8/2/2019 Avoiding a Frightening Number
1/1
Weve beenhearing,
reading andwatching
thenumbers, strategies
and polls for thisyears Presidential
election. Ive actually dealt out a fair
amountof those on theradio andin
thiscolumn.Weve talkedabout theimportance of thiselection and
how
crucial itis to the survival of ourna-
tion.Dependingon which side of the
aisle youpitch your tent, saving the
country takes verydifferent forms.
Atone timeor another,mostof us
have seenJaywalking on the
Tonight Show with JayLeno.
Thats the segment
that makesAmericans
inall walksof life
lookprettyfoolishfor
not knowing muchof
anythingabout the
politicsthataffect
them, but being able
toreel off theTopTen inorderon
AmericanIdol.We laugh and won-
derhowtheycould be so shallow.
And having done myownshareof
man-on-the-street interviewsfor over
35 years, I cantellyouits nothardto
findthose who canclaim theyhad
theirstartin a similar gene pool;with
way toomuch chlorine.
But theharsh realitythatI often
forgetis that those of us who know
about politicsare in theminority.
There are veryfewof uswhohavea
realworking knowledge of thecandi-
dates or issues. Shockingly fewof us
cannameour own U.S.or stateelect-
ed officials. Its bythe grace of God
thatothersin our workplace, school
or cardclubdonthave JayLenosmicrophone stuck in their faces.
In thelasthistoric, andverycon-
tentiouspresidential electionin 2008
the FederalElection Commission
tellsus that just over 231million
folks were eligible to vote, but slight-
lyunder133 millionactually did.
That worksout to56.8 percent of our
friends, neighbors andfamilieswho
caredenoughto availthemselvesof
theballot boxthat millions around
theworldcan only dream of doing
themselves.
That is sad!
So forthose of us who cherish the
right to vote, and realizeitsabsolute
importance, perhaps ourfocusshould
change. Rather thanpontificating
about issues, candidates and ideolo-
gies maybeour focus shouldbe on
inspiringless-than-drivenAmericans
to educatethemselves, at least mini-
mally, andexercisethe right menandwomenhave given their lives to
se-
curefor ALLAmericansover the
centuries.
I think thecreationof legendary
radio personality GaryBurbank,Earl
Pitts probably would likelysay it best;
WakeupAmerica! Pitts Off!
Mike Scinto is a 35 year veteran
talk showhost serving locally,
statewide andnationally behind the
microphone. For thepastdozen years
he hasauthored thisaward-winning
column.FriendMike at www.face-
book.com/mikescintoshow or visit
http://mikescintocolumns.blogspot.co
m.
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Letter to the Editor Policy
There was a time when it was assumed
in civics classes that, despite
instances of violence and injustice,
we were all Americans and subscribed to
something called the American ideal and
our countrys special place in world history.
This sense of specialness united North and
South, and used the examples of how we per-
secuted German-Americans in World War I
and Japanese-Americans in World War II as
teaching moments to avoid any further
damage to the ideal.
It was in this spirit that the country moved
after WWII to embrace any and all heretofore
second-class citizens.
Yet we are seeing that called into question
in recent days. The Trayvon Martin killing in
Florida has become a media circus taken over
by the strid ent voices of civil rights leade rs
who insist that it is all symptom of race
hatred white versus black. This rush to
judgme nt feed s big headl ines, big egos and
ceaseless chatter. There has even been a back-
lash fueling the brushfires of ethnic suspi-cion.
In recent days we see shocking news
local, not national that a 4-year-old boy is
shot and crippled by gang gunfire in
Cincinnati.
And Cincinnatis leaders are said to be
motivated to attack the problem of black-on-
black crime. Should there really be a racia l
difference between who shot whom? Would
Trayvon s family be at all comforted if he
had been shot by a black?
All of this is just part of the debate over
where our country and our culture is headed.
A recent article cited the decline of civility in
Britain and the rise of brutishness.
Another spoke of flash mobs and flash
robs in the U.S., the stupid party riot at
Kent State and then those almost unbelievablescandals in
government. Meanwhile in local
news we have our own black-on-black crime
(ho-hum?) and then the more exciting report
of a white police officer shooting a black sus-
pect. Would we be more comfo rtable if we
knew the officer was black?
We keep reading that families matter in
public life (see The Moynihan Repor t of
1965), but society seems determined to erode
families with easy divorces and huge percent-
ages of out-of-wedlock births. We lament the
drug problem at the heart of gang warfare
and fueled by colorblind addiction, yet we
lack action. Are we too busy having fun, mak-
ing money or posturing politically?
Many people I know and all the politi-
cians say we must do something about the
immigrant problem. As a nation of immi-grants we should welcome
any who come to
share the American ideal.
Drugs are part of the problem, but we are
our own worst enemies. First generation
Mexicans have a powerful work ethic.
But the second generation, eligible for wel-
fare, food stamps and the like dont like f ield
work (as in California) or any work unless it
is easy.
That can lead to drugs and to gangs, and to
us-versus-them. Are we a land of opportunity
(Americans, all) or a land of rich-versus-poor,
black- versu s-white , progr essive- versu s-con -
servative, heterosexual-versus-homosexual
and so on.
One of the most pessimistic assessments of
our situation and, indeed, Western civilization
as weve known it, has been made by arch-conservative Patrick J.
Buchanan in a recent
book: Suicide of a Superpower: Will America
Survive to 2025? He thinks the country has
abandoned its Judeo-Christian foundation. His
indictment goes much further, but it and all
the other divisive problems of our society are
something Americas leaders used to say
(ready for this?) we should pray about.
Are we tryingto be a dividedsociety?
COMMENTARY
By Will iamH.
Wild
Times
Columnist
Avoiding a frightening numberB
ack in the nineties,
when digital cameras
arrived on the scene, a
company in California came to
the Dayton area looking for pho-
tographers to do real estate pho-
tography. They called their prod-
uct Drive by shootings.
The idea was to drive up to a
home for sale pick up your digital
camera and take a quick picture
and drive on to the next one. The
pay was $3 for Montgom ery
County shoots and $7 per shoot
in all other counties. Youd then
upload your photos with pre-
assigned numbers and email toLos Angeles for processing.
It was a great deal. I could do
30 Warren County shoots in less
than an hour and make $210. It
was part-time work and very
enjoyable.
In Eaton, theres a lake devel-
opment called Lakengren, which
is a gated community that Id visit
once or twice a month. On the
main street that circled the lake
t here was a hom e w it h t he
address 666 for sale. What a hor-
rible address. Did a person or
post office district dictate that
number?
Long story short, I took a pic-
ture of that home at least eighttimes over four years because
it
wouldnt sell. Everything else
sold within weeks or a month or
two at the longest.
Who would want a home with
the mark of the beast as their
address? To this day, I dont know
if the home ever sold, they
changed the address or tore it
down.
Lucy and I were eating lunch afew weeks ago at Wendys here
in
Springboro when the total after
the senior discount rang up
$6.66. (the one time I should
have forgot the discount) I yelled
kiddingly at the manager that I
wouldnt pay a penny over $6.65
and to change it immediately.
One of the guys that works there
caught on immediately and came
over to the register and took care
of it.
The other day I was driving
home from a meeting and hap-
pened to glance down at my
odometer just in the nick of time.
I was going to arrive home just a
mile away with it reading 66,666miles. So what did I do? Went
for
a little spin out to Heatherwoode
Golf Club, circled the communi-
ty and returned home with
66,668 miles. Who wants to have
the frightening number in their
l ife for even a few seconds.
Superstitious I am not, except
that number bothers me for some
reason. If youve had a similar
experience, drop me an email at
my address at the end of this col-
umn.
Lucys sister was in a rehab for
several weeks gaining strength
for colon cancer surgery here a
few weeks back. During that peri-
od, she had to be driven from the
rehab to the hospital to see her
doctor. The distance was across
the street, maybe 300 yards door
to door. We would drive up week-
ly and spend two days visiting
Barb and Joyce (Joyce is Lucyand Barbs mom) age 94. We tried
to work our schedules so we
could be there when most need-
ed.
When the invoice came in
from the rehab for transportation
to her doctors appointment and
back, I was astounded. The fee
for this 300-yard-over-and-back
trek was $70. No wheel chair, or
special needs- basically just wear
and tear on the seat belt, tires,
windshield wiper fluid, oil, gas,
van wash, drink holders, your
basics.
We make sure all her appoint-
ments are now handled by us. She
has recuperated from her surgeryand is doing well- but will be
in
the rehab for two more weeks.
Lucys dad- who passed away in
2001 after a 90-day hospital stay
had a hospital invoice that was
unbelievable. His insurance cov-
ered him up to $1 million. When
I saw the bill I said this has been
packed to cover the last 100
emergency room no insurance no
pays it was $999,999.99 Come
on, folks, theres no way Id ever
believe that number. It was paid
by his insur ance company,
though we dont know if they
paid the full amount or negotiat-
ed a lesser price.
My column about frame jobs
last week brought in a few spot-
ted by one of our readers while
traveling. Seen on a red sports car
driven by an attractive blond near
Bowling Green State UniversityRUNVIUS, another in a park-
ing lot read URCOVRD a State
Farm sticker placed nearby. The
last one was on a sleek $100,000
Mercedes 500 SL and read
WASHIS (so sad).
Next weeks column is entitled
Debtors prisons are making a
comeback. Havent paid those
overdraft charges at the bank yet?
See ya in the big house, Earl.
Plus, Ill have all the details on
the next 45066 show for May
and June. Its packed with all
kinds of great interviews, infor-
mation and more about our com-
munity. The mayor and I com-
pleted the show last Friday morn-ing after about four days
of
shooting at different locations.
Lucy, fire up the barbie, Im
headed in from the hinterlands.
Email address :
[email protected]
MERGE WRIGHT
By Don Wr
ig
h
t
Times
Columnist
As Earl Pitts would say, Wake Up AmericaCOMMENTARY
By Mike
Scinto
Times
Columnist
4 Thursday, May 3, 2012
