Fourth of July is here again, and we take a day to celebrate our nation’s birth. As I consider our Nation’s ‘Independence’, I find myself focused on our individual struggles for independence. My pastor ministered this Sunday about community in our churches, and about reconnecting. But in America, we don’t want to reconnect; we want to be self-sufficient. We do not want to ‘need’ anyone. When we are young, we want to be older so we can do things for ourselves, and when we grow old, we do not want to be a ‘burden’ on anyone. We want to be independent. It has been said that no man is an island, but if we could find a way, we would change that in America…
Tag: irs
I made it!
I started riding the bus to work a few weeks ago. It saves us over $120 a month in gas – which is cool – but it takes me an hour and a half to get to work – which is not cool. So, I noticed every bus has a bike rack on the front so you can ‘bike-n-ride’. I got to thinking maybe I could take my bike to work in the morning and ride my bike home. So I tried that almost two weeks ago. My thought was this, sure its 100 plus degrees outside, but I can get on the bus any time I get too tired, right?
So my first real attempt was no too bad; I made it about 8 miles before I got on the bus (oh, it’s 18-19 miles to work). My second attempt I made it 14 miles. But yesterday, I made it all the way home – in all I put 23 miles on my bike yesterday. I had to ride up to Union Hills from my house (about four miles) because my bus already had two bikes on it (they only carry two). I could have waited 30 mins for the next bus, but I chose to cycle instead.
I looted, took advantage of a friendship, and put my wife in danger.Â
I don’t remember what happened that caused us all to start looting a gas station, but I remember jumping in and taking anything I could. At first, I was just grabbing the stuff I was already going to buy, but then I thought I might be able to resell some of the stuff I took. I looked for anything expensive — but its a gas station right. I grabbed oil. I went to the car to unload what I had taken, thinking I would just run back in and take even more. While I was doing that, people all around me were grabbing stuff off the shelves, just like I was. I remember thinking, “what’s wrong with these people?” Stephanie asked what was going on when I dropped the stuff I had stolen off in the car. “Nothing, just start packing this stuff up” I told her. When I got back to the gas station, the door was locked. A friend of mine (I have no idea who it was, just that I knew the guy) was inside, wearing a gas station uniform. He asked what I was doing, I asked him for a two liter of soda pop. “I can’t, I could lose my job” he said, but I was convincing. “I just need a drink, man. I won’t be long and look, so much is already gone, what would anyone notice?” There was someone else in the store with him that I didn’t recognize. He let me in.