Save the Un-Contacted/Approached Peruvian Tribes

So.... I go to get a cup of coffee at the C.Shop in a Book store while Syl is looking for a book...

The young lady asks: "Would you like to "donate" a pound of coffee to help save the "Un-Contacted/approached" tribes of the Peruvian Jungles?"....(smile)

???? I ask "how much?" (smile)

"The coffee is $10. per pound." (smile)

I smiled.. "No, but I'll donate a $1.....(smile)"

She responded with a pleasant smile and "Oh no sir, can't do that, it has to be a pound of coffee.."(*smile)

I looked at her, with a smile, "So.. I didn't know that "Un-contacted/approached Peruvian Jungle Natives drank Coffee?(Frown)"

Again with a plesant smile but a little annoyed now she responds "Well no sir... how it works is you donate a pound of coffee, we then sell it and part of the proceeds are donated to help save the "Un-Contacted/approached Tribes of the Peruvian Jungles." (smile..).

Hmmmm, I thought to myself and then asked... With a smirk.  "So just how much of the $10.00 I would be donating actually goes to the Tribes and what are they going to do with it since we have not "approached" them? (smile)

The young lady looks at the cash register and doesn't answer...(frown).

The other lady behind the counter who is in the process of making my coffee..smiles and say's "$2.....* smiles & rolls her eyes as if to say "Thank God Someone has finally figured out this scam."

So... Let me make sure I understand this.... I'm going to give you $10.00, your going to turn around and sell that same bag to another customer for $10.00 and out of the $20.00... $2.00 is going to go to the cause? Is that what I'm hearing? (Frown)

No response... from the 1st salesperson....(Frown)

Then as I finish paying for my coffee, part of it being the $1. I was going to donate.... Feeling bad. I asked her "Could you break this $5.. bill for me?" so that I could be the Gentleman that I am to leave them a tip? (Smile)

"Ummm.. no sir.. sorry I" all out of $1's...(sarcastic Smile and thinking I'll just to ahead and leave the $5.00 as a tip.... "Which I think to myself "When pigs fly".

So..... I dropped the .34 cents into her tip jar from the change from my coffee...(GREAT BIG SMILE and said "have a nice day" I then walked over and handed the young lady who had actually made my coffee the $5.00 tip.).

THIS IS A TRUE STORY.... I cannot give the name of the store being the Gentleman that I am..... But I have no doubt that the BOOK store sells MILLIONS of books...

"Do onto others......"

Johnny

I Tend To Forget How Lucky I Am

 As a boy I didn't realize how lucky I was.  Coming from a cast of six boys, me being the fifth, I was lucky enough to have older brothers who had already grooved a path for me to follow.  They had traveled down the dirt roads and paths along the river banks of the ranch that we lived on.  They had learned the ins and outs of how to find or make "fun" out of the things that were found along the way. Between how to ride a horse bareback while eating a slice of watermelon to milking a cow with a calf trying to steal more then it's portion of its mothers milk.  Learning to become a "boy" was way more easier for me because of their "experiments, experiences and excitement of just being able to have such a amazing environment to grow up in.

If it wasn't for them... I wouldn't have been so lucky..

Later, in High School.  I was lucky enough to have some friends and Teachers who helped me grasp and understand what becoming a young man was all about.  The friends "slowed" me down when I was running to fast trying to become an "young adult".   The Teachers were the ones who realized and took the extra time needed to help me grasp the need for an education when it seemed my head just couldn't hold the concepts in.

 If it wasn't for these.  I wouldn't have been so lucky...

Out of school and on my own, I stumbled and fell twice in two marriages, but was lucky enough to have my family, and new friends, who stood close beside me and helped me back up when I questioned my abilities and my self-worth.  For a while, things just didn't matter very much to me and I swayed more then once down paths that could have destroyed me if not for these people.

Thinking back now I realize that if not for some of them I wouldn't have been so lucky.

Then I joined the Navy and there I learned that I was worth much more then I thought I was worth.  The shipmates, leaders and experiences I went through during that time proved to me that I could be "Good" at something.  I was awarded and recognized for my efforts and I rose up and stood tall again.  I was proud of what I had become and for that time in my life.

 I feel I was very lucky to have given to my country.

Then, I became the Luckiest Person on earth.  I met the "Love of My Life" and she has kept me on track and sane during these years that mean the most to me because she is with me.  Some of you think your lucky and you may be but your not as Lucky as me, because I have her.  

So now.  Thinking back I realized that my Luck cannot be based on what I did, what I have nor what I do.  It's based on what others have done and continue to do for me.

So for those who have been there for me and are still support me and helped me along the way... Thank you for being there, for understanding me and accepting me for what I am...

Johnny.

Ahhhh...To be young again

The other day I was standing on my porch and watched as this young boy traveled back and forth down our street on his small scooter...

 I thought back of the times when the only thing in life that was important was to spend every possible moment of the day enjoying life and having fun. no bills, just thrills, just looking for a new adventure around every corner.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote.. "Youth is the most precious thing in life..To bad it is wasted on the young folks."

I look at it this way. It is not wasted on the young folks.. It only starts when you are young. Being "Youthful" can continue through-out your life if.. you choose to.

Each of us have that right, not allowing time, place nor environment to hold us back from being able to enjoy living.....

Thank you Aunt Edith for reminding me of that.

Johnny

Yes Lord?

So.... This afternoon, I''m standing in the small shower stall in our bathroom. I had just applied the shampoo (dandruff) and was standing with my eyes closed with my head cocked back letting the warm water fall on my shoulders...

 When Suddenly there is a bright flash of light from above......

After almost jumping out of my skin, I'm thinking.... OK Lord... You've got my attention!!! I stood there with eyes closed waiting for him to tell me that I better start paying more ...attention to others and to behave myself. 
 

Thats when this voice says from just outside the shower curtain instead of over my right shoulder which is where he usually whispers to me from,

'How ya feeling?"

It was my wife Syl who had slipped into the room silently and had cut the overhead light on above me.....being the kind and understanding woman that she is and who was 'JUST CHECKING ON ME....

Gotta Lover Her..
..
But...

I've decided I will talk to her in about 3 days....

Smile....

Good thing I was in the shower....

Johnny

Onward Thru The Fog.....

I Wish There Was A Way...

There were times when things seem to happen with no reason or sense...

When we looked around and said "Why did that happen, why them?"

You ask  "What did they do to deserve that?"

When you wondered what will happen now?

You want to shout out. "No, You don't understand how I feel"

You thought to yourself... You can't because it didn't happen to you,

Moments in time when going on was questionable.

When you wondered "Why should I get to continue?."

Why not me instead of them.

It's then when you need take another look back.

And remember the good times. the happy times.

Times when your heart was not broken nor your spirit ripped away.

When there was no sadness nor tears to wipe away.

When their laughter was the sound in life that meant so much.

When life was whole and complete.

But you can call out to them and smile

and remember that there will be a time when you'll see them again.

They may be gone for now.

They may not be at you side.

But actually, they are even closer then that.

Because you have them in you heart...

I wish there was a way I could make the pain go away.

I wish I could offer a pill. 

But there is no such solution, no such quick remedy, no operation that can take the pain away.

I can only be close to you, care for you and help you when I can.

I know that I can't take the pain away.

Just remember that I'm am here for you as a friend.









 

Two Guarantees

For each and every one of us there are two guarantees each day.

That the Sun is going to rise and the Sun is going to set.

What each of us do from the rising to the setting is what signifies our worth.

Its how we treat others, care for each other and be appreciative of what is done by others for us that matters and those are the things that I believe, the most important.

I am lucky usually when watching it slip away over the horizon and reflecting on my daily actions that  I am happy with what I tell myself. 

But there are times when the answers concern me. 

It's those times, when I close my eyes and ask for forgiveness and be given the strength needed when the sun returns,  to make what I do better. 

Lord... Show me your way...


Johnny

Ask a Silly Question....

Ask a Silly Question?

Several years ago I was at a store in downtown Austin standing at the cooler at the back of the store. After a long day on the road in the Texas summer heat I had a strong need for something to drink. Standing there trying to decide which of the many offerings, I heard some young(er) men approach from my right. It was obvious to me that they had already been enjoying some of the refreshments from the cooler and were returning for more.

I heard one of them speak out to his friends quiet loudly not realizing his voice level due to the amount of alcohol that coursed through his bloodstream. The remark was "Hey... Watch me mess with this Blind Dude."

Now let me explain why the young man would have reason for such a stupid statement. About a year before, I had a Retnal Detachment in my right eye eventually resulting in the loss of half of my sight in that eye. Over the year I would have to wear a eye patch over the eye especially late in the day after a day of the eye trying to make the compensations for the sight loss. Without the aide I would get headaches resulting sometimes into migraines. Instead of waiting for it to happen I would usually start wearing the patch just to avoid the pain.

This is what the young man and his friends saw standing in front of the cooler as they approached. An old guy with a patch over his right eye. Now understand that this was not the first time I had been approached and asked the question "Hey what happened to your eye?" This question, I had come to regard as a question that really was none of their business especially if they were a stranger.

I guess that day was the kind of day that was one question to many.   I tried to ignore the question as if I had not heard him. So, he "broke the camel's back" by walking up, tapping me on the shoulder while giggling and asked again "Say Mister.. What Happened To Your Eye?" 

I calmly turned to the young man and the two others who stood behind him, all waiting for my explanation, which I said straight faced as possible, I simply replied just one word...."Bear".

He stood for a couple of seconds trying to decipher my answer.

After a few more seconds I continued my explanation... "It was the summer of 82 on a mountain just north of Juneau Alaska along a creek while I was panning for gold. I had stood up and turned to find a 10 foot tall Grizzly Bear standing on his hind legs beside me. Before I could move, he grabbed my head.. leaned down and sucked my eye ball right out of my head."

As I told the story the young man's eyes got bigger and bigger as he listened... The two other young men I think, had figured out that I was in turn, messing with their friend and stood behind him with small smiles on their faces. To finish the effect.. I stepped closer to him and reached up as if I was going to raise the patches flap and said

"Want to See?"

All he could do was stutter... No. No... That's OK.... as he finally realized the predicament he had put himself in...
 
I stepped back and  a smile on my face... I made my final remark to young man who I hope to this day remembers how embarrassed he was by asking. All I said as I turned to look back at the cooler to make a final decision on what to buy was  "Ask a Stupid Question, Get a Stupid Answer."

I reached in and pulled out my choice then turned to find the isle where they had stood empty.
I don't have to wear the patch anymore, at least not very often but I still keep one available just in case.

And I've decided that if ever another walks up to me and asks me the "Silly Question". I've got my new answer ready...

I would turn to them with the same straight face and say "Aliens"......
.
Onward Thru The Fog...

Johnny..