Punching a Mask Wearer in the Face, Redemption, Jimmy Swaggart Clothes, Aaron and his Gnat Attention Span

“It’s extraordinary how many people have a postviral syndrome that’s very strikingly similar to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.”
— Anthony S. Fauci

Well, hello there, I didn’t see you sitting there, how long have you been there? I’m sorry, I’m in my head right now.  I just made some coffee, Death Wish, of course; if you are not drinking Death Wish, you are not drinking real coffee, Death Wish or Die.  Did you know with every bag of Death Wish Coffee, you get a sticker?  That alone should push you over to the Death Wish side of life.

I woke up about 7:00; yes, I’m sleeping in these days; the 5:00 a.m. 25-year run was fun, but I’ve earned my sleep in and cuddles with my wife; I’ll make no apologies. Although I go to bed early, I would be embarrassed to tell you how many hours of sleep I enjoyed last night, some things I’ll keep to myself.   My wife is getting up; she will sit with me as I throw some thoughts down. Have I told you I truly believe her to be the most beautiful woman on this planet? 

I had a 9:00 a.m. meeting via Zoom yesterday, jumped on a 10:00 community call, and headed up to Muncie, Indiana.  I had lunch with a long-time friend, mentor, and client.  We met at Roots Burger Bar; my go-to when in Muncie, amazing Tenderloins with a side salad. I recently caught a clip of Bill Maher discussing the idea of walking outside and wearing a mask; it resonated with me. Although most people I know are vaccinated, and if they are not, I don’t suppose they have any fear of the virus, his point was why all the vaccinated are wearing masks.

At this point, when I see a person outside wearing a mask, they are concerned for their safety and signaling their safety for others.  I think these folks are in fear, listening to the fear porn peddled on some frequencies.  So I saw a fellow walking into my destination, a 40-year-old, who looked healthly, wearing a mask.  My initial thought was to punch him, then to shoot him.  I thought, if you are that scared, let me put you out of your misery.  Hold on; I’ll redeem myself in a bit; I just pissed a few people off, but wait.

I sat with my friend Bill and after time shared that story, but at the end, I said, “you know, I don’t know anything about that guy, hell he could be my best friend if I were to stop and talk to him, isn’t it weird that one little thing, one tiny piece of cloth impacted my judgment of another. So I said, “I’ve got to be better; mask guy was probably thinking the same of me; there is one of those non mask people, they should be shot.” So at times like these, we need to be honest about our thoughts and ideas, and in that rare moment we learn a lesson, it might be helpful for others if we share our missteps.

I don’t care if you wear a mask; for all, I know the man could have had cancer or another ailment that necessitated wearing a face covering. But, I can’t’ jump to judgment and need to meet people where they are. So, I’m sorry, mask people, I will no longer have thoughts of violence against you.  As we spoke, Bill shared an interesting point.  If we were to meet two people and one said, “I support the rights of the unborn.” And another said, “I believe in the sanctity of a women’s body.” We will infer many things about those people, and many will not be accurate.  I think we are in a rush to label and judge people, and I’m as guilty as the next guy; join me in trying to be a little less judgy today.

I left my lunch and headed to see my parents; I had the bonus of seeing my cousin Tia; she was sitting on the porch when I arrived.  I had shared the other day my father had bought me about 2000 albums that are not my type of music, so I’ve been randomly giving them to strangers and friends.  I picked a nice humdinger, a Jimmy Swaggert piano jam; I gave it to Tia and shared I had bought it for her.  As she looked at the album, she realized that the outfit she was wearing was identical to that of Swaggert on the cover.  She exclaimed, “Oh my, I’m dressed like Jimmy!”

My mother shared she loved Jimmy and his piano playing, and I asked if she remembered he had punched a baby.  She said, “Jimmy didn’t punch a baby, but he did have sex with a prostitute.”  I shared Jimmy might not be as holy as he appeared to be for many years, but again, let’s not judge Jimmy; he’s human like you and me.  

I left there and drove home and ran a call with a wonderful young man; Aaron became a friend a couple of years ago, he is a community builder and has the attention span of a gnat, and I love him.  He does a lot of good, and now and then, he and I talk about stuff.  Aaron likes to connect people and rattled off a few folks he wanted me to meet; I have never met a dud human referred by Aaron, so I make sure to meet with any of his referrals.  I noticed we had spoken for 38 minutes, it was 5:08, and I sternly shared he needed to go buy his wife some flowers and head home to talk to his kids—a little fatherly advice from an old white guy.  Work is fine; family is the gift.

“It's extraordinary how many people have a postviral syndrome that's very strikingly similar to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome."
— Anthony S. Fauci