Saturday, September 29, 2007

Corruption. Greed. Deception.

Our City is full of problems. Our leadership can't be trusted. There IS no leadership.

Yeah? Well, things are still getting done and getting done well.

Tonight my husband and I stopped in to Lucky 32 for a quick dinner. We were just about finished when a woman passed by our table saying, "Is there a doctor here?" We looked over to see several people standing around a woman laying on the floor. My husband is not a doctor but had some first aid training. By the time he got there a nurse was trying to help the woman.

I remembered that Lucky 32 is located next to a fire station so I ran out the patio door to the station and yelled to a firefighter about the trouble at the restaurant. Before I could turn back a Greensboro Firefighter/EMT was running towards the restaurant, jumping over the hedges between. In less than 5 seconds he was followed by 4 or 5 more carrying cases of equipment. By the time I got back to the restaurant, an ambulance was heading for the front parking lot.

Fast forward to all's well that ends well. The woman, who had choked on something, walked out under her own steam, which surprised my husband. He said when he saw her on the floor she was out cold. He didn't think it would end happily at all.

As the EMTs left the restaurant a number of us applauded. Most of the patrons were still in shock and didn't give them the standing ovation they deserved.

Next time you want to talk about all the ills of this City, think about, and perhaps make a mention of all the good things that are happening. I've witnessed it up close. And I am glad, real glad, I live here.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

I don't wanna!

It is a beautiful morning. After suffering through a hot summer, it is cool with a little breeze blowing. A perfect morning to sit on the deck, sip a cup of coffee, read the paper, and relax.

Relax? Did I say relax? Not much of a chance of that once I read the story, front and center, in the News and Record.

It seems local attorney Kevin Morse amassed a large number of parking tickets that he didn't pay. He is now fighting the City's attempt to recover the $2300.00 in unpaid parking tickets. According to the paper, he just might win his case. He might win not because he didn't owe the money because of a computer glitch and was incorrectly billed or because the City ticketed the wrong car and he was out of the country so it couldn't be HIS car that was ticketed. He might win on a technicality over the timeframe in which the suit was brought.

First let's examine his reason for not paying his ticket. "Paying parking tickets wasn't something high on my agenda at the time."

Oh, and my FAVORITE quote -- "I may look like I'm just some a------ who doesn't want to pay his parking tickets." I'm going to assume the "a------" is "asshole" which the News and Record can't print in a story that's on A-1, but I can print here. Asshole. Uh, Kevin? You MAY look like you're just some asshole? Ain't no MAY about it. You DO look like an asshole. Based solely on this article, which admittedly gives me limited knowledge about you, I would say you ARE an asshole.

I could be wrong. He could be an absolute prince. After all, "At the time I amassed this group of parking tickets, my office was downtown," he said, explaining that he let his secretary use the space he was provided for the office. Awww. He's nice to his secretary.

He found the City's efforts to collect the parking tickets to be "upsetting." He felt he was mistreated by the collections staff. "...they're a bunch of bullies down there...and I don't like bullies." Boo hoo. If he'd paid his parking tickets he wouldn't have had anyone calling him to collect. He wouldn't have had to deal with the "bullies." Furthermore, this isn't the first time he's run up a bunch of parking tickets.

While he may think a front page story about his situation is a good thing, I would be totally embarassed. He's not out there seeking justice for some wrong commited to some poor innocent person. He's now out there, on the front page, showing himself to be a first-class jerk.

"Paying parking tickets wasn't something high on my agenda at the time." He needs to think about his priorities.

"I may look like I'm just some a------ who doesn't want to pay his parking tickets." No MAY about it.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Talking to David Wharton For Dummies.

Just in case you want to carry on a conversation with David.