Escaping Vanity

How much tolerance is given in the workplace? What number does a parent count down from before taking action? Should authorities have endless patience before enforcement? Standards are quite important. There is a point where a student has failed, then starting over at the beginning.  I was posing facetious questions to myself about old grudges. The time-tested Hatfield and McCoy’s feud symbolic of hatred with unknown origins. A clash that was carried on by relatives and decedents. History is filled with things decades or centuries old. Which ones are still fervent enough to have emotions about?  A country based around capitalism is the foundation for inequality. The entire structure is to outwork those around you and prosper. If everyone worked varying amounts and led the same life, what would then be the motivation to try at all? Social programs propagate being able to rest easy during tough times. They are not made for a long-term stay.  The debate about minimum wage fo...

                          Folks live in these metropolitan and otherwise populated areas. They don't know their neighbors. They see somebody who is accused being detained, there are perceptions attached to that. However, each perception is up to the individual. We ought to attach a basic investment into anyone we meet. An introductory credit line of kindness and faith. This must be coupled with the ability to make payments and extend these credits as we are patient with any mistakes.             Think of your definition of respect, it's just that. Something I say could be disrespectful in your view, but I think it's respectful. Those are opposing versions of an abstract idea. There's no absolute value attached to them. People started blurring the lines between those abstract ideas without absolute value and it has crossed over into our education system; where science...

            This article almost didn't happen. Ironically, someone made a very reckless decision with some things that I was working on. It's one of those situations where you can act or choose to sit back. You can confront the person head on. That is an option. There's no use in standing by with electronics in hand. Drop them and be a part of change.             The language I suggest is designed to make someone who acts early, look foolish. A person could easily read a piece of things I have put together and reach conclusions. A world of people who are read by skimming headlines. Here, clarification is grinding through the questions I am going to ask. Then, I will attempt to answer them.  My points are sometimes trapdoors.              As I was playing with this idea, I had three general observations. One was ...

         I stood there watching her hold his hand for the last time. Even though I’d heard stories, there was never a moment he seemed dangerous. One June afternoon we met in his kitchen. Seated quietly behind the kitchen table, soon he would be out running heavy equipment. Yes, he’d been eligible for social security for a while now, and he never stopped working.           Despite being older and sometimes lonely, he made the most of his sense of adventure. He’d take the horse trailer for a weekend getaway. Perhaps drink from a mason jar and howl at the moon. A man never confused about his age, just confusing you with the wrinkled  and bruised skin.           Folks fail to see the identity issues many of us have. A person we all acknowledge is still experiencing loneliness. They make choices to take on greater risks in the hopes of duplicating old feelings. The sort ...

I was on the phone with Ticketmaster. Fresh out of high school with no credit card and the opportunity of a lifetime. See, it was Friday, a week after tickets went on sale. My friend Derrick already had seats for all of us to WWF Summerslam. If I drove, he would trade me a seat without any further payment. Then a curious notion came to me, call the box office and see if they had better seats than him.  The lady gave the option of a single front-row ringside seat. The price was $300 at Raleigh’s RBC Center. I was two hours away and must purchase this immediately! Later I would be recognized as the guy sitting between the announcers. There’s a bunch of instances where I am on camera during the pay-per-view event. A nice bonus for a guy who wanted to feel the energy of the performance. I was asked who I killed for the seat, that’s how awesome it was.  My stepmother made this possible. She’d been married into the family for a couple years and was the only person home. My fat...

Like a possum crossing in the dead of night Birds building nests in our shrubbery Hummingbirds unable to resist our feeders When a man uses a wooden duck call Deer enjoying corn laid in a clearing A grizzly roaming toward a heavy metal trap Sometimes we use nature against itself... A worm reeled on a hook to catch a fish Sharks chasing a bloody mix of carved bait Bonsai trees growing and clinging to cliffs Weeds pushing up through man-made sidewalks Our vegetation caste system tells us what to keep Deep in the ocean with breath in a tank Deprived of oxygen dropping from the sky Rich in fuel walking our native lands... -------------------------------------------- The same forces of nature that bring our blizzards bring the rain. Snows that keep us immobile in a different state from the rain, watering the forestation. Do the trees know that Mother Nature also brings the wind that uproot them? Wildflowers rising up from soil that may one day become dry. Powe...

This week my radar detector came across a large deposit of pyrite. Novelty items of former monetary significance. Perhaps some refer to those things artifacts. I call them attitudes. Life's moments that aren't understood immediately, then handicapped in an attempt to critique the outspoken artist. Tainted descriptions that should stain the mind and present a Scarlet Letter to all else. There comes a time when you're roaming around and you speak freely that the judgment nips up at you. Like a librarian shushing you in the middle of a wonderful conversation, intolerance is an ugly hypocritical word. Ancient etiquette That's predatory in our time. These measures used to try and make people look foolish. Take for instance "cat-calling," such as a construction worker whistling at a walker-by. Now is using the word cat some aversion to vulgar descriptions of female or anatomy? These aren't events involving felines. What does the discussion of this slang me...