Getting on the Good Foot
So there I was, outside of a local Safeway, face to face with an irate young man who was trying to convince me that his intentions to roll the wrong way down a one way lane over flowing with customers and slush, was a sane thing to do. Behind his designer shades, we squared off, face to face, one in a pint size save the ozone automobile and the other in a truck with a tape cassette player. We were two worlds colliding in the middle of a day that was offering both sunshine and snow. As I smiled and pointed out that I now had several cars behind me, he slammed his fist his wheel and nearly upended the chai latte that was fogging up his windshield. A passer by, carrying a seasonal case of Canada Dry, looked at me and smiled and gave me a fist pump. If the facts be known, having successfully navigated numerous decades around the sun, I really did not have time for such nonsense. Born in politically incorrect times, I am definitely not afraid to speak my mind, nor act in a way that may ruffle a few feathers (and I sent out a melodious tweet to my feathery friends).
Not much later, I was fueling up and putting another quart of oil in my truck when I started talking with a styling sage owner of Jeep with “Ditka” on his plates. I saluted his faith in his team and we both started to lament that most folks have lost touch with true loves like cheering on a team bare chested in a snow storm or predicting improbable endings to Super bowls. He said, “you know they have given up the teams to the kids who have no clue about what things are about. For them, it is all about the money”. Now this not a new insight, even Steve Young has pointed out that about my team the Forty Niners.
.Which does make me wonder “Have we really lost touch with a little bit of soul?. Could I or should I tweet or email Collin and say..”Hey Collin. Whatz up Dawg? You do know this repression things is not so fresh, why not get off the knee and get on the good foot son!”.
Now it has been over a decade since the godfather of soul has strutted off the stage of life. Yet I think we need to be reminded…what it is to “feel good” and how to find your way in a world that might even be stacked against you. Imagine, thrown into jail and then coming back with an homage to the country that put you behind bars. Now that is the true essence of soul. If it was good enough for James Brown then it is good enough for all of us to give a shout out to being proud of who we are.
I must confess, it has been awhile since I have taken the time to pen a few thoughts on this blog. I do apologize. Prior to testing my literary wit, I have had to test my skills at dodging curve balls and rolling with the punches. In many ways, I almost forgot the joy of tapping my toes and strutting “to the groove”. A friend recently said that the difference between 18 and 30 is not like 48 and 60. For the later, you are pretty much the same just angrier. Well my reply was to quote an old horn blower Mark Twain who said “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”. It is a known fact that James Brown was never afraid to let the world know that he was James Brown. As for me, I am just a humble analog in this digital world where a few good manners seem to have gone astray.
So I will leave a cyber reminder to the young gentle man who walked off in a huff and then stepped in a karmic puddle. You may still wondering “why did that clown in the truck not let me go my own way?. You may have facebooked 2,000 friends, complaining that you were entitled to go the wrong way. You may have even tweeted WTF//frickinoldfarts instead of reflecting upon your actions verses indulging in simplistic reactions. Take some time to clean up that spilt latte. Before shredding a stray envelope, pen a few words on it and then leave that message in a drawer for 24 hours. During that time, the snow will melt and your shoes will probably dry. During that time, you might even amuse your self with the silliness that the universe, in all its vastness, may be upon your shoulders. The simple fact is, you were wrong. You were both impolite and ill mannered. Learn a lesson or two from the godfather of soul and a worldly wise analog. Before huffing and puffing and marching forth into the new year, get some soul and ”Get on your good foot”.
ataboyendeavours 