Things I'm Fer....Things I'm Agin......

OK its spring cleaning time everywhere else so I figured that this was as good a time as any to clean out the closet in my head......

I am very much for family.....blood IS blood and that's all there is to that. Your family is a long haul lifetime commitment. Once a parent ( sorry kids ) always a parent. Do everything you can for your children, your brothers and sisters if your lucky enough to have any. Not to mention Aunts, Uncles, cousins, in-laws (outlaws :) ) and any other form of family that you have around.
I cringe when people in families bicker and fight and the like. You have to put up with them but remember, they have to put up with YOU......So smile and give them unconditional love. They are the only family you get.

I am very much against ( or a-gin ) entitlement and people who misuse the system because they are to lazy to fend for themselves. Here's a news bulletin ..........Our government DOES NOT owe anyone a living. If you don't believe me, read the constitution......I see a lot of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness " in there but nothing about getting a check. People who take advantage of a system that was put into place to actually help those who can not work ( who would if they could ) have no shame. In my humble opinion if you are able to work and won't , you should not enjoy the privilege of voting.

I am for Community service for all. Everyone should volunteer to do SOMETHING to help out in their community. Even just a few hours a week. Maybe at the library or visit a nursing home and help a bit. With the "Relay for Life" in Pikeville in a few weeks maybe volunteer to , I don't know, unload a truck....help people get situated.... Donate blood every few months......

Imagine a place where everyone gave back a few hours of television time a month to help someone else...... That's my kind of world.

Lastly, I am against the blame game. We have become a society of finger pointer. " Its not MY fault" is the watchword today. Maybe we could print buttons and all wear one and when the .......hits the fan....just point to the button...problem solved.

When did we get to the point where constructive critiquing became a personal attack? You cant tell anyone anything anymore. We are all so smart that we have no room to learn anything or to listen to anything anyone has to say. There is a saying that says we " think more highly of ourselves than we ought" Since no one does anything wrong anymore ( read the button :) ) then the logical? conclusion is that nothing IS wrong.....

May I prescribe a daily dose of humility to all. Let me be the first to say that I know very little about a lot of things and I am pleased to learn something every day. Humility is a sign of maturity and maturity is a sign of personal growth.

So lets see......Love your family unconditionally.........find something constructive to do with yourself........throw in a little community service for good measure and add a dash of humility. Try this for awhile......Let me know how it works out...... Sorry I went so long...my closet was cluttered.......

Are People Really all Alike....or did someone make that up to keep us calm???

I have had the pleasure of living in a few neat places in this country. Providence, RI where I hail from and Springdale Arkansas, where I lived for 3 years. In addition I hung my hat in Joplin, Missouri for 5 years and now for the last 8 years I call Pikeville, Kentucky my home.

My question to you is: Do you think people from different parts of the country are basically different or the same?

Now personally, I am used to all the stereotypical attitudes that abound. Shortly after I moved to Pikeville, some people began calling me the " Damn Yankee" I loved the name and would always respond " and proud of it".

We all have images of people from other parts of the country and as we are want to do, we lump everyone together. Here's a bulletin for you but I am sure you already know this. Not everyone from north of the Mason-Dixon line is a gangster and they all don't speak like Don Corleone from "The Godfather". And not all the people from the Ozarks run around barefoot and not all the girls under 18 years old are pregnant.

And lets face it, Eastern Kentucky has its own share of misconceptions that people harbor. Like for example not everyone here is on the draw or strung out on drugs....See what I mean? Some things are true about some people everywhere.

Everywhere my life's travels have taken I have met people who I am honored to call my friends for life. By the way, I define a friend as someone you can call at 3am and ask them anything. When I was preparing to move to Pikeville 8 years ago, I called Bill Weaver ( Joplin, MO ) and asked him to fly to Providence and drive my moving van to Pikeville. All Bill said was, "When do you need me?"

Oh, we all talk a bit differently ( I will write about that very soon ) and some of our favorite foods are different, but all in all we really are pretty much the same....Thank goodness.

We all agree our schools should be better, we all hate the high price of gasoline. Nobody is making enough money. And nobody and I mean nobody, trusts anyone in political office. And we all have our favorite chair.....:)

Folks, we really are in this thing together.......