Lately I been whining a bit. Got my tax and money problems. Kids haven't been classroom stars of late. The SpongeBobMobile has not been doing right by me lately. Wah, Wah, Wah. When you get in that sort of mood, you start looking for things to go wrong so you get a bigger crowd at the pity party.
But it really ain't all that bad. We all have problems, but we all have blessings, too. Just like my troubles aren't necessarily the same as yours; My Blessings may not may not be either, but I got plenty of them. I got a family I love; friends in five states; a job I love working with people I care about. So, what's it take to wake up and realize things are no worse and no better than I choose to see them? Heard about, but don't remember reading, "A Flower Grows in Brooklyn". Maybe I read it. Can't recall, but the title, at least, sticks with me.
But it really ain't all that bad. We all have problems, but we all have blessings, too. Just like my troubles aren't necessarily the same as yours; My Blessings may not may not be either, but I got plenty of them. I got a family I love; friends in five states; a job I love working with people I care about. So, what's it take to wake up and realize things are no worse and no better than I choose to see them? Heard about, but don't remember reading, "A Flower Grows in Brooklyn". Maybe I read it. Can't recall, but the title, at least, sticks with me.
I walk to work most days, since I live less than a half mile from my office. Right in front of the Sheriff's Office a couple of spots have been recently re-landscaped. The flowers look really pretty. I looked around to see who was doing the work. It was a Trusty: an inmate at the jail, who has been given a little freedom in exchange for working on the public grounds. The dude is in for a year for not paying his child support. He could easily keep his job as a Trusty by just logging a couple of perfunctory hours, and taking a nap under a tree. But he doesn't do that. He works his tail off so that the grounds look pretty.
When I pass the guy, I give him a thumbs up and tell him how good his grounds look. He's grateful. He smiles and waves back. This guy's in jail for a year. Has to sleep in a smelly, noisy lockup with no privacy, no t.v., no games (not even a deck of cards), nothing to read except, if he wants, a holy book of his choosing. The food's not particularly good, either, but he's not bitter. If this guy's not complaining- if he's working hard to try to make things nice for other people, the people who ARRESTED him- what right do I have to shake my fist at God and ask how he could break my big screen t.v.?
15 comments:
You and I see sad cases everyday...but can you compare apple$h*t to orange$h*t? I think you're allowed to have complain-time. Just be sure to smell the flowers afterward.
And don't forgot that flower-boy got *himself* arrested...
A Flower Grows in Brooklyn is evidently a rap song. Now, I know I had to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I wished I'd a read, A Bro's Greed in Tooklyn, or something like that.
Dave, nice guys finish last (evidence is in my cycling today.) You used to make good coin working for a slimy guy, I used to make good coin selling crap. One day we'll pull off a big bank caper, then we can plant flowers too!
Yeah, Star, I just need to stop and smell the applesh*t. Generally, but not always, we are the architects of our dilemmas. Still hurts, though.
A TREE grows in Brooklyn? Oh, well, same idea, I guess. And you're right, Ange, I'd rather be poor doing something I love, than be back where I was, making big bucks and having nightmares again (though there have been moments when I wondered how much a soul is worth). Maybe we can't rob a bank and plant evidence on Bill Flowers.
Roses. Smelled. Gas. Saved. Blessings. Counted.
Sometimes I look at the mountains on my way into work and say, "Yeah."
Those moments: priceless.
Now, to address a couple more things, 'cause, you know, you were starting to feel good :-)
It's a Trusty. A "trustee" probably runs the jail. But a Trusty is just a dude the jail trusts.
And he could be uninterested, but he chooses not to be. But likely, he's not disinterested. We assume the judge in his case was disinterested (ie: nothing to gain or lose) but was paying attention.
And last I checked, a soul is worth about $11 a pound, gutted and boned.
and there's nothing wrong with making serious dough. it's just that they expect you to actually work for it, that's the part I didn't like :-)
Okay, stop and smell the gas, John? I do that a lot when traveling with the Lads.
Yeah, yeah, Chase. I'll fix it.
Chase said bone...
heh, heh heh, heh, heh ... boned.
All right, guys, those comments are really not appropriate for this post. Really, they're much more suited to the last one.
Still sorry that cup cracked. I'll bring you a plate holder so you can hang the saucer on the wall to appreciate the flowers.
Yeah, but it's a cool picture, no? And seriously, in the last few weeks, my t.v., car (twice), lawn mower, and even my stupid computer mouse (I've tried cleaning the rods. Works a little, but aggravating) have broken.
I would like that view on the way to work.
It's nice, Kate. I have to pass the barbed wire of the jail, too, but that's not the view on which I'm trying to focus.
Focus on the positive, minimize the negative, was the quote from Andy recently !
Or something like that . . .
and Kate, according to Chase, every inch of Denver is beautiful.
I'm trying, Lynne.
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