A Thanksgiving Message

It all began in the fall of 1621 when 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans got together to celebrate the first successful harvest in America for the Pilgrims.  It was in 1863 that President Lincoln officially made Thanksgiving a federal holiday and it was in 1934 that the Detroit Lions decided to add to our indigestion by playing football on the afternoon.  It was in 1955 that the first green bean casserole was introduced and much to my chagrin,  "green beans with a crust" has become a permanent fixture on this day.

This year begins a new tradition - retailers will be open on Thanksgiving Day.  I've seen a lot of uproar on television news shows and on social media.  Apparently, the fact that working in retail already sucked was oblivious to most. So a tremendous amount of sympathy has gone to these same workers that usually work every weekend and evening while others are spending time with their families.  "But this is different!" - the dissenters shout.  We've had no sympathy for the convenience store workers, gas station attendants, police, firefighters, hospital workers, air traffic controllers, and the people stuck working the Lions game.  They've all been working on Thanksgiving for years.

The decision for retail to open on Thanksgiving is a reflection of our own desires. Should we really be mad at the retailers or should we be mad at our own cravings for materialistic items at a greatly discounted price?  My solution - If you don't like it….don't go.  Pretty simple.

Here's a thought: Let's not be slaves to certain dates on the calendar as representing the only times we make an effort to be with our families and friends.  The reality is - we can get together ANY time if we make the effort.  There are 364 other days throughout the year that you can make plans to be together….and it doesn't have to be just one day.  There's no law here.  It can be many days throughout the year.  Plan ahead and get together.  The more functions there are, the more opportunity that everyone can make at least one. It's all about effort and it starts with you.

Angels in the outfield? Or maybe in the stands?

This post is long overdue, but baseball season is in full swing so it's time to tell the tale.  It's a story with my daughter that can best be described as Good Karma.

It was late June a couple of years ago when a friend offered me their tickets for a Detroit Tigers game.  I took my daughter Ellie and her good friend Gabby to see the Tigers take on the Baltimore Orioles.  The girls played on the same softball team and were school friends as well.  Gabby, a star softball player, had never been to a Tiger game before so she was excited about her first venture to Comerica Park.  Having seats 20 rows behind the Visitors dugout added to the excitement.  After enjoying the first three innings in our seats, it was time to give Gabby a tour of the ballpark.  After a stroll around the outfield, the girls took a turn on the ferris wheel and the carousel.  We stopped at Guest Services where Gabby received a certificate commemorating the inaugural occasion along with a poster of Brandon Inge - her favorite Tiger (Tiger fans, keep the comments to yourself).

We returned to our seats in the 7th inning and with the Tigers down by 2 in the 8th, fans started heading for the exits.  With the rows in front of us getting sparse, the girls asked if we could move closer to the field.  We spent the 8th inning in the 3rd row and as the 9th inning began, our feet were kicked up on the dugout - best seats in the house.  No way we were leaving even a minute early.  Sure enough with 2 outs and a man on first in the bottom of the 9th, Miguel Cabrera would send one deep to left center field tying the game and sending it into extra innings.  The girls were starting to believe their seats were bringing good luck to the team. 

As the 10th inning came to a close, the Oriole player that caught the last out approached the dugout and with the girls begging for the ball, tossed it right into Ellie's hands....and that's when the magic began.  Without hesitation, Ellie turned to Gabby and handed the ball immediately to her friend and said, "Here. Take it".  Ellie had been playing hostess all night and her gracious instinct kicked in immediately.  Honestly, I've never seen somebody catch a baseball at a game and give it to someone who didn't live in the same house - as a parent would to their child.  I was so proud.  I took a picture of the girls with the ball and quickly texted the picture to Gabby's parents.

 

Ellie was a bit naive and was under the impression that getting a baseball at the ballpark was an easy accomplishment.  The Tigers won the game in the bottom of the 11th, so a final out never came our way again.  It's at this point, my lovely daughter was beginning to regret her magnanimous gesture.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that in all my 40 something years of going to Tiger games, I had only gotten one ball myself.  I couldn't tell her - This may be your only one.

Gabby was thrilled.  What an overall experience for her first Tiger game ever.  After dropping Gabby off at her house and sharing the experience with her parents, we headed home. 

Ellie, almost in tears, said to me, "I'm thinking about asking Gabby for the ball back."

"Ellie", I responded, "What you did tonight was so special and I am extremely proud of you for it.  I don't know anyone who would do what you did."

"But I thought we would get another one," as tears began to run down her face.

"Honey," I affirmed, "That's the point.  You thought of your friend first.  You wanted to make sure she had that experience for her first game.  Most people would've kept it and told their friend to get the next one.  You didn't.  This was a very good deed and good things come to people that do good deeds. You will find that if you continually do kind things for others, good fortune will come your way."

I couldn't emphasize enough as to what a wonderful gesture it was.  "Gabby will always remember her first Tiger game because of what you did."

As the week went by, I shared the story with family, friends and coworkers.  Some suggested that I share the story with the Tigers and maybe they would give her a ball.  As proud as I was of her, I still felt bad that she may have given away the only ball she may ever get at a game.  You hear people regale the tale of when they caught a ball from a game, but you rarely hear people say they've caught a ball more than once.

As fate would have it, Ellie's summer recreation program was scheduled to attend an afternoon Tiger game a couple weeks after our game with the Orioles.  Their seats were in the right field bleachers, so the odds were very slim of catching another one.  Coincidently, I had a friend ask me to the same game.  My friends tickets were 15 rows behind the Tiger dugout and I thought this may be a chance for me to get one back for Ellie.   

As I dropped Ellie off at summer rec that morning, she said, "Don't forget to try and get me a ball".

"I'll try sweetheart" - I replied. "I'll swing by the bleachers before the game and say hello".

We stepped into the ballpark shortly before game time.  I told my friend that we needed to stop by the right field bleachers to say hello to my daughter.  As we approached the bleachers we saw a sea of elementary aged children all wearing matching orange shirts.  I finally saw a familiar face.  It was one of Ellie's good friends.

"Megan!", I shouted.  "Where's Ellie?"

"She's over there" and pointed a couple rows down.  "And she got a ball!"

Before I could even react, Ellie was walking up the steps toward me holding out a bright white official major league baseball.

"How'd that happen?" - I asked in amazement.

"The busses dropped us off really early, so we went to the left field bleachers by the Tigers bullpen.  Everyone was asking for autographs when a Tiger looked at me and tossed me a ball."

"That is EXACTLY what I was talking about Ellie!  You do good things and good things will happen to you.  This was your reward for your gift to Gabby".

I was astonished.  The very next game she went to, she got another ball.  Two games, two baseballs - that just doesn't happen.  I took a picture of Ellie with her friends Allison and Megan.  This time, it was Ellie holding the ball all by herself - and she wasn't giving this one up.

 As a post script to the story, last July I had tickets in the same seats as the Orioles game.  I took Ellie, her friend Olivia and Olivia's brother Joey.  We of course shared the stories with Olivia and Joey as this was their 2nd Tiger game ever.  It was the beginning of the third inning when the mom and daughter sitting behind Joey and Ellie got up to go to the concession stand.  A couple minutes later, Austin Jackson of the Tigers hit a foul ball that flew just over us.  A gentleman three rows behind failed to catch the ball. As it bounced off his hands it landed in the spot where the mom behind us was sitting just a few minutes earlier.  Joey reached over and grabbed the ball.  There's now a waiting list of people that want to go to a Tiger game with Ellie.  She's just good Karma.

      

The Planet Is Not The One That Needs Saving

Don't worry, this isn't an article for or against global warming, climate change, the deforestation of the Amazon region, or dolphin friendly tuna.  This is about incorrect labels and how they are used to influence people followed by a realistic take on what the environmental movement should be about.

In 1962, Rachel Carson wrote a compelling book called Silent Spring which kicked off the modern day environmental movement.  Ms. Carson raised the consciousness of the public regarding pesticides and pollution. Since then we've watch Environmentalism expand on those topics and evolve to include concerns that we're over-fishing our seas and deforesting our lands to the point that both are creating instability in the balance of our Eco-system that will eventually destroy the planet. 

Al Gore's best selling books Earth In The Balance and An Inconvenient Truth (later a movie) highlighted the negative effects the human race has had on our environment that has lead to anthropogenic climate change. Our current "green" movement is based on this same premise that our current lifestyle is increasing CO2 levels to the point that we'll eventually destroy our planet.

In 1970 we celebrated the first Earth Day to increase awareness and appreciation of the earth's natural environment. I see email signatures that remind you to think of the environment before printing. I've seen the grocery store go from "paper or plastic" to "buy this reusable grocery bag" for the sake of the planet.  I've seen companies make the PR move of becoming a "green certified" company by implementing recycling and reusable energy sources.  I've seen bumper stickers that say "save the earth before you see it end" and  "treat the earth how you want the earth to treat you."  They make it  sound as if mother earth has feelings, and we must be sentimental to her emotions.

On a side note, no one seems to make a big deal about Arbor Day.  It's been around since 1872 and seems to be a more happy, non-political celebration of trees, whereas Earth Day appears to be a more pessimistic, political ideology that portrays humans in a negative light.  Just an observation.

Again, I am not here to promote or disparage the effort.  That is a completely separate argument that is irrelevant to my point.  My point is - the earth doesn't care what we do and doesn't need saving.  And before we all agree to "Treat the earth as you would like the earth to treat you" - let's study a little history of the earth's behavior.

The history of the third rock from the sun is extremely violent toward all who've inhabited it.  Formed 4.6 billion years ago, it was a volcanic hot mess for the first 500 million years before it cooled off enough for the crust to solidify, and our atmosphere and oceans to form.  The conditions of our atmosphere were so toxic and irregular that it took 3.6 billion years before multi cellular organisms showed up.  We have evidence that a mass extinction occurred 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs and 80% of all life on earth. There is evidence that something cataclysmic occurred 255 million years ago that wiped out 90% of all life.  In fact, there have been 5 mass extinction periods in the past 430 million years and scientist estimate that 95% of all species that have ever existed are extinct. 

Annually, we have earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanic explosions, and violent storms that cause great damage and loss of life proving that mother earth doesn't care at all if we're around.  In other words, with this great history of continual devastation, the earth is somehow able to survive and replenish itself. So there's no need to save the planet. It's not going anywhere and will be here long after us.  Earth is in the middle of an 8 billion year life cycle and we're just a speck in its overall history.

So let's call this movement what it really is - Save the Humans.  The human species has grown dramatically since the last occurrence of global warming 10,000 years ago, which also caused the most recent ice age to recede.  This climatic and geological shift created longer growing seasons and more arable land that enabled our species to prosper.  We want to survive and there's nothing wrong with that.  Why do we need to promote our survival under the guise of saving the planet?  Let's be candid about our rational selfishness and promote the survival of our species.  We can still argue about the validity of the science regarding the long term effects we have on the environment and climate.  I have no issue with people promoting or denouncing a cause, but let's be honest with each other as to what the cause is really about.  Our approach has been through ecological guilt and a naïveté of taking care of our planet like a good friend should. It's not about saving the planet......it's about us.  This is Darwinism at its finest - Save the Humans.

Now if I can just get that cable channel that shows UFO Hunters, Ice Road Truckers and Pawn Stars to quit calling themselves the History Channel.....I'll be a happy guy.