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A Final
Frontier?
By Mona Lease
Hi, all!! Before I start this: This column knows no racial/social
prejudice. This column takes no sides. The point of this column is to
present facts to you (pleasant or unpleasant) so that you might make an
informed decision.
Somewhere around 1982 or so - K-Mart in Greenville, Ohio opened for
business. A friend of mine worked there. She shared that K-Mart
corporate headquarters sent a guy to Greenville from New York.
He rolled into Greenville from the Big Apple...full of ideas about how
to make Greenville's K-Mart prosper. He said there should be a huge
sale on Thanksgiving Day...Thanksgiving Day!! My friend said the store
would not be open that day. With a sputter - he asked why. She
explained how we do things around "here."
He explained that in New York, people did Thanksgiving early - as a
family. Then around 1 pm - the women all went shopping at Macy's, ect.
The guys turned on the tv - it was time for football....NFL, Budweiser,
Clydesdales...America. (The only reason I'm writing this is because of
the whole NFL Boycott: this might be a fight to keep and maintain
the final frontier...man/himself...humanity/itself.)
The NFL has become synonymous with Budweiser...which has a reputation
for being a good American-made product from a recipe over 100 years
old. Budweiser has a reputation for being behind and for the working
man. All of the "working man" press (as it were) brought in the
Clydesdales (hard working horses). This is all under the American Flag
and the National Anthem. It goes without saying (or it should) that the
working man works hard...pays taxes...maintains the homeland so that
our armed forces have the resources to go where they are needed to
defend this ideal.
This is America - work hard - play hard. And this whole theme: NFL,
Flag, National Anthem, Budweiser, Clydesdales - might be as close as we
get to America's "Mom, Baseball, Apple Pie and Hotdogs" (or however the
order is to go).
With our advanced society - we have the ability to speak to others in
Ireland. Actually - I have! Me - with my compromised mental ability to
grasp how I can "Skype" (picture and voice) on my little laptop
computer with people halfway around the world. If I knew anyone on the
moon - I could Skype with them. We are far past WW1 when we had guys
playing baseball only in this country. We now play sports around the
world. We have satellites strategically placed in the sky around the
USA. We can "bounce a signal" around the world!!
Consider this from the National League Rulebook: "A 62-63 (of the
National Rule book) states the National Anthem must be played prior to
every NFL game and all players must be on the sidelines for the
National Anthem."
"During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should
stand at attention, face the Flag, hold their helmets in their left
hand and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the
American Flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players
and coaches that we (all involved with the football game) continue to
be judged by the public in this area of respect for the Flag and our
Country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem
may result in discipline such as fines, suspensions, and/or forfeiture
of draft choice(s) for violations of the above. including first
offenses." (Look up this stuff. And - I thought all of this went
without saying. I've been to dragstrips, Eldore races, baseball games,
etc. All of these observe the above rules.)
So - for all of our hard work - as a people - have we run out of things
to conquer? Is that why we keep revisiting the issues of slavery, gay
rights, abortion, etc? Is man - himself - the final frontier...with
fear...with old hurts and hates to conquer?
Remember the kiddies and our service people. Take good care of the
furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next
time. Ever Toodles!! MONA
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