was sitting, and where it instantly came int...

Tiger Woods is a magnet. People just seem to want to watch him play golf... ...so they designed a match - Tiger versus Phil...for $9 million dollars... ...loser gets nothing. It was supposed to be a pay-per-view event and I didn’t buy it, but I saw on Twitter that Phil was up one. And then I stumbled across the feed that was showing it for free. (Something went wrong with how they were collecting money...so they gave it away). Good for me because it was a lot of fun. First off, they hit shots that I will not manage in this lifetime. Routinely they drive the ball over 300 yards. They chip out of the sand with precision. They putt it close every time. Yet, they are also human. Tiger missed a putt that should’ve won it on 18. Phil missed 3 straight chances to win it. On hole 22, Tiger knew he had to make the birdie and he left it short. “Can you imagine having a 5’ putt for $9 million?” I asked my beautiful wife. “Would you make it?” She asked. “I could. I wo...