Saturday, August 11, 2012

A LESSON FROM AN UNLIKELY TEACHER

My dad's grocery store was in very poor mostly African-American (Colored in those days) community. Only a few homes had plumbing and electricity. It was poorer that poor. Troy Gilmore, an old 'colored' man used to haul trash with a mule and wagon. On Sunday I'd see Mr Troy with the same mule hitched to a buggy as he went to worship.

The community changed over ti...
me. Mr Troy still hauled trash but he had a truck. When he wasn't working he drove a big shiny Chrysler New Yorker. He also owned a row of those old houses on Frederick Ave. The old guy that hauled the garbage was now the landlord.

By then, I had a convenience store at Southern Ave and Gillespie. Mr Troy was a several times a day regular. He once said to me "Boy, do you know why I trade here? Because your daddy treated me like a man when colored people weren't treated like men. I see a lot of him in you and that's why I come here."

As he stepped out of the door he stuck his head back in and said "and I done past by three stores to get here."

So much about Mr Troy's words, ethics and loyalty have been great life lessons for me. A smelly old man hauling garbage and pig slop may be the pillar of the community some day and people never forget how you treat them.

I love people like Mr Troy Gilmore. God bless his soul.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

A BOY BRINGS DINNER HOME

When I was a kid some kids had stolen a big Butterball turkey from Dallas' Supermarket or the A&P store. I'm not condoning them stealing the turkey but you have to admire their entrepreneurship.

These boys, all of 9 or 10 years old, decided to make money with the stolen turkey. They charged everyone a nickle to enter a contest and the winner got the turkey. To win you had to prove that your pecker was bigger than everyone Else's. (Apparently Larry Flynt grew up in Massey Hill).

It was close to Thanksgiving so I went home told my mother "Momma, I'm going to win you a turkey."

Momma smiled and said "That sure is sweet son. How are you going to win a turkey?"

I said "They're having a contest behind Woody's Cleaners and the boy with the biggest pee-pee wins a turkey."

Momma gasped and yelled "Son, what is wrong with you? I don't want you up there pulling your pants down showing off all your ding-dong!"

I said "Momma, I ain't going to pull it all out. Just enough to win the turkey"

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Something Smells

Early this morning everyone was complaining about the foul odor in the air around town. As always, we explained that it was the dog food plant. I told several to be glad because it smells aromatic compared to what it once was.

Before there were laws and before modern technology corporations built near rivers and emptied contaminated waste water into the river and released contaminants into the a
ir. Part of it was because they didn't know better and more because they knew they could get away with it.

On the banks of the Cape Fear river the Texfi Fayette Finishing Co left an extreme amount of toxic contamination in the ground right next to the river. The contamination will be there forever and a day. It has very likely already seaped into the ground water and into the river. This affects drinking water, wildlife and food sources.

Corporations have won tremendous support from much of our population. People say the workers are overpaid and that business is over regulated. They flock to other countries because they can get away with things they can't get away with here.

Over-regulated? Texfi wasn't the only ones to do irreversible damage here. Do you remember the PCBs that were deliberately disposed of along our roadways? What about the wood preserving plant on the west side of the city? It is on the list of worst polluted spots in the U.S. Your child would still be playing with lead painted toys if someone hadn't said no. They'd be brain damaged but corporations would be more profitable. Statistics show that in many circumstances industry knowingly allowed dangerous products to be sold and allowed our water and air to become contaminated. If being good stewards of Gods earth is over-regulating then so be it.

We need to enthusiastically support corporations who do business in the U.S. but we should have strong oversight to insure that we protect what is on loan from God almighty. Tax them and tax hell out of imports then use that money within our university system for research that our corporations can use to do an even better job while enabling higher education to be better prepared for industrial needs. Everyone would win.