Imnotfeelingit.com

Archive for October, 2010

While reading the newspaper on Thursday, I found out that a “street”, for lack of a better word, is being named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The idea came from some neighborhood kids who wanted to honor MLK. I have no problem with Dr. King being honored, but the “street” is really an alley connecting two streets together.
 
Schools, parks, hospitals, and streets have been named after this great man. Many are important parts of the communities in which they are located. But for the life of me, I can’t understand why so called ADULTS, who remember exactly what King stood for and gave his life for, would allow this to occur! Take a look at the picture and decide for yourself. Is this really honoring this great man? Or is it an insult? If this “street” were on level ground, it would be considered an alley, PERIOD! So ADULTS in the Broadway Heights area have decided to name an alley after Martin Luther King Jr. Not only that, but the San Diego City Council agreed with this and it was unanimously passed.
 
The article makes it sound like 192 “households” signed the petition which isn’t the case. One hundred and ninety-two PEOPLE signed the petition. Which means that a house with 5 people may have signed the petition. NOT FIVE HOUSEHOLDS! There is a difference. Now that this has gotten out, many people of the subdivision are upset about how this was handled and how it occurred!
 
I’m sure one of the reasons this “alley” was chosen is because there are no houses or business that will be affected by the name change. No one will have to file “change of address forms” to update any business records like driver licenses, insurance forms, or school forms. But if the street is so insignificant how is that honoring Martin Luther King Jr.?
 
I commend the children for wanting to honor MLK and getting involved in the political process. But this certainly is a bad idea. And I wouldn’t want to discourage them from staying involved in the process. But this is NOT the way to do it!
 
 

 
 

MLK_sign

 
 
Follow Imnotfeelingit on Twitter

As most people know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the color pink is being warn to show support for people who have survived Breast Cancer and those who have lost their lives to the disease. Everyone from athletes to actors, to entertainers, to every day people, have worn pink in some form to support the cause. But one act of support is testing the limits of stupidity of people in positions of power!
 
A group of high school football officials decided to show their support for Breast Cancer by sporting pink whistles during a game. They also donated two game checks to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Well the powers that be have decided to fine and suspend these officials for a “uniform violation.” WTF????
 
Todd Stordahl, the chair from the Washington Officials Association, has stated that he has “little choice but to suspend the refs” because it would send the “wrong message to the children” if he doesn’t. What kind of message is he sending by fining and suspending officials who were supporting a cause that affects both women AND men?
 
At some point people need to use their BRAINS and not their POWER when it comes to situations like this. Here you have a group of men who donated money and showed support to Breast Cancer. And you have an IDIOT who thinks kids are going to believe the punishment fits the crime. Did I forget to mention that the suspensions will come with another game check and a forfeiture of officiating any playoff games this season. For officials, making it to the playoffs and the state finals is the same thing as the players. It is a testament to their skills as an official.
 
I could see if the officials came out in all pink attire from head to toe. But that isn’t the case. The officials just had pink whistles. I would think the high school football players would have thought it was a great thing to do. Not as some kind of “rebellion against the establishment.” I personally have found it cool to see NFL players wearing pink shoes and having pink towels hanging from their pants. Or seeing NBA players wearing pink shoes. Or watching WNBA players wearing pink uniforms!
 
One official, Jeff Mattson, stated that many of the officials who used the pink whistles have been personally touched by Breast Cancer. And this was their way of “giving back” to the cause. For Stordahl to take punitive actions against them is just STUPID! And if he thinks he is “setting an example for the kids” he is mistaken. Because if you asked the kids what they think, Stordahl would be looked at as an asshole. Not a person looking out for the” kids best interest.”
 
The Officials Association are contending that the uniform code section doesn’t pertain to them so there isn’t an issue. We will have to wait and see if smarter heads prevail. Because there are times when people need to “stand up and be counted. But this isn’t one of those times. This is a case were the “greater good” needs to considered. Because this has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous!
 

 
Follow Imnotfeelingit on Twitter
 

To be honest with ya, I’ve been fortunate to meet some great people in my life. From awesome teachers and professors to great fellow students and coworkers. From grade school all the way up to today. With the advent of Facebook, people who I have known for over 40 years have reconnected with me. Some of these people grew up in the same neighborhood that I did. Some of them I met in elementary school through high school, and some I worked with. But even though I don’t have that many “friends”, the ones I do have hold special memories for me. But I have one friend who is not here. I lost him in junior high school. His name was Chuck.
 
In my area of the planet, when you graduate from elementary school, you go to a junior high school that brings kids together from a fairly wide area of the city. So for me, I met new people at Lemon Grove Jr. High. One of those people was Chuck. He was a year older than I was, but we hit it off immediately!
 
I don’t know if Chuck was gay but he had effeminate characteristics. It didn’t matter to me, I just liked him. He was one of those people who always had a smile on his face and made you feel good. He was smart and funny and you liked to be around him. He had lots of friends and EVERYONE knew him. If you need a visual of what Chuck was like, picture Jack McFarland from Will and Grace, MINUS the narcissism! I remember dancing with him at the school dances and laughing with him in passing in the halls in between classes. He was one of those people who you thought would be successful if only on his personality alone.
 
Yeah, I remember people saying he was “gay” or calling him a “fag” on many occasions, but it seemed to roll of his back. I don’t know the extent of any physical bullying, but since it was the late 70′s, I wouldn’t doubt that it didn’t happen to Chuck. Again, because he was funny, he was always able to turn torment into laughter. He just had that knack!
 
The summer after the 7th grade, when we came back to school, the school was hit with the news. Chuck had committed suicide. Many people speculated that he got tired of being harassed, both in his neighborhood or at home and at school because of his “feminine ways.” Either way it was a huge blow to me. I didn’t know what a “Lesbian” was, but I knew I liked girls. And I knew I was “different”, just like Chuck. Chuck was the first of 8 suicides of people that I knew personally. Not ” a friend of a friend” but people I cared about. People who for whatever reason, we connected. On a spiritual level.
 
With the rash of teen suicides in the last month, at least nine if I count correctly, Chuck has come rushing back to me. That nine teenagers, who haven’t really had the chance to enjoy life, are no longer here. That they saw no other outlet for the bullying except to commit suicide. And that the torment Chuck went through is now global. And how you can be humiliated and have it seen by millions of people, in seconds. Little did I know, I would face something similar myself.
 
At San Diego City College, there was a rumor that I was a lesbian. No one ever said they saw me with another woman. No one ever said they saw me do anything with any women. What was said is that I “looked” at other women. YUP, that was my crime! Not like Jack Tripper used to look at Chrissy, Janet, and Terry, just looked at them. And I endured semesters of whispers, murmurs, and pointing. And should someone not have known about my “crime”, it was quickly brought to their attention. Luckily for me, most of the people who were “told about me” didn’t seem to care. They continued to talk to me and it didn’t matter. But yes, there were times when I didn’t want to go to class. And times where I was ready to toss people off of the second floor of the building we were on. But I was in my mid twenties and saw the bigger picture. And the fact that I was usually one of the people who always “fucked up the curve”, I was able to get my revenge that way! No one had the balls to come up to my face and say anything. But the murmurs and other crap were aggravating just the same.
Continue reading “Chuck” »