The True Value Of Seven Cents

As you may (or may not) know, I work as a cashier.  Last night, I was ringing up a woman who came in with her two sons and the oldest one, who was about five years old asked if he could buy some Tic Tacs, getting permission.  He was going to pay for them himself, and when she was done, he put the candy on the belt, along with his money.

 

All seven cents of it.

 

Of course, his mother told him she would pay for it, and as she was doing so, he tried putting the seven pennies in her hand.  She told him he didn't need to do so, and I lowly said, "Ma'am, he's paying his way."  She looked at me for a second, then got it and pocketed the pennies.

 

I couldn't help it.  I told others and one man stated, "I hope she keeps those pennies in a special place and tells him that story later on."  He had a good point, but I don't know if the mother truly got the gist of what that young man was doing.  He was doing what too many of us fail to do.  There are a good amount of people out in the world today who refuses to even try to pay one's way.

And this five year old was saying, "Please let me do so."

 

I would say his parents have done a good job with that young man, and I hope he never changes.

I'll Tell Ya!

I can't speak for you, but at least once a day, I hear someone wondering what is wrong with either this country or the world.  To tell the truth, sometimes it's me.  I've had many a person say the problem with the United States started when prayer left the schools.  I can't (and won't) argue with that.  We seem to be going straight to hell in a handbasket ever since--and the vast majority of us don't care. 

 

We see things on television that in our parents' day, the police raided the theatres for.  (Why don't they anymore?)  Things that people had to be 18 to see a five year old can now view, and say, "Daddy, what's she doing?" or "I want to do that when I get older!"  Try explaining to your daughter how nice girls don't act like Miley Cyrus when they're about six years old.

 

I hear language on the tube that well . . . I got my mouth washed out with Palmolive Gold when I tried it in the church nursery at the age of three.  (I never said I was a smart kid.)  People say, "Bushwah.  It's realism."  Excuse me?  It's supposed to be entertainment.  If I wanted to see the real thing, I wouldn't be watching television!  We're teaching the kids that actual people talk that way?  Uh, when I did try talking that way, like I said, Palmolive Gold and I had a meeting of the minds with my only toothbrush!  (I was the only three year old who looked forward to going to the dentist so I could get another.)  I know a lot of folks who don't, and I'm sad to say were their lives on the tube, they'd make them sound like sailors.

 

Yes, I know.  I'm old fashioned.  I've been told I'm as outdated as buggy whips and the Edsel.  That doesn't mean I'm wrong, though.  Look at the popularity of 'Duck Dynasty,' a clean show that espouses Christian values.  PG animated movies generally top the box office every year.

So when are Hollywood and America going to learn?

 

 

I Am Glad My Grandfather's Dead

The title of this may seem way out of line, but sadly, it's true.  First of all, I loved my grandfather immensely.  It's merely due to the actions of others that I am glad he's no longer with us.

You see, Joe Fisher loved the game of baseball.  Matter of fact, he'd been a semipro catcher for the team of Harris, Missouri.  JoJo once hit three home runs in a game during the deadball era, a time when a double was a feat and a triple a rarity.  Another time he caught a major league pitcher, which he said was the easiest game he ever had, as the man just put the ball wherever he placed his mitt.  So needless to say, JoJo had some great stories for us.

If you went to a baseball game with JoJo, you didn't talk.  The man knew his baseball.  He was an apt student of the sport, who knew as much about it as anyone on the field, if not more.  The man could tell you what pitch was coming--and why.  He'd let you know who was going to be positioned where for what batter--and why.  JoJo should have been a big league manager, I kid you not.

We lost JoJo in November of 1980.  I wept an amount the size of Niagara Falls that morning.  As a matter of fact, I owed him $2.50 in baseball bets.  I sent it to Baseball Chapel.

Now the sport he loved so much is in shambles.  Since he died, baseball has had a drug scandal, strikes (one costing us a World Series), steroids and now HGH.  The main player in the recent scandal isn't facing responsibility like a man should (JoJo would have told him to man up!), and we wonder what will hit baseball next.  As someone who's been a fan since 1975, I'm shattered. 

But my loss is nowhere near what JoJo's would have been.  Were he still alive, the situation today would devastate him.  So yes, I'm glad my grandfather's no longer with us.

And for that, I curse those of you who have made the game what it is.