As a parent of a young child, I get a lot of questions. "What?" and "Why?" questions abound. If my seven-year-old would only be able to ask "Who?", "Where?", and "When?", perhaps he could be drafted to be a reporter for The Selma News.
I have a lot of questions of my own. I have things I want to ask God when I see him face to face since He has not chosen to answer them for me here on Earth, in His Bible, or through other people. I have a lot of questions I would like to ask others, some of which are very private, others not so much. I got to thinking about some of the questions I would like to ask. Here are just some of them.
1. I would like to ask Barack Obama if he was allegedly a constitutional scholar and professor, why does he attempt so many things that he should know are totally against the Constitution of the United States?
2. I would like to ask the English as a Second Language class (ESL) candidates in front of me at the Wal-Mart check out if they can comprehend the sign that says "20 Items or Less"?
3. I would like to ask the check out lady at Wal-Mart why she lets potential ESL students violate the 20 item principle?
4. I would like to ask the same ESL couple dressed in designer, name brand (I read the obvious labels) clothes that paid for some groceries with a WIC voucher and then whipped out a one hundred dollar bill from a stack of money to pay for the rest of their groceries why they deem it appropriate for taxpayers to pay for their groceries when they obviously have the means to do so themselves?
5. I want to ask some child abusers I know that if I stop beating them violently about the face and head, will they stop beating their children?
6. I want to ask Fox Networks and 19 Productions what they were thinking when they hired Ellen DeGeneres to be a judge on "American Idol"?
7. I want to ask gun control advocates what part of "shall not be infringed" don't they understand?
8. I want to ask those same gun control advocates how they plan on defending themselves against criminals when police officers are not around, when 911 response time is more than it takes to rob and kill them, and criminals who disregard such laws are armed?
9. I also want to ask those same gun control advocates that if people kill other people with baseball bats and cars, why they don't try to ban people from driving to the sporting goods store?
10. I want to ask extremist Muslim leaders that recruit and encourage young Muslim followers to blow themselves up and hopefully kill others in the process that if the rewards for doing so are so great and the action so noble, why they don't lead by example?
11. I want to ask credit card companies if their customers can not afford to pay the minimum balance, what makes them think that customers would then be able to pay the full balance as demanded when they get behind in their bills? Not that I have this problem, but it makes me wonder.
12. I want to ask Congress and the State Legislature if we citizens have to abide by a budget and can not afford to spend money, why they think that they can do so ad infinitum?
13. When my seven-month-old gets to be about ten years old, I want to ask him what he was trying to say when he made all sorts of cute baby sounds?
14. I want to ask God what useful purpose cicadas serve?
15. I want to ask Calvinist theologians why they think that their views are predestined and those of Arminians are not, since that would directly contradict that doctrine? If Arminians are predestined to not believe in predestination, does that negate the accuracy of the predestination position? Was I predestined to ask that question or did I do so of my own free will?
16. I want to ask Al Gore if he actually still believes in global warming and if he thinks that we are all really that stupid?
I still have a ton of questions. I have too many to type for this one column. I literally think of things like this as I drive around town or to work, and
while trying to fall asleep at night. Perhaps I need to keep my voice recorder or a notepad with me at all times so that I can make note of all such questions in the future.
Showing posts with label american idol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label american idol. Show all posts
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Column for Jan. 28, 2010
I just cooked a homemade meal for the family consisting of freshly made meatballs and baked ziti and we all ate heartily. Family meal time occasionally entails some "guy time" with our six-year-old. Just this past week, he had time off from school and I had a day off from work, so we did what many dads and first graders do, we headed to McDonald's. It is something small, but my boy enjoys going and I enjoy the time together. McDonald's is a family sort of restaurant, so I expect a family atmosphere. Boy were we surprised at how wrong my expectations were that day.
While we were enjoying a Happy Meal and an Angus burger, there was a young female who was standing near the dining area and talking loudly on a cell phone. I say female since she was certainly not a lady. She was unleashing a barrage of "F bombs" and other vulgarities at high volume into the telephone mouthpiece. I am fairly tolerant of crude language, having grown up in a family and culture where every other word seemingly was a cuss word. When I was a young stupid heathen, that was normal fare. As a middle aged Christian, I certainly endeavor to refrain from such. When it it affects my children, I get a bit ornery. I let this female continue for a bit, and even gave her a few dirty looks, which she well saw. She knew that I was annoyed, but she continued to disrespect every person within earshot and cuss worse than any sailor I have known.
After cringing for a few minutes and giving her time to desist, I just could not take this blatant disrespect any longer. I turned to this female and shouted, "Hey! There are children present! If you don't curb the language, I am going to take away your phone!" Upon hearing this, she immediately withdrew from the immediate area, though staying within view, took the volume down to a whisper, and remained quietly on the phone for a while longer. I don't know if she continued the same crude subject matter about which I can not write, but she was at least not offensive to all nearby.
My wife likes to watch American Idol. I don't watch a lot of television, even though I work in the television industry. When I do, I like to catch a show that we can enjoy as family. Two weeks ago, there was a Black, retired military, 62 year old man named Larry Pratt who has since become a media sensation. Though not eligible for the show, the producers allowed him to audition, presumably for the sake of entertaining television. He made up a song that impugns young males of his own race who wear their boxer shorts exposed well above their pants. Their pants are usually at or below butt cheek level. This is a cultural thing full of disrespect rather than a racial thing, in all honesty. One's race has nothing to do with the values to which one chooses to adhere or the degree of respect one has for other people and for self.
The song was entitled, "Pants On the Ground". It went like this:
"Pants on the ground,
Pants on the ground,
Lookin' like a fool,
With your pants on the ground!"
There were other lyrics, but you get the idea. A mature, respectful Black man was annoyed at the disrespect shown by his own people. He had the guts to stand up to it on television in front of millions of viewers and he has received a lot of media attention, guest appearances on talk shows, and millions of discussions and video plays of his performance on the internet. He stood up against disrespectful behavior, and there are too few people today who do that. I did that once at a Raleigh fast food restaurant and once at CiCi's Pizza in Smithfield and both times I was threatened with bodily harm and cussed out. Eh, stand in line.
That is one thing I liked about Stancil's Amoco Food Shop (now a Marathon gas station) on Pollock Street. I don't know if the sign is still there on their entrance door, but it said something like "People with exposed undergarments not allowed in store". I respect those who stand up for public decency, especially at the risk of a loss of business, and patronize them as a result. If more people stood up for decency and respect, perhaps we would not have so many "pants on the ground" and can stop cussing, hollering females at the Golden Arches.
While we were enjoying a Happy Meal and an Angus burger, there was a young female who was standing near the dining area and talking loudly on a cell phone. I say female since she was certainly not a lady. She was unleashing a barrage of "F bombs" and other vulgarities at high volume into the telephone mouthpiece. I am fairly tolerant of crude language, having grown up in a family and culture where every other word seemingly was a cuss word. When I was a young stupid heathen, that was normal fare. As a middle aged Christian, I certainly endeavor to refrain from such. When it it affects my children, I get a bit ornery. I let this female continue for a bit, and even gave her a few dirty looks, which she well saw. She knew that I was annoyed, but she continued to disrespect every person within earshot and cuss worse than any sailor I have known.
After cringing for a few minutes and giving her time to desist, I just could not take this blatant disrespect any longer. I turned to this female and shouted, "Hey! There are children present! If you don't curb the language, I am going to take away your phone!" Upon hearing this, she immediately withdrew from the immediate area, though staying within view, took the volume down to a whisper, and remained quietly on the phone for a while longer. I don't know if she continued the same crude subject matter about which I can not write, but she was at least not offensive to all nearby.
My wife likes to watch American Idol. I don't watch a lot of television, even though I work in the television industry. When I do, I like to catch a show that we can enjoy as family. Two weeks ago, there was a Black, retired military, 62 year old man named Larry Pratt who has since become a media sensation. Though not eligible for the show, the producers allowed him to audition, presumably for the sake of entertaining television. He made up a song that impugns young males of his own race who wear their boxer shorts exposed well above their pants. Their pants are usually at or below butt cheek level. This is a cultural thing full of disrespect rather than a racial thing, in all honesty. One's race has nothing to do with the values to which one chooses to adhere or the degree of respect one has for other people and for self.
The song was entitled, "Pants On the Ground". It went like this:
"Pants on the ground,
Pants on the ground,
Lookin' like a fool,
With your pants on the ground!"
There were other lyrics, but you get the idea. A mature, respectful Black man was annoyed at the disrespect shown by his own people. He had the guts to stand up to it on television in front of millions of viewers and he has received a lot of media attention, guest appearances on talk shows, and millions of discussions and video plays of his performance on the internet. He stood up against disrespectful behavior, and there are too few people today who do that. I did that once at a Raleigh fast food restaurant and once at CiCi's Pizza in Smithfield and both times I was threatened with bodily harm and cussed out. Eh, stand in line.
That is one thing I liked about Stancil's Amoco Food Shop (now a Marathon gas station) on Pollock Street. I don't know if the sign is still there on their entrance door, but it said something like "People with exposed undergarments not allowed in store". I respect those who stand up for public decency, especially at the risk of a loss of business, and patronize them as a result. If more people stood up for decency and respect, perhaps we would not have so many "pants on the ground" and can stop cussing, hollering females at the Golden Arches.
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