Helping a Neighbor

 A few years back a homeless person walked up to me and asked me for help as I was taking an afternoon stroll in the city of Little Rock.

The first question that I asked him was how he came to be in his state and why he hadn't reached out to his family for help? He told me that he had gotten a job here coming from Tennessee and within a few months after he was here, he was laid off and couldn't recover. He told me that he had lost his house, phone, and everything.

I allowed him to use my cell phone to contact a relative. They told him to go to Western Union to pick up some money for food and for a bus ticket home.

So you know me, I had to see this thing through.

So I helped him with the rest of his task. Before he got on his bus to go home, he asked me for my mailing address. I didn't think anything of it at the time so I gave it to him and I watched as he boarded the bus and left safely.

About 8 months after that encounter with him, I received a letter in the mail with a $100 bill attached to it to thank me for helping him get back to his family.

The moral of this story is this: You should always be nice to someone regardless of their appearance. You just never know. You might be entertaining an angel!

A waste of $10 and time!

After watching a great victory of my college alma mater's football team, I wanted to be where the action would be. So I spoke to this hot chick and I asked them where the celebration party would be.

She told me that everyone was on their way to "The Den". Once I made it there, I showed them my identification and I spent $10 to get in. Once I got in, I got patted down by the security staff. He patted down my leg and then he responded, " What's that?" I said, " I'm black and we come well equipped!" He nodded and slightly pushed me aside to continue with his job.

Once I took a look around the place, I became sick to my stomach. I had never seen so many Double A's in the place in a long time, and I am not talking about batteries. I was thinking, "Whatever happened to the D's?" I was amazed at how young everyone looked. And then it hit me that this was their natural environment. I was the old person in the room! The only thing that the place had to offer was beer and karaoke. 

When I was younger people danced and had a great time until the early morning hours. This ambiance was something that I could not enjoy.

I learned something that night.  It's a new day with new players who are playing the same game. The days of long ago are now gone. It's time to get somewhere and sit down.

The Dark- Skinned Lady with a Sunshine Smile

 In the fall of 1998, I became really popular at the college parties. 

Whenever the party started no one would start to dance. I think that it was largely due to the fact that no one wanted to be the first to be seen on the dance floor. 

After being a Marine for 2 years at this point, I felt invincible!

Whenever I wanted to get the party started, I would look for the dark-skinned lady with the sunshine smile. 

Her name was Teneicia. She was much taller than I was, but that never stopped me from asking her to dance. She was just as adventurous as I was at the time and that was all that mattered. 

Most women would not dance with you unless other people were already dancing.

Whenever I grabbed Teneicia, it was like the world stood still.

 A million eyes could have been watching us.

However, it did not matter, because we were in the zone! 

Once we started dancing, the whole room would eventually follow our lead.

She was my dance partner for years until she eventually moved away in the early 2000s.

I did not see her again until around 2016.

Today, she is a successful business owner, a mother of 4, and I am a community servant. 

Sometimes when our paths cross we will smile at one another and share memories about the good old days. We never danced again, but our friendship became stronger than ever over time.

Out of all of the women that I have ever danced with she will always be my favorite dance partner!

See Something, Say Something!

Years ago when I was a car salesman, I noticed that the top salesman was telling off-colored jokes to our co-workers and they were laughing.

Immediately I confronted him by telling him that what he was doing was wrong and that it should not be done in the workplace.

He looked at me and said, " What's the matter, is your wife Mexican or something?"

I said to him that he need to stop right there, because if he is the type of person who would joke about Mexicans, then I know that he would joke about Black people as well.

Weeks later after I confronted him, life was made hard for me to succeed at that job. No one wanted to associate with me for fear that I might confront them like I did the top salesman. 

I soon left there, but at the end of the day, I still feel great for speaking up when I noticed that something was wrong or inappropriate. 

The moral of the story is this:

Always remember that there is never a wrong time to do the right thing. When you notice that something is wrong, SAY SOMETHING!

You just never know who else might have wanted to say something but did not have the courage to do so.