Musings
and History
Quote
of the day:
“If
the cops have to run after you it is a sure bet that they will bring
and ass-kicking with them.”
Chris
Rock
The
mighty Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers from Conway, SC has
beaten the Arizona Wildcats to gain the NCAA National championship in
baseball.
Here
are some thoughts.
A
while back I was working in Charlotte, NC. My office was at the
corner of 4th
and Tryon which is in the very heart of the city. One day an
unanticipated ice storm showed up and traffic ground to a stop
including buses and cabs to the airport. I called my apartment
complex and they said for me to stay in town the roads were
impassable. I walked across the street to a very large hotel to
spend the night but the lobby was jammed with airline passengers that
would have to spend the night including little kids that were curled
up everywhere on the floor. There was a middle aged man in a cheap
suit at the counter yelling and demanding a room. I could not help
myself and confronted him and asked why he should have a room before
these kids. His words still echo in my mind, he said “I am from
New York and I demand service.” As you might suspect there were
additional words after this but that is not important. What is
important is how can some people believe that where they live has a
bearing on their importance. That is ultimate bigotry.
When
I was working as an air traffic controller in Pensacola a controller
was transferred from Staten Island, New York (his home). He was a
very low key, easy to like and wanted to learn how to fish in this
area, especially in the surf. We spent a lot of time together surf
fishing and he and I became good friends. Then one day his family
and a few of his friends came down for a visit. Another person
emerged. He became very cynical...even insultingly so. Most people
were stupid and ignorant and to be laughed at or ridiculed. After
his family left and the person that I know re-emerged I asked him
what the hell that was all about. He said that is the way people
behave in his neighborhood in Staten Island and he felt that he had
to be that way in their presence. He acknowledged that it was an act
and what I saw was the real him...we went fishing.
Not
long ago I was in my favorite breakfast cafe and there sat a man that
I had chatted with before and about a year ago he had moved to
Queens, NY for a job. I asked if he was back because his job was
over. He said that he just could not abide the hostile and
competitive attitude of everyone there. He said that you had to be
as mean and cynical as a wounded grizzly or get eaten alive. He said
that he did not like the person he was turning into and decided to
return and regroup.
By
no means am I suggesting that everybody from NYC is like this. I
think some of it is caused by the competitiveness but some of it may
be like my friend from Staten Island, a performance to fulfill a
pre-conceived image so as to “fit in”. By the way, the man in the
cheap suit and the man from Staten Island would not look me in the
eye. I asked others about this and the answer I got was if you look
someone in the eye in New York it is the same as a challenge to
fight. I don't know about all of that, y'all, but if people are
indeed that tense it is pretty damned sad.
I
could never accept the premise that if you live within a certain
geographical area, by osmosis you are anointed with superior
knowledge and judgment. In addition to being stupid, that also is
being the ultimate bigot.
Most
educators will acknowledge that Socrates was the smartest man in
recorded history. Even though he was a genius he frequently said
that he did not know anything...but was willing to learn.
This
Date in History July 1
1918
On this day, after days of bombarding the German positions to the
tune of over 250,000 artillery shells, the British army unleashes a
frontal assault on the German position with 100,000 troops boiling
out of their trenches secure in the knowledge that a cockroach could
not be alive after such a massive bombardment. They were wrong.
This was the opening shots of the so-called Battle of the Somme. The
attacking Brits were met with a withering hailstorm of German heavy
machine gun fire and at the end of the day they had suffered 20,000
killed and 40,000 wounded. This was the bloodiest day in British
military history. But for pure horror it had to be between the time
WWI started in August of 1914 and the end of the year. During that
time 1,000,000 men of various nationalities died. The Germans used
poison gas during this war. The British field commander had no
problem organizing massive attacks like this even with the stupefying
casualty rates. Eventually, these massive attacks wore down the
Germans and they surrendered in 1918. The treaty that the Germans
signed was really oppressive to the citizens and they built up a
reservoir of hatred for the French, English and nearly everybody else
in Europe. The were able to vent their wrath when sixteen years
later an Austrian began a rise to power that ended peace in Europe
and cost millions of lives. Of course, I am talking about Adolph
Hitler.
1887
On this day gunfighter and eccentric Clay Allison is killed in a
freak accident. He was born near Waynesboro, Tennessee about 1840.
He enlisted in the Confederate Army but soon thereafter he was
discharged as being “partly epileptic and partly maniacal”.
After this he headed west and became a cowpuncher for the famous
Texas cattlemen Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight. After while he
set up his own cattle ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico. On one
occasion he and a bunch of men went to the local jail, took one
Charles Kennedy out and hung him. That was not unheard of in those
days. But Clay wasn’t through, he beheaded Charles and impaled it
on a stick and displayed it in the local saloon. On one event he was
spotted riding naked down the main street of Mobeetie, Texas. And
yet another time he and a bunch of men again went to the local jail
and broke out a criminal and hung him from a telephone pole. As
usual, Clay wasn’t finished. He cut the man down and dragged his
body around behind his horse for days until there was almost nothing
left. But on this day, he was riding in his wagon and he hit a large
bump which threw Clay out and a rear wheel ran over Clay’s neck and
head killing him. In 1995 Clay’s remains were dug up and he was
reburied in the center of Pecos, Texas, his last home town.
1898
During the Spanish American war, the US was trying to kick the
Spanish out of Cuba. One large contingent of Spanish soldiers was on
two hills near Santiago. One was San Juan Hill and the other was
Kettle Hill. The US army 5th
regiment was assigned the task of clearing those hills. Kettle Hill
was assigned to a bunch of hard-asses led by a future US President.
Of course, I am talking about Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders.
When the order to attack was given, the Rough Riders charged up the
hill without stopping and kicked those Spaniard out. They had a full
view Santiago and the next day the siege of Santiago began. The
Rough Riders charge up that hill remains legendary in military
history. Teddy was a man’s man. We need more like him.
Births
and deaths:
1925
French composer Eric Satie died. He said “They kept saying wait
until you are fifty and you will see. Well, I am fifty and I haven’t
seen a damned thing.” Me neither.
1997
US actor Robert Mitchum died. He said “I started out to be a sex
fiend, but I couldn’t pass the physical”. Me neither.
Thanks
for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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