Holiday Boycott Thoughts

I see a lot of people posting various memes on social media about not shopping on Thanksgiving or Black Friday, because "everybody deserves a holiday". That's a great sentiment. But I propose a bit more thought be put into it.

If you stop there, you're just doing it halfway. If you won't shop at Sear's, Macy's or Wal Mart because those people deserve their holiday, I hope you don't plan on watching football, either. For every over-paid athlete on the field, how many food vendors, parking lot attendants, janitors, security guards and maintenance people are working that day? Isn't it a bit hypocritical to support the NFL making people work on a holiday while protesting retail stores doing the same thing?

Boycott the NFL on Thanksgiving weekend! College football, too, while we're at it.

Religious Discrimination or Racial Discrimination In Disguise?

I just find it odd that when a rogue, extremist Muslim group killed around 3,000 people, now mainstream America hates all Muslims, and doesn’t trust any of them, even those who have been in this country for generations, even those who have served in the military.

Yet, tens of thousands of children around the world have been molested by priests of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.That’s tens, if not dozens  of times more lives ruined than those killed on 9-11. Sure, you could say at least they weren’t killed. But their lives were wrecked, and they were left emotionally and psychologically scarred. Not by an extremist group, either; this is as mainstream Christian as you can get. Not only have these priests for the most part not been disciplined by the church, in most cases the Vatican pays for their legal defense, and even helps them flee the countries they live in if necessary. Again, not a splinter group, not rogues, not “extremists” - mainstream Catholic priests, supported by the Vatican. Bear in mind that if you’re Catholic, and you tithe, you’ve contributed to the legal defense of child molesters. Think about that for a minute.


Anyway, people get irate about Muslims wanting to build a mosque pretty much anywhere, but don’t give it a second thought when they see a priest. (Personally, I don’t want my kids around a priest, and I’d be tempted to organize a protest against proposed construction of a Catholic church near a daycare center or elementary school.)

Why is that? I think a lot of it is because people fear what is different. They’re comfortable with Christianity and white people. They’ve gotten used to being around Hispanic, black and Asian people. Arabs are still “foreign” in a lot of folks’ eyes. It’s easier to hate what’s different. If they acknowledge just how embedded child molestation is in the priesthood, they’d be forced to reexamine their own beliefs and their own Christianity. But they don’t want to be seen as racists, so they focus their rhetoric on Muslims, not Arabs.

Of course, I could write an entire post about the atrocities that are committed and shrugged off in the name of Islam, too, but at the moment, I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy.

I’ll leave you with a Christian scripture to ponder:
Matthew 7:5:

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye: and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brothers eye.

Miley Cyrus and The MTV Awards Fiasco

You know, I actually feel kind of bad for her. Watch her face and her movements. There’s no grace, no fluidity, no confidence. It’s like she got pushed into doing that…. that....

well, whatever the hell that was.

Seriously. Her face looks like she’s concentrating more than necessary for something that should’ve been well rehearsed. Like it was a last minute change, or something she wasn’t comfortable with.
And the dancing. It looks very jerky. Not at all skilled or planned. Again; unrehearsed.

I can’t help but wonder if it was something that somebody pressured her into doing, going for ratings and following the idea that scandal is good, because “there’s no such thing as bad press”.

And if she did do it intentionally, then I feel sorry for her that she really thought it was necessary for her career or that she’s just become that addicted to attention.

I see yet another child star headed for drug addiction and where-are-they-now jokes.

It’s easy to bash, but remember - all these people are just that. People.

Back In The Game

It's been a long time since I posted anything.


To be honest, my mind and motivation have been kind of lost for months. I started the year off dealing with both breaking up with Baby Mama and losing my job of fifteen years.

She and I finally had to admit to ourselves that, while sometimes opposites may attract, they don't necessarily live in harmony happily ever after.

The store I worked for was closed by the company due to a breakdown in lease renegotiation, and there were no open positions anywhere in the district for full timers, so the whole management team was left swinging in the breeze. Well, that's kind of harsh. They actually did provide us with a very generous severance package (and I'm not saying that sarcastically).

So, at the end of January, I found myself unemployed, moving out of the house where my Baby Girl lived, and wondering what the hell was next.

I started what I thought was going to be a dream job. I've ridden for well over twenty years, so working at a motorcycle dealership should be an awesome gig, huh? Maybe for some people. Whatever your passion is; motorcycles, cooking, photography, whatever, be very careful and think it through very well before making a living at it. There's more than even odds that you'll just wind up turning your former passion into your daily grind. Some can make it work, and work well. I'd say the vast majority don't. Then, on top of that, my sales weren't up to par, so they let me go a couple of months ago, and I had to job hunt again.

Then, Baby Mama decided she needed to move from Austin back to Atlanta. She has her reasons, and I know they're valid, but that doesn't make it easier for me to accept that I now have two children who live 1,000 miles apart. I respect her reasons, and I understand them, but there's still a part of me that wants to be fucking pissed off and to resent her. I don't; but still...

So, anyway, it's been a hell of a year for me. My inspiration to write left, and even at times when I felt inspired, I just didn't have the motivation to do it. But now it's come back. I don't know how often I'll write, but
I'm.
Going.
To.
Write.

A couple of bright spots:

Baby Mama and I both have iPhones - thank God for Face Time. I get to talk to Baby Girl face to face.



I just started working at one of the companies I really wanted to get with. A big corporation with competitive pay and good benefits, and they're national, so when the Boy Child graduates from high school in a few years, I can move to Georgia to be near Baby Girl, and it will just be a transfer with the same company, instead of starting the job search all over.


I've been invited to occasionally contribute to a couple of websites. It doesn't pay, but it's inspired me to start writing again, plus I know that my stuff will be read by more people than the small number who follow my personal blogs. Check out www.youmotorcycle.com and bikerMetric.


So, yeah. I'm back. And I'm still not always right, but I'm still always pretty damn close. And when you're dealing with horseshoes and hand grenades, close counts, y'all.

I Wonder...

...if anyone missed me here?

I’ve been too tired, burned out, and over-worked to write the last few months. The hours were too long at the dealership, and the commissions were too little. I did learn a lesson, though. A couple, actually. One: I am NOT cut out for commission sales. I need a predictable income; I need to know that if I show up and do my job, that my income isn’t based on how charming I was or on the whims of customers. Two: Be wary of turning your passion into your work. Your passion risks becoming just a fucking job. Luckily I got out before motorcycles lost their attraction for me.


Yes, I was let go from the dealership Saturday night. I totally understand. They knew I was looking for another job, and even though I tried to do my best, I’m sure my efforts weren’t really 100%. My numbers just weren’t there. No hard feelings toward me from them, or from me toward them. Business is business, right? The boss was telling me he hated having to do it, that it sucked, etc. I told him I’d been in his spot before (I was in retail management for over a decade), and I completely understood.



Anyhow, if anyone did notice my absence, know that I’m back. I have some posts in mind.


Also, I’ve been invited to write occasional posts for publication on www.youmotorcycle.com and www.bikermetric.com. I should have my first pieces ready sometime this week, so keep an eye on those sites. I’m also going to try to motivate myself to work on my other blog more regularly now: http://twowheeledobsession.blogspot.com/