A few days ago, my husband and I were in Walmart. Two men (about their late teens early twenties) were riding around on the handicap motorized shopping carts as their girlfriends walked around with them. They then proceeded to both ram the end caps at full speed and began to laugh about it. My husband, disturbed by what he was seeing said to them, "Why don't you put those carts back for people who actually need them?". The one girl (I refuse to use the word woman or lady because she was less than such) then shouted, "Why don't you mind your own fucking business?". In response my husband said something along the lines of, 'if you can ram into things and giggle, you obviously don't need the carts'. The girl then shouted "Black Lives Matter". We found a manager and addressed the problem with him and he ended up kicking them out of the store.
In this brief incident, there was a severe case of racial profiling and discriminatory contempt. My husband, in his dress khakis and tucked in polo shirt, was assumed to be an entitled racist white man correcting a young adult - not for destruction of property, or using a handicap device when they didn't need it strutting out in the parking lot - but because they were black. Oh the oppression!
These four, have missed the point.
Now, to those that think this [BLM] is strictly a bunch of hula-baloo stirred up by black supremacists and perpetuated by a biased media, those who think this is a directive to kill police, those who think there is absolutely no reason to protest because racism just doesn't happen in today's America.
You too, have missed the real point.
Black Lives Matter has the potential to be a great and powerful movement in communities who are oppressed, profiled, violated, and discriminated against. I am not naive enough to believe that racism does not exist in our country - because it most certainly does. And that is wrong. Black Lives do matter. No one should ever fear being stopped by police or other law enforcement because they are a certain race or gender. No one should fear the justice system if they are innocent. In these terrible cases of injustice and in some cases murder of innocent men and women - Black Lives Matter, too - just as much as any white, Hispanic, Asian, etc life. THIS is where the need for this movement lies.
But in this Walmart case of discrimination, you can CLEARLY see that these people are opportunists manipulating the message from "we deserve equality" to "we deserve whatever we want whenever we want and if you don't let us its because you're racist". These people have transformed the movement into "Black Lives Matter More". I'm so terribly sorry that this young girl felt that her life was in mortal danger from the racist oppression of her boyfriend because he was not allowed to goof off on a motorized cart with his friend in a Pennsylvania Walmart.
This is Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Not Detroit or Baltimore. People are not getting gunned down in the streets or dying in police custody. If people are getting gunned down, its by their wives in the comfort of their own home (Vicites shooting) and by persons of the same race (white and black alike).
By this time (the time of publication), this example at a local Walmart is at least a couple months old; however, it is enlightening none the less. ALL the negative things people have to say about BLM - which are always said to be lies and misperception by the privileged white class - are embodied in this instance. Many people have told me that the stupid, system skating, tax evading, drug using crap that occurs in our county "happens everywhere, not just here". Assuming this statement is true - then the opportunistic, ignorant, trashy-behaved people like the ones we see in my personal example must also happen everywhere and not just here. And THERE is the problem. Like my piece on the BET Humanitarian Award, there is a problem in America - and continuing to promote hate and supremacy of any kind will not fix it.
Becasue this point has been missed on SO many levels, it needs to be addressed. Becasue so many have misunderstood BLM's meaning, it is in need of adjustment. This adjustment is necessary because it is not just us "privileged white folk scared of the black man" who are reading and hearing it as "Black Lives Matter MORE", it is those in unoppressed lives fighting to do whatever in the hell they want because they're black. This hijacking of what could be an amazing movement should enrage those fighting hardest for its truth to be heard. This misunderstanding should be met with the response of changing the movement title to Black Lives Matter, Too. If you meant for the "too" to be a silently perceived thing, your message has failed and needs adjusting.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Friday, August 5, 2016
Which Lives Matter
Among the many lives lost at the hands of police, many have been brought to the attention of the media. Some I feel deserved the response given, some I feel the police need to be held responsible. You decide!
#1) Man is wandering up and down the streets causing problems. Officer stops him as he is attempting to get into a van. Man charges after officer. Officer shoots. Man has 6 bullet wounds - two of which are from behind (3 shoulder, 1 chest, 1 back, 1 back of arm). Man had multiple drugs in his system. Officer has no marks on him. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
#2) Man steals from store. Officer confronts man. Man attacks officer leaving bruises and even attempts to take officer's weapon. Officer shoots and kills man. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
#3) Man fresh out of prison parks outside of elementary school. Man has shotgun in vehicle. Police are called to this suspicious activity. Police tell man to surrender. Man refuses and threatens suicide vs arrest. Man is shot when exiting car to move against police. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
#4) Man and girlfriend are pulled over in parking lot. Officer tells man to exit vehicle. Man reaches to put vehicle in park. Officer shoots through open drivers window into man's shoulder and head. Man had no weapons or drugs on him, but his girlfriend had some pot on her. Officer says he was afraid he was going to get run over. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
#5) Man is waving around gun in public place. Security cameras in the area show the weapon. Police see the weapon and fire. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
These are the cases I was able to find online. YES, I feel they all needed shot or slowed down. Killed? depends on how brutally the officers were being attacked. Looking at these cases there are two which demand an answer or explanation - #1 & #4 - because they are clearly excessive in force and questionable judgement. #2, 3, & 5 are pretty straight forward. The issue here though? Their race answers are as follow: WBWWB. The truly questionable incidents involved white men, and not black men. But all races were involved in criminal behavior. So it might actually be a human thing, not a race thing. It might just be a humanity problem, not a civilians vs police problem.
Just some brief food for thought!
#1) Man is wandering up and down the streets causing problems. Officer stops him as he is attempting to get into a van. Man charges after officer. Officer shoots. Man has 6 bullet wounds - two of which are from behind (3 shoulder, 1 chest, 1 back, 1 back of arm). Man had multiple drugs in his system. Officer has no marks on him. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
#2) Man steals from store. Officer confronts man. Man attacks officer leaving bruises and even attempts to take officer's weapon. Officer shoots and kills man. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
#3) Man fresh out of prison parks outside of elementary school. Man has shotgun in vehicle. Police are called to this suspicious activity. Police tell man to surrender. Man refuses and threatens suicide vs arrest. Man is shot when exiting car to move against police. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
#4) Man and girlfriend are pulled over in parking lot. Officer tells man to exit vehicle. Man reaches to put vehicle in park. Officer shoots through open drivers window into man's shoulder and head. Man had no weapons or drugs on him, but his girlfriend had some pot on her. Officer says he was afraid he was going to get run over. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
#5) Man is waving around gun in public place. Security cameras in the area show the weapon. Police see the weapon and fire. Is offender white or black? Should he have been shot? Should he have been killed?
These are the cases I was able to find online. YES, I feel they all needed shot or slowed down. Killed? depends on how brutally the officers were being attacked. Looking at these cases there are two which demand an answer or explanation - #1 & #4 - because they are clearly excessive in force and questionable judgement. #2, 3, & 5 are pretty straight forward. The issue here though? Their race answers are as follow: WBWWB. The truly questionable incidents involved white men, and not black men. But all races were involved in criminal behavior. So it might actually be a human thing, not a race thing. It might just be a humanity problem, not a civilians vs police problem.
Just some brief food for thought!
Tired of the two faced...
Okay, so I am a manager of a full-serve petroleum station. The Daily Sales Report requires me to measure tank inventory on three tanks by hand (no machine at my station to do it), balance the fuel sales meters, record deliveries of fuel, verify store invoicing, balance store inventory taking into account sales and invoicing, calculate daily sales tax, count approx 10,000$ in cash over three shifts and verify accuracy of individual shift paperwork - correcting when necessary, evaluate and summarize credit cards, verify and summarize coupons, and evaluate verify and summarize any other monetary transactions such as paid outs and gift card sales. If the DSR does not match up and cross verify in ALL directions, I have to then go code by code, line by line, digit by digit to locate and correct the error. Once the DSR is complete, it must be entered into the corporate submission system. If there is any finalized figure outside of the acceptable limits (rounding errors on gallons reported, take inventory overage or shortage, shift overage or shortage, etc), the submission is flagged and I must then wait for status confirmation call to verify what may have caused the error. If the DSR is still rejected, I need to find the error and adjust accordingly until it is acceptable, then submit it again.
On top of the very basic paperwork listed above, I am required to check email daily, create the weekly schedules, submit payroll, distribute payroll, submit an inventory report (fuel inventory), track daily sales (both store and fuel), calculate and track daily sales projections, count cigarette inventory, track cigarette inventory, track cigarette gain/loss, track employee shift overages and shortages, track voids/cancels/returns daily, track and report pump meters compared to register meters weekly, summarize and report to DM with weekly projections and payroll usage. ensure required training is completed, complete a month end summary, report fuel system safety monitoring information monthly, check and update in store advertising signage monthly, discipline when necessary, submit hard copies of all reporting to corporate office, and whatever else is asked.
All of this is in addition to waiting on customers, fronting shelves, stocking when necessary, pumping fuel, and whatever else the normal attendant is required to do.
That is my life. I wake up at 430am Monday-Friday to do all of that. Yet, I have customers coming in and telling me that my assistant (who only does the DSR on weekends - asking them to complete all the other tasks is like pulling teeth!), must be off and "that means you actually gotta work now". That PISSES me off to no end.
If they want to talk about an honest day's work, we need to remove my assistant because they sell a portion of their monthly pain medications & food stamps to the highest bidder, and their spouse stays home to "watch the kids" (year round) instead of working because its worth more that they do not work. Who is ACTUALLY working here...
FAST FORWARD A LITTLE...
I was freshly done with day #10 of what should have been 10 straight (Assistant took a 10 day vaca instead of the standard 9 so they "had time to relax after being at the beach"). That night our station got broken into. Since I was still in town, I raced to the store and had my husband call my assistant. My assistant arrived as my husband was cleaning up the broken glass. After cameras were reviewed. Assistant then told me, "well since you're here, I'm going to go home and get a few more hours of sleep. If the glass people haven't come by the time I open in the morning I can relieve you" and then they left. When my assistant got there, I ran through all that would need done the next full business day. That was now Day #11.
After I got home at a little after 8am, I went to sleep until the afternoon. Upon waking I had a txt informing me that our boss said "you have to work tomorrow" to get this taken care of. My thoughts were, okay no problem, who needs a day off anyway. When my boss was done, I asked him if I could leave and he told me "sure, you weren't supposed to be here anyway"..... WHAT!?
Now here I am, at day 16 in a row because my assistant manager - Mr Work-king, didn't want to do his damned job. I am sorry it was so mentally and physically taxing to sit on a beach for 9 days paid for with your big fat tax payment (not refund, payment), food stamps, and SSI. I am sorry you LIED to me, your boss, because you just didn't feel like dealing with doing your job. I have only one reaction to when employees lie to me and expect me to not get irritated and pissy - revenge.
It is coming and it will be sweet.
On top of the very basic paperwork listed above, I am required to check email daily, create the weekly schedules, submit payroll, distribute payroll, submit an inventory report (fuel inventory), track daily sales (both store and fuel), calculate and track daily sales projections, count cigarette inventory, track cigarette inventory, track cigarette gain/loss, track employee shift overages and shortages, track voids/cancels/returns daily, track and report pump meters compared to register meters weekly, summarize and report to DM with weekly projections and payroll usage. ensure required training is completed, complete a month end summary, report fuel system safety monitoring information monthly, check and update in store advertising signage monthly, discipline when necessary, submit hard copies of all reporting to corporate office, and whatever else is asked.
All of this is in addition to waiting on customers, fronting shelves, stocking when necessary, pumping fuel, and whatever else the normal attendant is required to do.
That is my life. I wake up at 430am Monday-Friday to do all of that. Yet, I have customers coming in and telling me that my assistant (who only does the DSR on weekends - asking them to complete all the other tasks is like pulling teeth!), must be off and "that means you actually gotta work now". That PISSES me off to no end.
If they want to talk about an honest day's work, we need to remove my assistant because they sell a portion of their monthly pain medications & food stamps to the highest bidder, and their spouse stays home to "watch the kids" (year round) instead of working because its worth more that they do not work. Who is ACTUALLY working here...
FAST FORWARD A LITTLE...
I was freshly done with day #10 of what should have been 10 straight (Assistant took a 10 day vaca instead of the standard 9 so they "had time to relax after being at the beach"). That night our station got broken into. Since I was still in town, I raced to the store and had my husband call my assistant. My assistant arrived as my husband was cleaning up the broken glass. After cameras were reviewed. Assistant then told me, "well since you're here, I'm going to go home and get a few more hours of sleep. If the glass people haven't come by the time I open in the morning I can relieve you" and then they left. When my assistant got there, I ran through all that would need done the next full business day. That was now Day #11.
After I got home at a little after 8am, I went to sleep until the afternoon. Upon waking I had a txt informing me that our boss said "you have to work tomorrow" to get this taken care of. My thoughts were, okay no problem, who needs a day off anyway. When my boss was done, I asked him if I could leave and he told me "sure, you weren't supposed to be here anyway"..... WHAT!?
Now here I am, at day 16 in a row because my assistant manager - Mr Work-king, didn't want to do his damned job. I am sorry it was so mentally and physically taxing to sit on a beach for 9 days paid for with your big fat tax payment (not refund, payment), food stamps, and SSI. I am sorry you LIED to me, your boss, because you just didn't feel like dealing with doing your job. I have only one reaction to when employees lie to me and expect me to not get irritated and pissy - revenge.
It is coming and it will be sweet.
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