I am in a McDonald’s…in a mall…in Mobile, Alabama. A girl with vacant eyes waits rather impatiently behind the counter for me to decide. “I will have a Number Two, please.” For the uninformed, that is two small cheeseburgers, fries and a drink. “Medium or large?” “I’m sorry?” Might have been a slight eye…
“Gimme a ‘B’! Gimme an ‘S’!” This Blogger Takes on Corporate Greed and Customer Satisfaction
We interrupt regularly-scheduled programming to call BS on a few business items of local and international interest… First, the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and all the rancor over corporate greed is BS. Surely, by now, you have seen the doctored photo that pretty much says it all? If not, here it is: …
The Greybeard Chronicles: Will You Carry On, Sir?
“Will you carry on, sir?” I am standing at the American Airlines ticket counter in Mobile, Alabama, getting my boarding pass so I can fly home to Dallas/Fort Worth for just the second time in nearly five months. Ordinarily, I would use the electronic check-in device, swipe my debit card, grab my boarding pass…
The Greybeard Chronicles: 50 Years of Sowing and Reaping
Listen up, kids! A half century goes by faster than you think. One minute, you’re doing a cannonball in the Brazos River. The next, you’re praying your wife does not put fifty candles on that carrot cake: Not just because of the potential wildfire they may ignite or the fact that you could singe…
9/11: One Moment, Please
One silent moment A thing so small To offer those Whose loss was all. One wordless prayer One teary eye One more bowed knee One last goodbye One vow that we Whose hearts beat still Have not forgot And never will One still, small voice Says, Do not fear I feel your pain And silence,…
The Greybeard Chronicles: The Prince of Thieves in the Land of Venti
Once upon a time (this morning), in a land far, far away (Mobile, Alabama), a handsome young prince or pauper, if you will (yours truly), journeyed (by pickup) to a dark swamp in a dense forest (Starbucks) where highway robbers lurched in waiting (behind the counter) to pounce on unsuspecting innocents (customers too stupid…
The Greybeard Chronicles: Obama, Elvis, Jesus and Me
President Obama said that Congress needs to get busy serving the American people, rather than campaigning for the next election. He said this WHILE in IOWA, where he was CAMPAIGNING for the next election. Meanwhile, Rick Perry, the Texas Ken doll of a governor, whom I suppose I am supposed to love because he…
The Sons of Lady Liberty
See, Freedom Fighter Your strength ignitor There is no one else beside her See her torch against the sky She for whom you fight and die See her grace and majesty She will keep you brave and free She beckons masses ‘neath her wing She teaches foreign tongues to sing O beautiful for spacious sky…
To All the Girls I’ve Loved: Reflections of The World’s Luckiest Dad
To Ashley: Your birth did more than make me a dad: It made me a man. For the first time in my life, I had another human totally dependent on me. For Mom and me, your birth was the first great, defining moment of our life together. You were our joy and our pride…
Come See About Me—A Call to Action
Come See About Me I’m a fatherless child ‘Cause my Daddy’s gone; I’m a widowed woman, Now on my own; I’m a disabled child, Watching other kids play; I’m a man on the street, Who’s lost his way; I’m an overwhelmed Dad With bills I can’t pay; I’m the pet who got lost— They call…