On Bad Judgement

I'm not even going to begin this post with a clever lead-in.

I'm going to say what I'm thinking, because it needs to be said.

How fucked up of a society are we that in this day and age, people with disabilities are still so incredibly discriminated against?

Ok, now that I've stepped down off of my soapbox, I'll explain that.

The basis of my anger today is a story out of the UK about a 12-year old girl (who happens to have Down Syndrome) not being allowed to fly as an unaccompanied minor on British Airways after a sales representative told her mother that they didn't allow children with the condition to fly with their company because "we've had problems in
the past."

The link to the original article can be found here.

The company is offering the family two return tickets as compensation. I say that that is not even scratching the surface of settling the
debt.

First of all, why are children with Down Syndrome, or any other disability, really that different from a normal child?

We've all been on that proverbial flight where a screaming child makes it the "flight from hell." Does it really make any difference if that child is handicapped?

The answer should be no.

Secondly, whatever ticket agent spoke to the girl's mother should be immediately terminated. The company maintains that it is not in fact company policy to prevent minors with Down Syndrome from travelling unaccompanied. This woman either was not properly trained, or let personal feelings take over.

Either way, a grievous error in judgement was made, and the company should take appropriate measures to ensure that it does not ever happen again, which they are doing in the form of a companywide disability awareness program and additional training for all customer service agents.

Random Musings:

I think that I've come to terms with the one thing that I do best. Quite frankly, I'm incredibly good at telling it like it is, and seeing things that most people would never notice.

Here is a short list of what I am talking about:

1. After seeing two Broadway shows this weekend, it has come to my attention that like, every actor on Earth has guest starred on some incarnation of Law and Order. It must be a rite of passage for up and coming actors.

2. People don't listen, No joke here, just factual information.

3. Old ladies come in only two varieties: bitches and angels. They're either the type that would run you over with their yacht-sized Buick, or the type that would offer you something from a candy dish. There is no in-between.

4. Swamp People is a brilliant television program. The fact that people who speak English need to be subtitled is mildly hysterical to me.

5. If you think that you can sing, you're probably wrong.

6. The Leprechaun series is one of the most underrated horror film franchises ever. No Lucky Charms here kids, just brutality and dark humor. In fact, that might be a new topic for me in the near future.

7. Being fashionable does not give you creative license to dress like a mental patient.

An Update

In the last week, I have:

-mourned the death of my grandfather. There will be a detailed account of this in the coming days.

-gained a new found respect for country music.

-bought a new hoodie. For most of you, this is nothing special. For me, it's a true process.

-tried to solve World Hunger. I failed.

-come to terms with my own mortality. Which was easier than I thought it would be.

-begun preparations for a new literary endeavor. More details to come.

On Going In A Different Direction

Recently I told you all about a short story that I penned that I was very proud of. In fact, I've come to the realization that out of all of the things that have ever come out of my brain, that story was my favorite.

Maybe not the most well written, or the most interesting, but my favorite nonetheless.

I've written in the past about my newfound love of short stories, and it dawned on me earlier today (as I was almost freezing to death, another entry for another day) that I might be better off entering into the world of short stories rather than a full fledged novel.

At this juncture, I find the idea of sitting down for a short period of time and just pouring myself into something visceral or heartfelt very alluring. And yes, I realize that those two feelings are entirely contradictory. Which is kind of my point.

It may never go anywhere. I may end up being the greatest short story writer of this generation. I don't know, I don't have a crystal ball.

And if I did, I would be constantly betting on horses. And I'd have the monetary means to simply publish my own rantings.

Ah, what a dream.

On Lost Feelings

One of the greatest joys that I have in life is when I'm cleaning, or going through old things and I come across things that I have written in the past.

I wrote a short story back in like, May and I was really proud of it at the time. I wrote it by hand (which is pretty rare these days), and then planned to dictate it into a Word document later that day, or whenever I had a spare second.

I guess days turned to weeks and weeks to months, and I lost track of it. Then last Sunday, I found the story in a series of crumpled-up pieces of paper in my CD rack.The subject and story don't really matter at this time, but the pleasure that I took in reading, rewriting and then dictating it into that Word document was really refreshing.

I remembered what it was like to be creative, if even for a few minutes. It's a feeling that I've been severely missing for some time now. Now if I can harness it into something great (or even something decent), I'll finally be in a place that I want to be in.

On Retribution

I've never been a big proponent of getting even for past injustices. Even though I sometimes want to act before I think, I've seldom let it get the best of me.

Sure, there are things that have happened in my life that I wish could be changed. Wrongs that could be righted.

I'd love to find the guy who sucker punched me in eighth grade and make him cry, just like he did to me back then. But life has done that for me. He's a fat pothead now with no education, no job and no future.

But I don't take any pleasure in that. The scum of the Earth never succeed.

Ok, maybe they do. But in this instance, that's not the case.

I'm the kind of guy that doesn't hold grudges. Unless you apply it to professional sports. Because the New York Islanders need to work off about twenty years worth of my grief.

Or to my fifth grade teacher who didn't let me play Peter Pan in the school play.

Why you might ask?

"You're too husky to be Peter Pan. No one will believe that you can fly."

In effect, you crushed the spirit of an eleven year old kid. Congratulations dear educator.

So it's interesting to note that she was transferred out of the school a couple of years later. It might be because of her terrible attitude towards her students. It might be because she was a dried up old whore. Either way, I hope she gets influenza.

But overall, anyone who has done me any wrong over the years can rest easy. I bear no hard feelings towards you. In fact, I bear no real hard feelings toward anyone or anything that has ever happened to me.

On another note, I found out today that a not-so-kind ex's father is not what he portrays himself to be.

And I find that absolutely hysterical!

On Pipe Dream

Last Thursday, it was late at night, I had a somewhat uneasy feeling in my gut. Something seemed to be missing. It then occurred to me that if it had been about a year and a half ago, I would have been a production night at the office of my college newspaper, Pipe Dream.

So a little background information here:

I came to Pipe Dream with very little writing experience to speak of in the reporting or writing games and ended up eventually becoming Assistant Sports Editor. I went to a general interest meeting on a whim, and ended up falling in love with the entire writing genre. It's something that I've never had any regrets about.

It's strange, I'm not normally the type of person who ever regrets anything. Sure, I've done some questionable things in my time on Earth, but nothing I would deem life altering. But I can safely say that if it had not been for Pipe Dream, I would not be where I am today.

Oh sure, I'm not exactly setting the literary world on fire, but I'm happy with the work that I do here in this blog and in other mediums, and I think that the people who do read those things walk away knowing a little bit more about me. Hell, they might even be slightly entertained. And frankly, that's part of the reason that I do what I do.

I look back on my time in WB03 (the Pipe Dream office) and I don't regret a whole lot. I worked very hard at being a sports writer, putting in a lot of hours and putting my shirt limit of patience to the test. But all in all, I walked away from my two-ish years associated with the publication with more experience and more friends.

The one true regret that I have however, is that I allowed one person to bring me down continually, with little to no reason for doing so. My significant other at the time was a vindictive and angry person who could not stand to see anyone gain any type of acclaim unless it was for her benefit. It led the managing editor of the newspaper to say on more than one occasion "When are you going to dump that bitch?"

Not soon enough K-Dogg, not until after it was too late to take advantage of all of the fun that I ended up missing.

But I digress, this entry is not about regrets. It is about voicing my opinion of the people that I worked with, without mentioning too many names. Suffice to say that if they read this, they'll know who they are.

I won't say too much about my sports staff, they were a good group of guys, and I learned a lot from them.

Our esteemed editor in chief, who now works for MLB.com, was a sports guy at heart. I didn't always agree with his opinion on things, but he knew what he was doing. And I learned a hell of a lot about writing thanks to him.

There also was a core group of a few gals that I always wished that I could be as ballsy as. They said anything that came to mind, generally to the hilarity of the surrounding people. Also, at the time, I may or may not have had a bit of a crush on one or more of them. But I'm sure as hell not naming any names there.

I can also say that in my time with Pipe Dream I met the nicest person that I have ever known. And anyone who worked in that office with me will know exactly who I am referring to.

And then there's my buddy Dave. I mention him by name only because I know that he won't mind. Sir, you might be one of the most underrated humorists that I have ever known.

High praise from a man who doesn't give it easily, no matter what this blog entry might convey.

But that's neither here nor there.

The bottom line is that no matter what, these people have earned my respect, which is not something that I give away easily. Anyone who knows me for any more than five minutes will tell you that if I don't like you in that time, I probably will never like you.

And while we're on the subject, I am fully aware that not everyone likes me. And I'm ok with that. But I can sleep soundly at night in the knowledge that no matter what anyone says, my work ethic in the post of Assistant Sports Editor was never lacking.

So my overall advice, if any can be gleaned from this rant, is that in life, you never know when something great will come along. And if something seems like it's worth taking a chance on, do it.

Only good can come of it. And if it's not good, at least it'll be fun.