IT is JUST A THOUGHT!

And so it goes with that line that I have been using to end my journals and my blogs for more than 2 decades.

It is more than just a thought, it is a process of thinking through our minds, and our thoughts to come up with either a story, or an editorial on life, or whatever it seems.

In this particular case, it is something that must be said publicly, or it will be something that will be buried, and swept under a rug and never thought about, and it could prevent others from falling into the same trap.

Oh there will be those who think that this is torching a bridge, or making waves, but the truth is, its protecting the public, and making those aware of their mistakes, and for others to avoid making them in the future.

In the case of a business owner, and I use that term a bit loosely here, but none the less, a person who has an office, and runs a business, and hires employees to do a job, but in the long process of this, he fails to pay that employee, and tells them that "its a start up business" or "we will have investors taking care of our payroll", or "if you can just be patient, we will take care of you"... YEAH and the sad part of this all, is we fall for it! HOOK- LINE- AND SINKER!

I did this, not once, not twice, but three times, with in recent years.  You would think I would learn by now, but ya know, they're good friends, or they come to you and ASK YOU to work for THEM!

Thats the real kicker, they make the proposal that you work for them, because they "NEED YOUR EXPERTISE" or "You're the PERFECT fit" for the company, or "WHY AREN'T YOU WORKING FOR ME?"

Well if could have looked into a crystal ball, and see that you didn't have funds for payroll, or to keep the doors open, or make the opportunity to make a go at it, and after two months, four months and in one case 7 months, one would think that they would learn from those mistakes!

Not this one! OH NO NO NO! Step right on up, and get slapped in the face again with reality, no one has YOUR best interest in mind!

We keep going to places looking for work, in retail, they offer to pay you, and this is no joke, $8.00 an hour, (which is just truly above minimum wage) for someone that has 30 plus years experience, AND to boot, they want someone that knows the business, but they won't pay for the experience or the knowledge.

Or how about this one, you are over  the age of 50, and they look at you like you are just this side of retirement, but the fact is, that you are still able to get out of bed every day, and come to work, and put in your 8 or so hours, and do the job, but they rather have a younger employee, because they don't have to pay them as much, and they get what they pay for. Someone that they have to train, and teach, and get them experience, instead of getting someone that hits the ground running!

Our society has changed, I remember when working for a company for 20 plus years was the norm, and that companies wanted those in place for a long period of time, we have loyalty to company and company to employee, they took care of their own, we used to go into job interviews and usually after the initial questions and answers about your background and such, the question would be asked "Do you have any questions for us?" to which would come, "What about benefits?", and in the days before all sorts of crap came down, we would be told about health benefits, and insurance, and retirement and vacation qualifications-- NOW... hell, you're lucky if you have ANY BENEFIT other than a PAYCHECK every other week!

There are no benefits offered to employees of small operations, you have to work for large corporations, and even that is suspect, because they don't want to pay those premiums! They don't want that cost!

I have a friend who is a CFO of a company and he just changed their carrier because he could get the cost lowered, but in doing so, the employees deductable went through the roof! $1500.00! Thats right, so unless I am in the ER for a few hours, I have to chew through that deductable-- and lets face it--the purpose of having benefits is to take care of your health so you can stay on the job!

Recently there was a case where I was asked to work for a operation, and they came to me and asked me to be a part of their team. Gave me a title and all, but the fact is, they didn't pay me, oh they gave me a token check in April, and then a smidgen of one in May, but nothing since then. worked through June, and then July up to the middle of the month, when I finally threw up my hands and said enough!

Problem with this is that since last NOVEMBER, I have been out of work, nothing full time, and nothing that can pay the rent or the bills, now this all sounds like me crying in my milk, but the truth is, it's not for lack of trying! Believe me!

So here is the bottom line to those of you that run business, and have a choice to make,... either CLOSE the damn doors, and go work for someone else, or HAVE YOUR OVERHEAD COVERED! Either way, you are a pebble in the water, and the ripple effect that you create when you drop that pebble into the water is what effect everyone around you.

YOU CHOOSE! Bottom line boys and girls, we are not here to be YOUR puppet, we are here to earn a living, and not just a minimum wage living either, if I was 16 or 20 years of age, maybe but not at 55 years of age! This is where we EARN our keep, and should have been earning our keep since we were in our 30's or late 20's.

I have had some terrific jobs, that paid a living wage, and they lasted a couple of years, but one thing  or another happened that ended the job-- sometimes my fault, other times circumstances that I had no control over!

Doesn't matter, those were salad days, and now they are gone!

SO STEP UP and don't be one of those that I have to spread the word about and make you look bad to others, because I can! I have! and I will!

Nothing like having someone talk the truth about you, and it happens to be bad, and then YOUR reputation is sullen but by YOUR actions, not by mine!

YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN A CROOK! and by that, I mean you STOLE my time, my knowledge, and my experience and DIDN"T PAY FOR IT! 

Thats TEFT!

You live with THAT thought!

Because IT'S JUST A THOUGHT! 

History-- RIGHT OR WRONG-- DON'T RE-WRITE IT!

In recent days, and months, we, as a country, have come under some serious controversy, some of it has us wagging our tongues in anger, others has us wagging those same tongues in discussion!

Here is my take on the recent hooha of the Confederate Battle Flag, also known as the "Southern Cross".

We all NOW know what its true meaning was, and the reason why it was a BATTLE FLAG, and not the flag of the Confederate States, and therefore, its representation, and its implication has been distorted through history.

Even more, I have asked some friends of different ethnic backgrounds, of what certain flags mean to them when they see it.

I grew up in the South, Texas to be exact, we were under the flag of not only the Confederacy but also other countries, including Spain, France, Mexico, and of course the United States.

When I spoke with my friends, the Battle Flag-- the Southern Cross, the one that everyone says represents Slavery, or Hate... actually I know that the KKK has used that flag as their rallying cry for many years, and that they use it to symbolize that hate. Truth is, its just a piece of cloth, and for what it is worth, I don't get my ire up when I see it, I know its history and its background and I know that to some it gives off that vibe. But unless YOU teach the true meaning of it, the real purpose behind it, then you can defuse this hate, this representation.

Education is paramount! WE TEACH HATE, when a baby is born it knows no fear, it hasn't been taught what to be afraid of, be it the dark or the monsters under the bed at night. Or in some cases that we fear our neighbors. Truth is, FEAR and HATE are both TAUGHT traits, we aren't born with it, we have to be TOLD what to be afraid of, or who to dislike in our lives.

I grew up COLOR BLIND! I didn't, and still don't see a color of skin I see the character of the person. I have always agreed with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he said, that he had a dream that one day, "Black Children and White Children will grow up together"... and judge one another by their character not by the color of their skin!

Being Jewish, I know when I see a Swatzka, or a German SS uniform, I get a little chill down my spine. I remember being 15 years of age, my dad was a member of an organization that brought to a local mall, a car that was give to, and driven by Eva Braun, and for those of you not familiar with her, that was Adolf Hitler's girlfriend (later wife), he had a customized Mercedes Benz built for her, and it was unique, in that it had 24kt Hubcaps, a German Eagle on the hood, and dual engines, one was Gasoline, the other was Diesel.

I was the only one small enough to get into the driver's seat and steer it into the mall off of the truck. Sitting next to me in the passenger seat, was the SS uniform of the Corporal that was assigned to protect her.  The collector of the this piece of history purchased the car and had it stored in his home in Arizona.

I looked at the uniform, and for a moment, I was intrigued by it, then realized that it represented a time in our history, World History, where men, that thought that they were GODS wanted to eliminate an entire type of people. The JEWS, they were the enemy of the Third Reich, they were going to keep the Thousand Year Reich from ruling the world!

Again, many of those people had friends-- good friends, close friends, neighbors, and yet-- because of what they were taught by their leaders-- it became HATE, and FEAR, and the next thing you know-- SIX MILLION Jews, Prisoners, War Criminals, were exterminated!

Slavery is not just, believe me I know, the slaves that built the Pyramids in Egypt, 400 years of being slaves to Pharaohs to build cities, and monuments, but yet we seem to forget that Slaves have been around for thousands of years.

Flags, emblems, uniforms, call it what you will, we cannot re-write the history, we cannot white wash it to fit our Political Correctness that we have fallen into. The Flag to the left is what angers and incites riots and fights-- the truth is... its not the flag that flew over the state house of the Confederate. This is a battle flag! 

This is the flag that flew-- and by the looks of it, it does not stir up the hate that the one above
does! 

Teach the HISTORY don't re-write it! However, in teaching it, give it the respect that it deserves, its not always good, and its not always evil, and its not always right or wrong-- it is just what it is.. HISTORY!

Flags don't cause hate... PEOPLE CAUSE HATE! and distrust! The first thing is, we have to learn about each other, the culture, the traditions of our culture. Don't think YOU know your own culture, just because someone tells it to you, learn about it, go to it, live it, breathe it! That's YOUR job now!

A Generation is growing up in a society that believes that everything that they see and hear on the internet is true, and we all know (at least in my generation) that's not always the case, I know that there is false history, and I know that if you let the MEDIA drive the direction it wishes to take you in, then you (WE) are nothing more than SHEEP!

Time to wake up and move forward and time to take a stand, and time to TEACH new methods of understanding each other.

GAY, Straight, Black, White, Brown, Yellow, Purple, it does not matter, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddist, it doesn't matter..." we all live on this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all are concerned for our children's future, and we are all mortal! "- John F. Kennedy, Americas University Commencement Speech 1963.

Just a thought