Fun Day at Costco

When I’m at Costco, I enjoy sampling the free food put on display.  When I entered the store today, the first booth I saw was giving out samples of chocolate cashew clusters.  I took one and it was delicious.  In fact, I thought about it the entire time I was shopping.

After completing my shopping list, I approached another booth and reached out for a sample.  The lady behind the booth said, “Sir, you can’t eat these.”

I thought it was strange so I asked why?

“This is just a display.  This is pet food.”

What could I say? I quickly left.

On the way to the cashier, I walked by the cashew clusters again.  I’ve never sampled an item twice, but this time I couldn’t resist.  Besides, people were lined up to get a sample.  How could she remember me?   I reached over and snagged another one.  

“Sir, you’ve already been here.  You can’t have another.”  Everyone looked at me.

I was horrified.  I tried to get out of it.  “That must have been my brother.  We came in together.”

“I won’t fall for that.  I know it was you.”  Then she laughed.  “I’m just kidding you.  You can have as many as you like.”  She passed me the tray but I declined and hurried over to the cashier.

After I paid, I noticed the person who checks the baskets when you leave, a young black man, was kidding around with the customer ahead of me.  When it was my turn, “I whispered to him.  I bought wine and beer and wasn’t even carded.”

He stepped back, looked me in the eye and said, “ Sir, that’s because you look so responsible.”

I patted him on the shoulder and told him that he would be managing this store soon.

Back in the car, I laughed all the way home.  I told the stories to Aloma and she laughed and said I should write a blog about the visit to Costco.  “But next time you go there, stay out of trouble.”

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com

Unintentional Consequences

Heather MacDonald, writing for several newspapers including the New york Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Criterion and Public Interest, stated some interesting facts about the movement, “Black Lives Matter.”

Good news:  Homicides fell 85% in New York City between 1990 and 2014.  Similar rates were experienced in most US cities.  Over 10,000 minority males are alive today in New York because of this decline.  The cause of this decline was a program to identify where serious crimes occur and flood the predicted crime areas with police to prevent the crimes.

Bad news:  Murders rose by 17% in large cities in 2015.  Baltimore had the highest per capita homicide rate last year in its history,  Milwaukee had a 72% increase in its murder rate while Cleveland increased 90%.  Why?  Police have abandoned the proactive program because when they appear in black neighborhoods, they are now met with hostile, jeering and threatening crowds.  They respond to 911 calls with force, but generally stay out of black neighborhoods for routine patrols to prevent crime.

The overwhelming majority of murders are blacks killed by other blacks.  Blacks commit homicides at ten times the rate of white and Hispanic males combined.  And most of the victims are black.

President Obama and his administration have spoken against the police accusing them of broad discrimination against blacks. Whether it is true or not, his words have consequences.

Thousands of blacks have been murdered because of the administration’s and media’s war on the police and the number of police officers killed in shootings have doubled during the first three months of 2016.  I don’t believe for a moment that President Obama wanted this carnage to occur.  But I do blame him for not having staff trained in systems analysis to analyze the consequences of his actions.

Will our next president have advisors - and listen to them - to help them avoid unintentional consequences.  I doubt it, but we will find out soon.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com

Heart

My next blog was going to describe the frustrations caused by the arthritis in my hands.  After the last five days, my hands are the least of my worries.

A sore on my lower back became much worse on Sunday.  Aloma pushed for a visit to Urgent Care and I, amazingly, agreed.  The doctor said my pulse was 42 and the EKG he ordered was not good.  I had to go to the hospital immediately - and in an ambulance.  I objected but was overruled.  From the ambulance, I could see Aloma following us at 80 mph.

My sore was lanced and drained and I was immediately put on antibiotics.  But their main concern was my heart.  I was put on a heart monitor, had numerous EKGs, X-Rays, and blood tests.  The doctor said I am extremely healthy, even my heart is strong.  But the electrical connections in the heart are not working - and since the heart won’t pump without electrical signals, I had a serious situation.

The antibiotics didn’t do the job on the sore (now called either a tick or spider bite) and my pulse was down to 36.  I was scheduled for a pacemaker the next day.

Surgery went perfectly and I was released from the hospital the day after with a beautiful EKG.  Pain has been minimal but I can’t extend my left arm or lift weights for six weeks - and I can’t drive for a week.

This experience once again reminded me how fortunate I am to have a wonderful life partner.  Aloma was supportive, caring and spent her days at the hospital.  She is a gift.

Did the little bugger that bit me save my life by getting me to Urgent Care or is he the one who disrupted my electrical signals to the heart?  My doctors don’t know but I suspect he caused my problem.

In any case, this is another event in my life as I move through my late seventies.  It’s okay if there aren’t any more events like this for awhile.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com