HAPPINESS...IT'S A DECISION.

I recently saw a billboard with actor Micheal J. Fox on with the caption "Happiness...it is a decision" and I must agree with it. In our brains there seems to be a switch that we can turn on and off. Happiness does at times take work and I feel it is much easier to be grumpy or angry with the world. Happy people seem to be more successful and affluent whereas angry seem to struggle. Just as it takes time to be successful, people who struggle seem to always take the easy way.

Life throws us curve balls all the time. Recently at work, we had a guest (I work at a hotel) who called to the desk and angrily told me he had no hot water, he said he had to make a court appearance in a half an hour and he needed the issue resolved right away. He slammed the phone down before I could tell him we would check it and get him another room. Moments later he stormed down with the intent of letting me have it. He was a man in his 40's who looked like he had rough life, he smelled like a old carton of cigarettes and looked like he had been beaten down by factory work. His profanity-laced blast escalated in volume so that our full lobby could hear. He made it clear that we somehow purposely put him in a room without hot water. He snorted that he was not about to pay for this. I obliged and refunded his stay. He appeared to get what he wanted but you could tell he was not satisfied. He wanted to argue and let the whole world know how awful his time was. His face was red, and veins were sticking out on his neck and I found myself amazed at how mad he was. It was as if he was angry with things way beyond the cold water. I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the guest and his view on life.

I do believe you can have spirited debates and disagreements, but I see no reason for anger. If Micheal J. Fox motivates you to be happy great, but I would also include putting Jesus in the mix. There are points in life when you get hit in the face with cold water (sometimes literally). How you handle it ensures a happy or miserable existence... I prefer happy.

PROFILING...TO DIE FOR!

With the recent apprehension of suspected terrorist (or rather "conflict starter" using Obama's non-use of the word terrorist) Abdulmatallab, racial profiling is again making news. Should we inspect those fitting the "conflict starter" profile a little closer than others? Is it demeaning to be "profiled"? Are we discriminating against those who fit the "profile"? Are we setting the country back 20 - 50 - or even 100 years by doing this?


I am a white male married to a hispanic lady. Prior to our meeting, I was somewhat ignorant to the issue as I could not remember a time of being discriminiated against. Since knowing my wife, she had brought to my attention how store clerks and others would watch her (and for being with her my) every move while shopping or using their services. While I cannot pretend to know what discrimination is like on all levels, but with that experience I have a better understanding of it after these experiences. There certainly is a level of anger that is uncomprehensable to someone who has never felt or perceived discrimination.

That being said....If it is of national security, I have no problem with racial profiling. Until we get a better system, I am for anything that will protect our way of life. Racial profiling is sometimes a necessary evil. If we know the area where the radical enemy is, the background of the radical enemy, and the mannerism of the radical enemy, it is only prudent to ask additional questionsof those fitting that "profile."

I was fortunate to live a few months in Sweden back in the late 1980's. I went with a tour group to Russia. The tour group (mostly of a mix of Swedes and Norwegians) was held up while the boarder guards went though my luggage and asked me many questions. This was just after the cold war. I understood why and complied. The guards were being protective of their country. I was not offended (actually quite amused by it). Now this is obviously not the same as the current issue, but the same principle I believe. We want to protect our country.

Simply put, poltical correctness is not something I, nor anyone else should have to die for.

I THINK THEREFORE I AM, I THINK...

It is 5am Christmas morning as I write this entry. I couldn't sleep so I decided to come downstairs, turn on the Christmas tree lights and put on some soft Christmas music. My wife and I tried our best to clean last night, but I could not help but trip over some of the things items left out during our two boys revelry from last night. It is cold and wet, windy and rainy outside, yet there is a warm, quiet and peaceful feeling about this morning at our house. It is in times like these, I really feel part of the Christmas spirit...the peace that I truly believe comes only from our Lord and Savior. No doubt other families have already begun the fun and excitement of opening gifts on Christmas morning. It has been a tradition for me since I was a child and we continue it with my family, to open presents on Christmas Eve. Our mornings were usually spent sleeping in only to be awaken by the desire to get back down to the favorite toy we opened the night before. I could not figure out how we continued to miss Santa's arrival at our house. He seemed to always come while my father drove us around looking at lights after the Christmas eve service at church and my mother never heard Santa while doing the dishes during that time. I figured it was Christmas magic. .

My thoughts are on a gentleman I met at work. He is around 60 who is apparently moving to Thailand to escape the high cost of prescription drugs. He told me it costs him approximately $2,000 per month for his meds here and in Thailand it would cost him about $50. He is packing up his house, getting rid of many things and moving out. He is divorced mentioning his former wife many times in a series of jokes and has told us he has a daughter around 24. He is a graduate of Notre Dame University and has graciously given me many ND souvenirs. The two things you can tell about him when you first meet him are his passion for ND and his education level. Upon asking, he told me he first studied Physics in college but grew disillusioned by it feeling anything Einstein did was a lie. He said he then turned his attention to Philosophy and was a large believer in Frederick Neitche's teachings.

I was a little saddened to hear he would be spending the holidays by himself packing up his belongings and the thought of inviting him over for Christmas dinner had gone through my mind. I have not asked, but get the feeling he is somewhat lonely as he wants to befriend everyone at work. I decided to pursue getting to know him a little more. As I spoke with him I was continually impressed with this knowledge and thoughts. I invited him to join this blog as a contributor. My thought was he would be a great contributor and we could stay connected somehow. I felt he would have some intriguing input not only with his intellect but the fact he was moving to Thailand and it would give it a more worldly prospective. Somewhat hesitantly, the way you ask a professor to "join your ideas", I asked him if him was interested.

The answer I received was to me startling. He smiled looked down and then back up at me. He then began a dissertation of the teachings of Neitche and other philosophers of how all this stuff is just a waste of time. We are not really here, is just our cognitive existence. Our thoughts do not matter and on and on...

Perhaps he is right... I do not purport to be a scholar or a man of great wisdom. Where I am not destitute, I am definitely a modest man of modest means. While college educated, I feel there is much to learn. It would be disingenuous for me to imply that what I know more than anyone and I do not make the claim too. I do however think that all peoples thoughts have an intrinsic value no matter what their education level. This is why this blog was created.

This blog may be worthless to some and on some philosophical level it probably is. The human existence is a wonderful thing. It is full of highs and at times lows, incredible joy and at times unbearable pains. I truly believe God put gave us emotions to at spice to our lives and to grow stronger in faith through them. This blog is intended to be an outlet for those emotions whether they be highs or lows. To remove yourself from emotions of life and the true passions that encompass them is to deny yourself an enriching life I feel. Perhaps then your Christmas's will be shared with the joy of human existence and interaction rather than alone in a hotel room with philosophy books.

DIRTY LAUNDRY

Do you remember the old Don Henley song, "Dirty Laundry?" It had the line "She can tell you about the plane crash, with a gleam in her eye." I am reminded of this as I watch the young good looking anchors on CNN and their sister station Headline News. News really has become entertainment. Gone are the days of unbiased news reporting. Gone are the older, fatherly newsmen such as Walter Cronkite or even Tom Brokaw. Now I enjoy a good looking newscaster as much as the next person, but it seems the news is often overshadowed by the young overreacting newscaster giving you their opinion of the story with a simple rolling of the eyes or cute little sidelook into the camera. I especially like the promo's for the HLN's morning anchor as she glances at you from every angle and then strikes a cute little pose while the music plays "you get me excited...every morning with you!" Is this news they are promoting?

This is not the news...it the editorial page. The story seems to come second to how it is presented to you. Whether it be editing the story to fit whatever opinion the media outlet has or just a simple facial expression of the host. I especially like it when the newscasters act annoyed that a story is picking up so much publicity when they themselve are the ones promoting it. The "Ballon Boy" story or perhaps the non-ending Jon & Kate saga comes to mind. Bring on more Bob Losher or Bob Scheafer at CBS...they may not be sexy or flirt with the weatherman, sportscaster or entertainment person...but you feel like it is actual news and not evesdropping on the flirtations of youth.

"I JUST WANNA LOOK LIKE I CARE"

The Senate of the United States has recently passed the Health bill, now it goes back to the House and on and on and on. What amazes me is how the votes for such things can be "bought". Some Senators were holding out apparently looking out for their constituants. Those fence sitting Senators we find out were appeased by getting their pet projects written into the bill. Obviously these projects will look good when they are up for re-election. Now that the representatives in the house see how to do it, do you think they will all of a sudden do the same? Is this corruption? Is this getting what is best for the country or "just for me"? Where is all the transparency the administration promised? It really doesn't matter because as long as I look like I care, I'll get mine".

'I'M GONNA GET MINE..WELFARE STATE OF MIND

As we sit on the precipice of the passing of the "historic" Health Care Bill I am truly amazed at the current Welfare State in our country. I have had the true eye opening experience for the past few months to observe this phenomenon on display at the hotel where I work. I can only imagine the Health Care Bill will "help" the situation.

A few months back we had a family (a mother, her three kids along with her boyfriend) arrive at our hotel after apparently getting kicked out of their apartment for non-payment. The mother is in her late 20's or early 30's, rather portly, and apparently suffering from diabetes. Her kids are aged 16, 11, and 6 respectively. Her boyfriend appears to be in good health in his early 30's. Their payment of choice was a government issued credit card and we were told there would be a certain amount put on it by the government every month and we could charge the card on this day.

You could not help but feel for this mother with kids at first as she appeared to struggle daily both with the embarrassment of her predicament, the behavior of her kids and the inactivity of her boyfriend. My staff and I tried our best to make her feel comfortable. Apparently she could not work, but she was always busy receiving phone calls, getting in her car driving places, having visitors stop by, filling out forms and such. We assumed she was looking for work but later found out she was going to governmental agencies, churches and other places to find assistance. This was a full time job for her.

It became increasingly obvious she did not intend to work but, "live off the government." There was a string of endless government social workers having important meetings with her in our lobby telling her how she could receive free government money for food and housing and other assistances. Her kids could get free money to join any activity they wanted to participate in. We had to listen to her tell her story over and over to the sympathetic govertment workers. This list went on and on. The money appeared very easy to come by.

She then would use our front desk as a secretary service for her in assisting her filling out forms, faxing and telephoning places for her. She would tell us daily to take messages for her or to tell callers she didn't stay here depending on who the caller was. We needed to screen her calls before transferring them to the room. Many time she had us "watch her kids" while she went out. She was quite busy with her schedule and to hear her story, you would be amazed she could function as well as she did.

After a few months with us, she received word that she could get an apartment and a car through some government program at no cost to her. She notified us that she would be moving out and not to tell anyone of her forwarding address, hence they find out things that could cause her to loose her free money. She did not tell them that her boyfriend would be living with them because then they would not receive the assistance.

At the hotel we still receive her mail for free meals and assistance for her "struggling" family. She had three different churches send her vouchers for huge Thanksgiving meals, letters from kids activity places that cost working families a lot. She wants us to forward all of her mail to her because apparently she cannot pick it up herself. She doesn't want people that are sending her things at the hotel to know where she is.

Bottom lining it. If this woman tried to find a job as hard as she tries to find free money, she would be successful. I cannot imagine President Roosevelt had this in mind when he began the "new deal". Am I bad for not wanting to help this woman anymore? I am afraid we are creating a society that will become this.

Will Obama's programs such as healthcare, help or create more of this...It remains to be seen....What happened to pride in yourself? What happened to being responsible for yourself? It doesn't matter anymore...Obama will fix everything ...right?

AM I A PRUDE?

I recently was watching television with my two young sons ages 6 & 11 at 5pm the other day. We were watching a Christmas Cartoon on our local Fox affiliate. During one of the breaks a promo for the show "Two and a Half Men" came on. It pictured Charlie Sheen (whoever his character is) singing a Christmas Song and replacing a word in the last stanza with a crude word about sex. My son asked me what it meant and I had no idea what to tell him. I was outraged at the show, the station and everything. Does this mean I am becoming a prude...or somehow "like my parents"? Is there anything that anyone can do to stop this kind of crap on TV?

BOY...HE IS A TIGER!

Now that Tiger Wood's alleged affair account is into the double digits, I had to chuckle at the comment that some male comedian said on The Joy Baher (sp?) show on CNN(goodness I don't like that network). He likened Wood's flings to a women's love of shoes. He stating that if $1,000 shoes were throwing themselves at women...that they would be bound to "try some of them on". My advice to Tiger? Instead of being served by the cocktail waitresses, you had better mix in a few more meals at the drive thru window's from now on. It's hard to get acquainted with the apparent "hotties" serving you food there.

OBAMA "NOBEL" MISSION

What was the old song by Boy George? Chama - Chama - Chama- Chama Chama Chameleon..you come and go.. I couldn't help but be amazed at the "Nobel" job President Obama did with his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace prize. He received it largely because he was not George Bush and for the harsh criticism he had of Bush. The Candidate Obama stated over and over that the war was a bad decision and diplomacy was the way to go. After hearing his speech and how much he defended US wars I couldn't help but be amazed how he is changing his colors. He definitely has talent straddling the fence in speeches. Take a stand man and defend it...don't just answer whatever is popular...and stop blaming Bush for all that is bad.

IN YOUR EAR!!

I continually am amazed at how technology has made us a less personal, more rude society. I have just observed a slender older man talking to himself or at least he seemed to be. I didn't know if he needed assistance or if he may have some some mental problems, so I asked him if he needed anything. After a rude look he annoyingly pointed at his ear. Apparently he was speaking to someone on a "blue tooth" phone. He quickly lost eye contact with me and continued his conversation. As his conversation continued, he served himself breakfast, sat down and began eating. I could not help but wonder as he slurped his coffee, crunched his Cheerios, and wiped the milk off his chin...how it all sounded to the person listening on the other end.
Apparently he assumed he didn't have the time in his busy world to be courteous to the other person on the phone. He then proceeded to sit in his chair and stare at the TV for a half an hour. I guess that urgent matter that caused him to slurp and crunch in the ear of the person on the other end of the phone was not quite that urgent.
Perhaps we as a society need to take a step back and check ourselves.