A Night at the Horse Shoe Bar

I set out to have somewhat of a typical night, in a rural Northern Michigan community called Marion. I knew it was going to be a good night, when it started out with a $12 prime rib in a smoke filled tavern called the Ideal, you can’t beat that.
My wife’s, sister in law and her boyfriend were the only ones not wearing camo gear of the 25 in the bar. I’m sure the crowd was filled with many hunters winding down from a long night of bow hunting. After my stomach was filled with meat and my lungs and hair filled with smoke, it was time to find a cozy establishment to watch the Tigers play their first game of the World Series. So we went to the only other bar in town, the Horse Shoe.
Little did I know the chairs there were just as uncomfortable as the ones at the Ideal.
Like any decent bar lined with thin wood paneling, two pool tables filled the rear back area. Before I could even sit down and get comfortable the Tigers were down by 5 runs, so like any good Tiger’s fan, I felt it was time to shoot pool. I took my future brother in law up on his offer to shoot pool, it was either that or a dance off. He hesitantly asked if I were any good, knowing how competitive he was I mildly said, “I’ve shot a little pool before.” In actuality I spend the last 3 and ½ years of my life avoiding work on the psych unit by shooting pool. The before mentioned future brother in law’s name is Joe. Joe’s first shot sent the cue ball and 2 other balls flying off the table. He’s lucky he didn’t hit one of the bearded hunters their or we may have been pulling mechanical snips out of our behinds. I spotted the two balls and proceeded to clear the table.. Joe had another two shots before the 8 ball was sunk and six of his solids were still sitting on the table. Every shot I took was advised by a toothless, 8 ½ fingered man that lurked over the table like a fat kid at a buffet. Not a shot went by that wasn’t coupled with, “aim for this, aim for that.” After my game was done with Joe, I approached what looked to be a 70 something man and asked if he’d care to shoot a game with me. The man agreed humbly saying, “son, I haven’t shot in years.” Before he broke the old man couldn’t help but comment on the karaoke singers that were shrieking songs from Johnny Cash and Lynard Skinard. “I’ve entertained for many years, there is one thing I know, you can’t piss in a Mr. Coffee and expect Taster’s Choice!” As random as the comment was, it gave me a chuckle and beared repeating to my wife. Though the man’s resting hand was handicapped with only three fingers, he was a worthy opponent. I felt the pressure as his granddaughter
(who had no business as young as she was being in a bar) was cheering him on franticly. I had one ball left to his two, the six ball against the far rail. He leaned over to me and with a gummy grin he said, “use the rail with right English.” I used the rail just enough to send the 6 off on a wild tangent and the eight ball directly in the corner. I lost. The old man looked like a pirate who just found a treasure chest with his squinty eyes, his toothless smile and a hand that might as well have been a hook.
I thought our relationship had reached a climax and an end. I was wrong. This man seemed to think I was interested in his life outside the horseshoe. I wanted to sit down with my friends and watch my wife sing Sweet Child O’ Mine on karaoke. This man felt it was necessary to tell me about all the cars and trucks he had bought and fixed up in the last half century. I heard about an 86, 88, 89, and 91 Ranger. A 92 Bronco, 78, 82, and countless other models of Cameros. None of which were the cool kind, early seventies models that looked a lot like a Nova or GTO.
I kicked my wife under the table in a “save me now” fashion. I guess she just thought I had a twitch because she didn’t bat and eye. So there I was, stuck, hopelessly surrounded by one man and his stories. I think I would have rather been on the Edmunds Fitzgerald in a thunder storm. Thankfully the man’s 8 year old daughter started nagging her dad to leave. Yes, I now had learned this young girl was his daughter! I have no idea how this girl was his daughter, he looked old enough to be her great grandfather and dirty enough to be her uncle that no one talks about. The man thanked me for the game and departed.
As much as I wanted to walk away in the middle of this old mans rant I am glad I listened. It has been about a month since that night and looking back, I probably made that old mans day by allowing him to talk about his car stories that he holds so dear. Here’s to you Mr. 8 ½.

Triumphant Return

Ok, I know I said I was done. I was, for a while. Now I am back. By popular demand I will set out to blog about stuff that is important to the common man. yammar really. Breif summary of want has transpired the past year. I have graduated from WMU, moved to Detroit, working with GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals as a sales rep, become a tigers fan, joined the PS2 revolution, had a baby girl named Stella Beth, waged war against the distance between Detroit and Kalamazoo, now a transfer is in order and I will return to Kalamazoo. I look forward to reviving a sleeping giant.

Signing Off

OK, I have come to the conclusion that my blog sucks. Nobody reads it and nobody cares (with the exception of Dan). I can't even claim that I had a good run. I write to get my thoughts down in words, but I do want some kind of feedback, opions, following, etc.

So this is it for me, I am hanging it up. thanks to those of you who took a look. There will be no more new posts after this. If you want to hear my opinion go to Dan McCauley's blog, I post on there frequently. www.atthecornerbar.blogspot.com

Adios

MLK Day- Opportunity Over Outcome

I observed MLK day by going to a MLK celebration at Miller Auditorium at Western Michigan University. I have never been to an MLK celebration and I suppose I have taken MLK's teachings for granted for many years. This particular celebration reminded me that MLK did not just fight for blacks, but for equal rights for all. He did not take color, physical ability, gender, race, background into account when he made his "I have a dream speech". He simply stated "judged on content of their character, not the color of their skin". I could not agree more. Many more opportunities have opened up to people of a minority population, I am not talking about blacks alone, I am talking about people with disabilities, Chinese, Japanese, African, African-American, women, and white men in some situations. I don't care if you are purple, equality in opportunities must be stressed.

With all that being said I am discouraged when I hear some people stress outcomes not opportunities. Allow me to illustrate. I read some discouraging statistics in the MLK handout at the celebration, 1) There are more black men in prison than in college. 2) There are more black men in Jackson State Prison than in all of Michigan's colleges put together. 3) 70% of all black babies are born to single mothers. The list went on. I can't believe I saw such statistics printed at a MLK celebration. These are outcomes, not opportunities. MLK stressed EQUAL OPPORTUNITY for all, not equal outcomes for all. Stressing equal outcomes would be communistic. Lets examine these statistics in a factual sense 1) Equal opportunity to obey the law and enjoy the freedoms America offers within legal parameters. Outcome, people who break the law run the risk of having certain freedoms taken away, i.e. put in jail. 3) Equal opportunity to abstain from sex until marriage or use birth control. Outcome, pregnancy can only occur when a egg is fertilized, the act of sex greatly increases the chance of an egg coming into contact with sperm. More unprotected sex=more pregnancies.

My point, to truly celebrate MLK and the rights he fought for, we should focus on equal opportunities for all, not statistical outcomes. If we do focus on statistical outcomes, they do not truly show how a certain race is being cheated out of opportunities.

Very few people get success handed to them on a silver platter, no matter what color they are. It takes a lot of work to get what you want in the world today. I am not so blind to see that some people start further ahead than others just from the situation they are born into. That is out of any one's control other than the man and woman who make the baby.

I have plenty of friends of every ability and culture, some are smarter, funnier, taller, shorter, more confident, and shier than others. Non of them fit those adjectives simply because of the color of their skin. I don't look at a black man in jail and think he is their because he is black any more than I look at a black doctor and think he became a Dr. simply because of his skin (or despite his skin). They both reached an outcome by pursuing certain opportunities.

If we take care of insuring equal opportunities, it is every person's individual responsibility to take care of their outcome. I truly feel that a five year old white boy and a five year old Chinese boy and a five year old black boy can go into a public school and each receive the same opportunity to be educated. How much they learn is dependent on the individual. How much they learn is an outcome, that can not be controlled by any one but the individual as long as the opportunity is there.

Is there still discrimination in America? Yes, too much, any discrimination is too much. But there is a lot more paranoia about discrimination than actual acts of discrimination. Lets put a little more focus on equal opportunities and how we use opportunities than equal outcome.

Back to School

Back to school, back to school.
to show dad that I'm not a fool.

Got my lunch pack up,
my boots tied tight.
I hope I don't get in a fight.

Oh, back to school, back to school.
(Billy Madison)

That is how I feel right now. After the long Christmas break it is really hard for me to get motivated to go back for my last class. I have one more class and my thesis before I graduate with a Sport Management Masters. Which is strange becuase I really don't want to be a sports manager, just have the degree. Basically it is a resume builder to show I can learn.

I ask the fine people of 'For the Masses', why the heck do I have to spend 2 1/2 years in graduate school and spend close to $12,000, to prove I can learn? To have a peice of paper?

I think Leonardo's character in 'Catch Me If You Can' had the right idea. Give me the job and I will learn then. Basically I learned a bunch of general knowledge from college and when I get a job I have to learn a bunch of stuff that only pertains to that job. OK, so what do I do with the general knowledge? Put it on my resume of course.

OK gang, one more semester. Then it is off to bigger and better things. Unless I get a job before then. In that case getting my masters will just be a burden. I was getting the degree so I could get a new job, if I have the new job before I finish then where is the motivation? Just the same, I hope I get a new job before I graduate.
I will keep you folks posted (by "you folks" I mean RJ, Dan, and Kasey, the only people that read my blog).