MEAN STREETS IN MONKEYTOWN

   

            I don't know for sure, but it seems like the world is getting meaner. I sometimes feel as though every time I step out of my door that peril lies just outside. Maybe it's just me being paranoid, but as Kurt Cobain was attributed as saying , "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you."

            It could be the times we live in, these days of financial uncertainty. I especially feel this way when I am behind the wheel of my car. It's as though some people feel that being in control of 2000 pounds of plastic and steel gives them power they aren't experiencing in the rest of their lives. 

            When that power is not recognized, there is an unprecedented level of anger that comes to the surface and is displayed in bizarre ways. Like using their vehicle as a weapon.

            Forget the term Road Rage. That term seems far too timid for the level of what can best be described as venomous hatred toward fellow travelers. Drivers nowadays , in growing numbers, are taking it to an entirely different level.

            No longer is an extended middle finger a sufficient display of  your disapproval with other drivers ineptitude while attempting to navigate the mean streets of Southern California. Now the point needs to be driven home by instilling fear into your fellow driver.

            This is not  to say the middle finger is not an effective way to covey your feelings initially, but it can be a jumping off point that can escalate into a more intense situation. This is depending on the intelligence level of the mobile Neanderthal you are dealing with.

            If your digit exchange is with someone of a higher I.Q.  it is basically a two finger conversation and then you both move on your merry ways. It is generally with your lower level primates that you run into trouble and you can tell almost immediately if you have one of these crazy apes on your hands.

            They are the ones who feel that they need to have a conversation with you, audible or not. If that doesn't satisfy their increasing madness, and they are headed in the same direction as you are, watch out. Their next step is probably going to be one of two things. Tailgating you at a dangerously close distance or  speeding up to get in front of you so they can slow down causing you to hit your brakes.

            If one of these things happen, a word to the wise. Get away from them as quickly as possible. The evening news is littered with stories of potentially bad outcomes when dealing with baboons of this variety. Do your best not to become a statistic.

            Another area of automotive nastiness, that has become a recurring topic on the news lately, is the over the top violence being display by numerous police agencies across the Southland.

            It is not an exaggeration when I say that not a week goes by when we aren't treated to another tale of one or more officers losing their tempers and roughing up a suspect before they make it to the patrol car.

            You would think in these days where everyone is carrying a cell phone with a camera in it that these supposed keepers of  the  peace  would be a little more cognizant of the fact that they are under constant surveillance.  Often it looks like they don't care, but they should.

            I have always been a champion of the police. I mean who are you going to call if you have a problem?  Your local gang members? These people are the public servants that we put our trust in. That is why it is such a shock when we see these beatings and shootings.

            As much as we all would like to blindly put our trust in them you have to remember there isn't a group of individuals anywhere that is immune to the bad apple syndrome.  So if there ever was a group that needs to be put under a microscope constantly it is our police agencies. For the most part, they are the ones that others look to as barometers on how to act and react .

            So,  our boys and girls in blue, you need to lead by example and be more aware of the image you are portraying to the public. If it is viewed as acceptable behavior to react violently and in a mean spirited manner, regardless of the situation,  it will continue to create a circle of viciousness that none of us want.

            Like they say....Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Bill Dunn has been a published opinion columnist for 14 years. Any comments  can be sent to either our exalted  editor at  tmiller@beaconmedianews.com   or  to Bill directly at dunnsinferno@casegod.com   You can also find Bill on Facebook  at :   www.facebook.com/WhenAllisSaidandDunn                           

SMOKIN'

"Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette puff puff puff and if you smoke yourself to death
Tell St Peter at the Golden Gate that you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette"

.... "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke  That Cigarette" by Merle Travis/Tex Wiiliams

            On June 15th I had an anniversary, well two actually. Two that will always be linked. It was on that day two years ago that I had a heart attack. It was also the last day I had a cigarette and became an ex smoker. The one thing that I didn't want to become is one of "those" ex smokers. You know the ones who bitch louder than any non smoker ever does.

            Everyone that I knew before quitting always gives me the thumbs up and high fives  when they find out that I have continued to stick with the program. I appreciate the support, but most of those people know me well enough to know that I am not doing this because I want to. It is more out of need than want.

            Let's just say that a heart attack is a pretty effective motivator when it comes to quitting smoking .  Maybe not for everyone, but it certainly was  for me.

            When I say not everyone that became clear two days after my stay in the hospital began. One of the nurses at the time was pleasantly surprised when I didn't request to have someone walk me out to the smoking area. Smoking area? For someone who just had a heart attack? Yeah, that's what I thought too.

            While I didn't ask, I figured there was some sort of catch. Like you could only smoke the cigarettes the hospital provided and they cost $1,000 a pack. Well $999.99 after Anthem Blue Cross paid their share. As I laid there in that hospital bed I came to grips with reality that my smoking days were done. 42 years was a long run. Obviously too long.

            My smoking days and my wife Stacey's as well. The day I got out of the hospital our home became a non smoking zone. Had she not joined me on this journey, I know that I would never had made it. I will always thank her for that.  She has been a rock and a continuous support.

            Despite that unwavering support I still think about it every day. No matter what I do during the course of the day that little devil on my shoulder is always  there poking me with his pitchfork. The best I can do is brush the little bastard away and change my focus.

            While people who have never smoked will never understand what I am about to say, in all honesty, I have to say it. I loved smoking.

            If tomorrow the Surgeon General  released a statement saying they made a huge mistake and that it was actually good for you, I would be the first one in line at the smoke shop, money in hand.

            During my career as a smoker, the cigarette was tied to so many things that once I stopped they all came to the forefront of my thoughts. Like what I am doing right now, writing. You would find it mindboggling how many I would consume during the course of writing one piece. Then after I completed it I would treat myself to, what else? Another cigarette.

            You would have thought I was one of Pavlov's dogs and cigarettes were my food. There were certain things that I would do, like the completion of yard work or even answering the phone in my office, that had the same effect as Pavlov's ringing bell on me. As soon as one of those things would happen  it would be time for me to light one up. Pavlov's dogs would salivate. I would smoke. I'm not sure which was more gross. I do know which the majority of the public is thinking nowadays.

            You used to be able to smoke everywhere. Movie theatres, bars, restaurants, airplanes, even in your seats at a Dodgers game. Now you can't smoke in your own apartment and in some cases there are entire cities where you can't puff in public.

            And, in what I am sure is the wave of the future, Vietnam has become a non smoking country and one where you can't even advertise the product.

            Speaking of advertising, I think we have all got the message with the "Scared Straight" CDC advertisements that play every other commercial on TV. For someone in my position these make my quitting ever harder. Not because watching Susie getting a sponge bath from her son Daniel doesn't look enticing, but  it is a constant reminder that I am not smoking.

            As it is I have plenty of positive reminders in my life without the doom and gloom scenarios they portray. Things that while I was smoking I heard about, but thought I was immune to.

            Like the constant smell of tobacco on my hair and clothing. The presence of a constant cough and the difficulty in my breathing that was more of a wheeze than taking a breath. My ability to smell the person smoking who is two cars ahead of me at an intersection. Dude, if you are going to smoke at least roll up your window!

            Oh my god, I have become one of those ex smokers.

            It looks like I "chose" the right time to quit.

             Bill Dunn has been a published opinion columnist for 14 years. Any comments  can be sent to either our exalted  editor at  tmiller@beaconmedianews.com   or  to Bill directly at dunnsinferno@casegod.com You can also find Bill on Facebook  at :   www.facebook.com/WhenAllisSaidandDunn