Countdown to 11/29/11

I did a mere four miles in today’s PA Hero Walk. Volunteers for the Wounded Warriors Foundation are going from Philadelphia to New Kensington, PA by foot on business Route 30. They plan to arrive on July 4. I thought I’d enjoy hanging out with these folks for a brief while. 

Their goals include raising money and awareness for our wounded warriors returning from Iraq. Judging by  drivers’ actions, their message is getting out. Walking alone with committee member, Al Pulice, we were often interrupted to accept passing donations. There was of lot of spare change, but workers at a car wash emptied their wallets into Al’s can.

Al’s not in the service or a Veteran although he’d be one in a heartbeat. This 20 something was a well of energy; had just the right response no matter; and always uplifting.

Al’s group has not only the expected number of Veterans, but also has teenagers and children. I guessed this latter demographic has both the time and ability to do the 300+ mile trek. What struck me was they were eager to do it.

Today’s message: our country has great young people.

PA Hero Walk can be reached at http://www.paherowalk.org/.

“The evil that men do lives on. The good is oft interred with their bones.” Or so says Marc Anthony in the play “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare. Act III, scene II.

I think this is backwards especially when someone spends the lion share of their life doing good, as in, raising a family or a business; doing community service without a judge mandating it; or helping out at the Little League.

So our sample solid citizen dropped trou 1. at Spring break in the 70s and got busted for indecent exposure - along with the 12 other drunkards. It comes out during his run for town council and forever becomes his story.

This takes me to the recent death of David Carradine. The man lived the life of an actor. He had it all: money, fame, women. He even became an icon for boomers. He seemed to be a contradiction: serenely under control while also being out of it.

Above it all, the man could ply his trade as an actor. His fluid movements sold the audience on his being a butt kicking Shaolin Monk 2. in the TV show, ”Kung Fu”.

He became folk singer, Woody Guthrie in the movie, “Bound for Glory”. His portrayal of a cruel egoist in the “Kill Bill” movies made his audience believe in his character’s evil.

I hope this is not all forgotten because of how he died. Even as we await the final explanation, enough has been said to taint his memory. How he died will always be in the first paragraph of any article written about him.

*  A song title by Joni Mitchell

1. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drop+trou

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaolin_Kung_Fu

What do aging boomers do during their not very busy days? They meet at the common fence and discuss whatever’s on tap. Today it was the missing element of customer service. The stories traded included waiting 90 minutes for an agent to just answer the phone.; sales staff taking calls while talking to them; and being put on terminal hold. I said when I receive decent customer service these days I’m pleased at first and then saddened that it happens so infrequently.

Today, I got one of these moments from a disembodied voice selling for a high end lumber yard. He received my fax - yeah, how quaint!, and we reviewed my choices for wood trim. He asked for the rest of the day to respond properly. In two hours, he was back. Important point time out: under promise and over deliver.

He said he’d mail - again quaint - the specifications on the trim. He can have my special order trim by the end of next week. He offered to wait for my call to close the deal pending my approval. He closed me already.

We old school sales guys genuflect at these moments.

… to tell me I remind you of my Dad.

Emerson wrote, “Do nothing ordinary.” It’s a simple as that. He waxed on about how ordinary men did ordinary things. Blah, blah, blah. Dad & I just knew he meant to find a different way not seen by others because they’re busy doing it without thought.

My Dad had a rough life. His hopes to become an educated man were first stalled by family responsibilities at a tender age; then service in World War II; and finally by marriage and six children. He was not crushed by these developments. They made him stronger. They also made him not an ordinary man.

He took his salesman’s job and became a local icon in his field of photography. He joined and led civic organizations like the Knights of Columbus and the Exchange Club.

Back to Emerson, my Dad and me. I didn’t follow my Dad’s path. He taught me to find my own. After five decades filled with false starts; blind alleys and incompleted ventures, I’m satisfied with my efforts that did work. I feel like a complete man and in league with my Dad and Emerson.

The major airlines are finding much needed revenue in the time honored fashion of nickel and diming their customers. One way is to charge for checked baggage at $15 for the first and $25 for the second. Delta Air Lines is going to $50 for the second one. This cuts down on the number of checked luggage and of course, forces travelers to carry everything on to the plane. What some people won’t do to not pay extra fees.

Most travelers are usually limited to one carry-on, one handbag and all the check-in they wish to pay for.

I will try to describe the new state of the baggage art.

• Luggage now being checked in approximates an oak dresser in size and weight.
• Carry-ons are now so large many don’t fit in designated overhead compartments.
• Handheld bags are not women’s or men’s purses. Oh no. Backpacks are more the standard. Even with this, passengers still board planes carrying their real purses as a third bag.

On my last trip, we flew in jets so small these new sized “carry-ons” are checked at the gate and waiting for us when we land. This helps travelers to deplane faster.

How can I blame airlines for trying to make profits in this economy? My last two purchases for round trip tickets from Philly to KC were the same as 20 years ago. Deregulation and cut-throat competition drove the airfares into the tarmac. Everything got more expensive for the airlines, and they were harvesting less revenue.

Is it any wonder peanuts and soft drinks are all coach dwellers get for a four hour flight?

The year was 1959. I was in St. Joseph School’s eighth grade and the Boy Scouts. This convergence paid dividends recently.

My hometown, Downingtown, PA was celebrating its centennial year. Men grew beards or paid fines not to. Women wore dresses from earlier times. Everything everywhere was about the week long event.

The high school was the epicenter of all activities including a massive Civil War reenactment. My Scout Master answered their casting call and sent the older Scouts to act as Soldiers for the North and South. The little drama had us all saying good bye to our make believe parents in a stage the size of the football field.

At the same time, my school class was on the committee to select items for a time capsule to be buried now and opened in fifty years. We offer what we thought were significant things such as the recent newspaper, rock & roll records and the newly popular ball point pen. After reviewing our childlike selection, Mother Agnes Cieta added a Baltimore cathecism. I would need to wait fifty years to learn which items made it to the capsule.

That time is now. My little borough has grown fourfold in the past fifty years. This time around the celebration was more subdued but equally memorable. The committee put a parade together as good as can be done. The local park was packed with celebrating townies from all past years.

What made it to the time capsule? I’ll learn soon enough, but I don’t ache to know. I enjoyed my time in the sun even if I was the only one noticing.

Remember when Doctors gave children a lollipop for behaving? Usually, they were Dum Dum Lollipops from the Spangler Candy Company http://www.spanglercandy.com/.

Wedged inside candy bowls between familiar favors are ones with ??? printed on their labels. They were lollipops with no one discernible flavor. Is this why they’re unknowns? What’s up with these unknown flavors? Why would Spangler have them as part of their product line?

The cable show, “How it’s made” had a segment on these lollipops.  Modern machines whirled and spun at  blinding speed changing the raw ingredients into sugary bribes for kids from Doctors. Each flavor was sent to holding areas for later collection in bags.

When changing flavors, a buffer batch is made. Example: the machine just made a zillion cherry lollipops. Next up, are the grapes. Rather than cleaning the machine, a mini-batch of grape is made that is blended with the residue of the cherry. The resulting mix is declared the famous ??? flavor.

Spangler Candy turned a costly processing step into a positive and made their product more distinctive.

Here’s the life lesson:

These mystery lollipops are few in number but serve a real bottom line role. They allow for the machines to keep running, and the results are bankable.

Try to think creatively the next time life hands you lemons and you look to make lemonade. It’s what the good folks at the Spangler Candy Company did quite well.

The Lord has called home a faithful servant, Elizabeth Morrell Haines.

Beth was my mother-in-law. She knew how hard life’s hard knocks could be. She raised two children alone long before single moms were the norm. Her baby girl, Lyndal became my wife, Lyn. Beth did all she could to get by and sacrificed mightily for her children. She said her faith was, at times, all she had, but she knew it would be enough.

Her second husband, Lewis Haines died in 1968 during the summer after my wife’s first year at college. I met them both on the last day of the year. Beth always said Lewis and I would have liked each other. He would have had great fun at my expense.

It’s hard for me to imagine her pain when her daughter told her she wanted to go to Pennsylvania with me after our wedding. Her children would now live long distances from their Salina, Kansas home base. Her love for her daughter was strong enough to let her follow her own happiness.

When I visited my wife in the recovery room after my daughter was born, I asked what she wanted to name the baby. She answered, “Beth”. I knew she had picked the perfect name and a great role model for her,

Over the years, tragedy struck Beth Haines’ life. Her step-son, Sheldon Haines died in a grain elevator fall. Her grand-daughter, Tammie Hair died suddenly. And her first born, David Hair took ill and died within days. Through it all, she remained strong.

Beth Haines was a woman with the strength born from remarkable faith. Her life was her work at The First Christian Church. She was the stalwart member the clergy could always count on. She may not have done any one thing memorable, but she did thousand of things to keep the church’s ship afloat and on-course. 

At least once a year, I would thank Beth for allowing me to stay married to her daughter. It was my way of paying tribute to her for raising the woman who completes me.

I will miss my mother-in-law. Even now, it’s hard to imagine my life without her in it.

The world’s great inventions must include caller ID. This little gem can help us set boundaries about who can distrube us just because they want to talk. With all the ways we have to communicate, it’s nice to be able to step back and say, “Not now. Maybe later.”

Email is messier. Some folks will get your address and make you the recipient of everything they write, find, or receive. Some are family & friends and some are fellow travelers; so it’s okay. Others seem to like capturing gobs of targets to broadcast to.

Most days, I delete ten broadcast messages for every one read. Sometimes I even respond because the one was good. Such is the world of email today.

When I feel crowded by too many emails, I have asked some senders to remove me from their broadcast email lists. I do this mostly because they send the same messages I’m getting from another source, and once is enough. Sometimes I ask off because their relays just don’t do anything for me.

On occasions, the spurned ones take offense. I think they missed the point. As the one being run off the information highway, I will defend my personal space and make no apologies. I also don’t worry about hurt feelings because my address was captured after a friend sent them a broadcast email.

Email can’t be as restrictive as Twitter. Email should be an open board, but I’d like to see a bit more courtesy extended from all sides.

* a George Santayana quote.

The Vietnam War ended over 34 years ago. The most agreed point about the war is America made mistakes. These mistakes became lessons best not repeated.

One of these lessons had its time on the national spotlight when Homeland Security sent out a memo stating extremist groups may try to attract returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans in order to strengthen the agendas of right-wing extremists. On the surface, it looks like just a statement of fact or conjecture but harmless enough. In reality, it’s a rehashing of the misguided opinion that returning warriors have been rendered fragile and open to manipulation. Just like Vietnam.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano made the necessary apology and worded it quite well by wishing she could take back that statement. She’ll also meet with the major Veteran organizations to make political nice-nice.

It may be the #1 lesson of the Vietnam War: you don’t blame the warriors just because you don’t like the war. You don’t make them the scape goats no matter how it suits the politcal agenda.

Whenever a politico plans to denigrate our active duty military or Veterans, they should reevaluate their plans and then discard them entirely.