Yay Bill Gates!

I found this part of a Bill Gates speech on Facebook yesterday.  Part of me was thrilled to see someone of such stature call out society and the false world of entitlement/fairness it is creating for today’s kids.  The other part of me was so sad that this is the environment we’ve created for kids because in another couple decades, I’m going to be relying on said kids for medical care, help in stores, sharing the road, etc.

Is there enough time to undo what has been done????

From Bill Gates – 11 things your kids did not and will not learn in school:

Rule 1: Life is not fair – get used to it!

Rule 2: The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

Compliments

I’m sure you all remember my “adventure” with the Massachusetts and California DMVs.  The right coast screwed up and assigned a DUI to me that didn’t belong to me, then suspended my MA driver’s license.  That error prevented the left coast from renewing my license out here.

Murphy and all his annoying laws like to visit me so I was not at all pleased about a two-week window to straighten out a mess that involved not one, but two governmental agencies, especially ones on opposite coasts.

Fortunately Murphy was busy wreaking chaos in someone else’s life and after 1-1/2 weeks the whole mess was resolved thanks in major part to the most awesome California DMV employee — Melody!

When all was said and done I spoke with her supervisor and praised Melody’s service.  I also asked Melody if there was someone I could send a letter to so that they would have a written record.  She offered to send me a survey card instead, and she did, right away.

Well I just filled out that card this morning, a mere two weeks after I received it.  I showered Melody with praise but stopped short of saying everything I wanted to say lest the reader begin to think I’m a long-lost relative trying to pad Melody’s personnel file 

This set my brain cells to wondering, how often do we as a population actually take the time to not only compliment someone for their awesome service, but also let that person’s supervisor know?  I do my best to thank someone when they are polite, fun or just plain attentive, but rarely do I take it a step further and let their supervisor know.  It’s really a sad statement because so much of the service that is doled out today is terrible.  I can’t count the number of times that a cashier at a food store is too busy talking to another cashier to even greet me, ditto for Baristas at Starbucks.

On the flip side, when I’ve received terrible service I don’t go running to the supervisor to complain so I’m not stacking the deck in a negative pile.  I do politely let the person who was less-than-stellar know that I wasn’t pleased, usually with an apology.  Huh?  You know, the double-edged kind…”I’m sorry that I interrupted your conversation about your Saturday night plans” or “I’m sorry that I didn’t say hello to you when you started ringing up my purchase”.  I’m pretty sure they don’t correlate my apology to their rudeness, but the confused look on their faces usually makes me smile.

Maybe if compliments were passed on to supervisors and employees were aware of whose work ethic/attitude was recognized and appreciated, said approach would rub off on others, and they in-turn would modify their approach so they could receive compliments.  We as consumers would be happier with service and ready with compliments thereby continuing a circle of positive reinforcement.

Yeah I know, I donned rose-colored glasses this morning all because I filled out a compliment card.  But, I’ll give this whole compliment thing a test drive and I’ll let you know how it works.

Customer Service – Secret Venting

It’s 5AM on a Saturday morning and I have no personal reason to vent, other than my day has started later than has been the norm, but my brain has been mulling over this post since I first gave the okay for the below to take place. 

In my work life  one of my endless responsibilites is to oversee our customer service department.  Though I rarely have to step in, I do read every e-mail that comes through.  The phone calls that come in are sometimes so challenging, and not in a question way but in a customer attitude way, that I have all I can do not laugh at the facial expressions and hand gestures happening in the office.  I can do nothing for the latter but I can definitely help with the former.

Sort of.

For obvious reasons, no matter how much the customer berates our product, insults our company or is plain stupid we have to answer politely since the customer is always right.  It’s amazing how people know how to contact us to complain that they were shorted some floss or yarn and had to buy it themselves, and swear they’ll NEVER buy another of our products, but can’t find that same contact info to ask us for said supplies.  Some people place on-line orders on Saturday and are screaming mad that they don’t have their orders on Tuesday!!!  Give us a break folks, even Barnes & Noble can’t get your stuff to you that fast!!!  Gggrrrr….

Anyway, just when the breaking point is about to be reached we get an exceedingly polite e-mail request, a product or customer service compliment or in one case, an e-mail from an elderly man who was so impressed with our customer service agent that he wanted to buy her an ice cream!

So how does a customer service department vent their frustrations with e-mail correspondence in a way that no recipient will realize?  Think about it…it’s the Christmas season…there is an iconic good character as well as a not-so-good character, and each come with a specific color attached to them.

Still puzzled?

OK, I’ll help you out…

If the customer has been nice, great or at least tolerable, our replies to them should be signed in RED for Santa – a holly jolly guy.  However, if it’s clear the customer has no idea what “nice” is then the signature line should be in GREEN for the Grinch!

I can guarantee that 99.9% of customers will have no clue what’s happening, even if the signatures change colors during on-going correspondences.  While they think we’re being festive, we’ll know that we’re politely screaming right back at them, laughing at their lack of common sense or otherwise venting.

For those customers who choose to be less than polite via the telephone, tolerance is the only answer…unless of course we have to mail them something.  That’s when the red/green signature line venting will work again as our customer service deparment generates miscellaneous shippers to be included with all outgoing mail.

Once the economy turns around and customers aren’t in such huge control of everything that businesses do, I have another plan for venting, a plan that had my co-workers in hysterics and immediately pining for the day when it could be enacted. 

More on that at some future point in time…I’m still fine tuning all the logistics…

Spitting Nails

That was me last night…so mad I could have spit nails!  Not aggravated, not frustrated, just plain M-A-D!  So much so that the lighthearted post I had roughed out in my head all day was irretrievable!

This morning I’m not quite as mad but I’m still ready to spit tacks.  In the grand scheme of things I’m wasting a ton of energy on something that doesn’t really have any negative impact on me, but once a principle is involved, watch out, I grab hold and just can’t let go. 

I need to vent…

Yesterday afternoon I went to the bank drive-thru as I do every Thursday afternoon.  When I rounded the corner and was stopped in heavy parked traffic, four cars in each of the two drive-thru lanes ahead of me, I should have figured out that something was amiss.  Instead I decided that the teller was new and/or the computers were slow, hence the backup.  After a few frustrating minutes of not moving, a glance into my rearview mirror yielded two cars behind me so there was no escape…I just had to suck it up and wait.

When I finally inched forward to second position in my line, the one closest to the building, I was entertained by the argument the lead customer in the other lane was having with the teller, the most amusing part being that the customer was looking into the tube box that sucks your transation up and over to the teller instead of looking across at the teller in the window.  Seems the customer was unable to split a check, deposit part and get cash back, a transaction that according to the customer, was something she always did.

The ongoing exchange of words should have been unheard by me thanks to warning bells in my head, but alas, I wasn’t that smart.  Instead I was busy thinking that the customer was trying to do something with a personal check that she does with a payroll check.  Since she wasn’t going to be able to access her cash until the next day I did think about the impact that could have on her life if she seriously needed the money right away.

The customer took her transaction back in a huff then the teller turned her attention to the guy in front of me.  A minute or two after she began his transaction the two of them started a conversation, then the drawer opened and the guy retrieved a piece of paper and a pen.

Now I was really getting ticked off!!!  The guy had been in line for at least 15 minutes and he didn’t have everything ready?!?!?!?!  GGGGggrrrr….   He did what he needed to do on the paper, returned it to the teller then pulled away a couple minutes later.

Fortunately the customer in the outside lane knew his stuff and was done quickly.

Then it was my turn, a full 22 minutes after I first pulled into line.

After nearly two minutes, the teller came back to me.

“I’m sorry, you can’t split your check between two accounts.”

“Excuse me?  I don’t want cash back, just some put in my household account and the balance in my everyday account.”

“I understand, but the check needs to be deposited in full into one account and won’t be available until tomorrow.”

“What???  That’s a payroll check!”

“I know ma’am but that’s our policy.  You can transfer the funds tomorrow.”

Here’s where the conversation became a repeat of that with the outside lane lady…

“But I’ve been doing this every week for the past 4-1/2 years!”

“I understand, but Chase began this new policy on October 26th.  If you sign up for direct deposit you can have your funds split and they would be available to you today.”

“But I did this same transation last week on the 29th!”

Silence from the teller.

“And my company doesn’t offer direct deposit.”  (Really, they don’t offer it — if they did I would have signed up instantly instead of having to make a weekly trek to the bank)

“Then you’ll need to deposit your check in full into one account and wait until tomorrow to use the funds.”

The teller sent one deposit slip back, I initialed the change needed and gave it back to her.  I left the bank and fumed over the whole thing as I drove the 3 miles to the food store.  When Chase bought Washington Mutual they went to great pains to let the WaMu customers know that nothing would change.  I knew that was hogwash but this is the first evidence of it.  Chase wants their transations to be done by machines instead of with people, hence the “have payrolls checks direct deposited or they’re unavailable for a day” penalty policy.

I tried very hard to quell my aggravation, reminding myself that waiting a day and transferring money on-line is NOT a big deal.  And if I need some working capital (as my Dad calls wallet filling paper), there’s always some available in my account so I can use the ATM or write a check to get cash back when I make my deposit.

But it’s the principle of the whole thing…

As the anger was abating I parked my car at the foodstore and reached over to grab my purse.   That’s when I discovered my house key ring with mini wallet attached was still sitting on the passenger seat.  In a flash I knew why.

The teller never gave me back my license!!  If I had my license it would have been snugly inside the mini wallet and the whole thing would have been inside my purse.

A very colorful selection of words flew from my lips as I ransacked my purse, mini wallet, full wallet and front seat area of the car, the whole time knowing that my license was still at the bank.

I drove back to the bank, acutely aware of my speed and in cop-lookout overdrive so that I wouldn’t further compound the events of the past half hour.  I pulled into the last available parking space at the bank and went inside where I was confronted with a teller line at least two dozen customers long.  I hooked a right and talked with a manager who quickly went to the drive-thru and returned my license to me.

When I walked out of the bank the end of the drive-thru line was IN the parking lot so at least 15 cars long, a situation I had never seen before.  The parking lot was still overflowing and cars were circling in an effort to find a parking space.  Again, something I’d never seen before.

I had a twinge of pity for the tellers and managers and all the grief they were getting this first payday of the new policy enforcement, as they’re just the messengers, and it was very evident that they were getting a LOT of grief.  But then the “all about me” attitude returned and I smirked.

Then I got angry…again.

Then I stopped at the food store…again…but this time I went inside.

True Compass

Immediately following the death of Senator Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy I posted about this man and the place he had in my life.  Given the high regard I had, and still have, for him, it should come as no surprise to anyone that I pre-ordered his book True Compass.  It didn’t matter to me that there were no reviews available, for even if there were and they were less than favorable, I was going to buy and read this memoir. 

When the book arrived I flipped through it then set it on the dining room table, a move that may seem callous, but one that actually had an unexpected reward.  The next day as I bent over to pick something up off the floor I happened to look at the book and the creative soul in me gasped…

I know it’s just a book cover, but isn’t the black and gold shiny name box an awesome yet understated tribute?  To me it speaks volumes about the care that was taken with this book!

As for the book itself, I am enjoying it immensely!  Granted I’m not even 1/5th of the way through the 507 pages, but what I’ve read so far is interesting, informative and humorous (can you guess that I’m still in his childhood and not yet in the messy politcal world?).  The writing style is so friendly that at times I feel like I’m sitting with Ted Kennedy on the Mya and as we’re cutting a path through the waters, he’s regaling me with tales of his life as they come to mind.  There’s no sophisticated, worldly or superior telling of the stories as one might expect from a man of such position.  I’m confident that even as the stories become more political or personally devastating, the writing style will keep me enthralled with what is unfolding on the pages in my hand.

Though some of the appeal may be getting some first-hand information about such a prominent American family, it’s does have a price, albeit a small one - name dropping that removes me from the story and deposits me back into reality.  Which names cause me to stumble?  Unfortunately they are the names of his lesser known siblings, at least those lesser known to me.  Mention Joe Jr, John (or Jack), Robert (or Bobby), Jean and Eunice and I’m still absorbed in the story.  Throw in  Rosemary, Kathleen and Patricia and I’m instantly out of the story.  I’m hoping that as I progress through the book, these names become as familiar as the rest of the Kennedy clan.

So folks, if you’re at all curious about the Kennedy clan, Ted Kennedy in particular, I recommend you pick up this book.  I realize that I’m recommending a book I haven’t completely read, but I’m really that confident that the remaining 4/5ths are going to be as enjoyable as the first fifth.

Classy vs. Class-less

Is it just me or are the examples of these two behaviors becoming more and more commonplace amongst those we regular folk have elevated to celebrity or hero status?

Just to be sure we’re of the same mind, let me define the two terms as I see them. 

Classy behavior is that which leaves the critics with nothing to complain about except that the person in question was “too nice” or “hiding their true emotions”.  This person is cliche city – lives by the golden rule, doesn’t say anything if they can’t say something nice, views life as the glass is half full, etc.  In short, this person is the best role model possible.

Class-less behavior is that which has critics and we common folk referring to the person in question as a spoiled brat.  This person believes that because they are who they are, the world should revolve around them – their wants, needs, desires and beliefs.  This is most evident in situations known as “the heat of the moment”, the  times which truly separate the classy from the class-less.

Now, for the most recent example in the world of celebrities…

CLASS-LESS

Kayne West.  Just in case you’ve been experimenting with an across the board news blackout, including but not limited to television, internet, newspaper and radio, I’ll fill you in.  Sunday night, September 13th, at the VMA’s (Video Music Awards), Taylor Swift won for best female video.  While this teenager was on-stage giving her acceptance speech “Mr.” West jumped up on the stage, took away her microphone (mid-speech), told her she had a lot of talent then proceeded to tell everyone watching that Beyonce had THE best video ever!

Here to represent the celebrity crowd…

CLASSY

Taylor Swift.  Not once did this composed, okay – shocked, 19-year old utter any of the unkind thoughts that surely made themselves known at least once in her head.  The worst thing I heard her say was along the lines of “I was excited to be here, I was excited to win, then I wasn’t.”  Everywhere Taylor has turned in the days following the incident, questions were peppered at her but her responses have never even come close to including anything negative about Kayne.

Beyonce.  After winning Video of The Year, this classy lady’s acceptance speech went something like this…I remember being 17 and being so excited at my first Awards show with Destiny’s Child.  So I’d like to invite Taylor back out here so she can finish her speech…  That was it, nothing more was said by Beyonce.  Though some critics have said that it was a publicity stunt directed by Beyonce’s handlers so they could take advantage of what would become THE most talked about moment at the VMA’s, the gesture was cleary seen as genuine by every member in attendance as they quickly gave both ladies a standing ovation. 

Representing the political arena…

CLASS-LESS

South Carolina Republican Representative Joe Wilson.  “You Lie”.  Two words that reverberated throughout the chambers, city, nation and I’m sure, world.  In the heat of the moment, he forgot to engage his brain before engaging his mouth, and his disprution of President Obama’s speech on health care is still making news nearly two weeks later.

House of Representatives.  This Democratically controlled body of our government has elected to keep this um…error in judgement…alive and in the forefront of the news by voting to admonish Wilson because in addition to the outburst, he refused to apologize to the House (he had already apologized to the President).  It should surprise no one that for the most part, the vote went along party lines.  The result?  Wasted taxpayer dollars and more fuel added to the partisanship that is our national government. 

A sad postscript to this story is that had the politcal parties been reversed, the same result would have occurred.  Sometimes we elect the most party loyal/logic stupid people!

CLASSY

Barack Obama.  Apology from Rep. Wilson heard and accepted, and for President Obama, the issue is over and it’s time to move on to the important issues. 

Time now to hop, skip and jump into the sports world…

CLASS-LESS

Serena Williams.  Roger Federer.  Yep, two examples from the U.S. Open Tennis tournament.  Honestly, on this one I think Federer demonstrated a larger lack of class given Serena’s example happened in advance of his, and he should have known better given the public fall-out for Serena.

“Ladies” before “Gentlemen”…

A foot fault was called against Serena in a semi-final match between her and Kim Clijsters.  Granted, such a fault is often overlooked, especially in the final matches, but it happened and was called.  Serena not only made a verbal attack against the line judge but she also moved towards her in a threatening manner.  This was her second violation in the match – the first occurred when Serena slammer her tennis raquet into the court so hard that she broke it. 

The penalty for this second offense?  One point given to her opponent.  In this case, said point also handed the match to said opponent, Kim Clijsters (who eventually won the tournament).  Was Serena sorry?  Not based upon her comments in the post-match press conference.

Ahhh…the men MUST top the women so in steps Roger Federer.  He was so upset at the length of time it was taking a line judge to make calls that Roger ended up in a verbal altercation with the umpire where his speech was riddled with profanity.

CLASSY

All linespeople and umpires for not only standing their ground, but for doing so in a professional way that only furthered to illustrate the spoiled and self-centered behavior exhibited by the athletes.

Now I have a question for you, the readers.  Aren’t you just peachy-kin thrilled that so many people in our society, both young and old, look up to our celebrities as role models?  There are awesome examples to follow, but unfortunately, the press only spotlights the negative; most of the positive examples I listed above are MINE, they’re not ones you’re going to find highlighted in news stories.

IN-N-OUT

For those of you who live in CA, AZ, NV and UT, you’ll all be thrilled to know that I have FINALLY eaten at an IN-N-OUT Burger!!!

Wanna know why this meal is blog-worthy?

Okay, I’ll tell you…

It’s only taken me 4 years and 5 months to eat here!!!  “Here” being any IN-N-OUT, not this specific one in the Inland Empire area of Southern California.

Why so long?

Glad you asked!

The answer is that I just don’t eat at fast food restaurants very often – twice a month at most.

Why?

First there is the health factor — not only for the fat/sodium content that is associated with fast food, but also for the Board of Health standards.  Salmonella, rodent droppings, poor sanitary conditions, bad food handling practices, etc…all that stuff just creeps me out.

Second there is the “I love to cook” factor — refer to Chez Judy post.

But there are times when my CRV pulls defies all negative factors and pulls it (and me) into a fast food locale.  On the rare occassions that this happens it’s usually to McDonalds or El Pollo Loco because I’m familiar with those menus and know what to order.  Egg McMuffin for breakfast or Chicken Nuggets during the balance of the day at McDonalds, and a large side of Mac & Cheese at El Pollo Loco (after all, who wants to order chicken from a restaurant whose name translates to ”The Crazy Chicken”?!???)

The one place I will visit every 2-3 weeks is Subway because I just don’t consider that a traditional “fast food” restaurant.

Now…let’s journey back to IN-N-OUT…

The cheeseburger was better than McDonalds and the fries put those served at Mickey D’s and Burger King to shame.  But what I was most impressed with was the atmosphere inside the restaurant.  The employee and cook area appearances were so…well…50′s that I couldn’t help but smile while waiting for my food.  And as you can see from the above picture, the outdoor eating facilities mirrored that which I saw indoors.  All that was missing was servers on rollerskates!

This whole post may beg the question as to why I chose today to try IN-N-OUT Burgers.  It was fate dictated by work.  Our receptionist filled out a survey or form that resulted in our office receiving several certificates for a free burger or cheeseburger.  In addition, the boss forgot to sign my paycheck yesterday so I had to go back to the bank today…and I have to drive  by IN-N-OUT Burgers in order to get to the branch.

In this case 1+1 definitely equaled 2, and the IN-N-OUT Burger promo & my boss’s oversight have resulted in a future paying customer, though not as frequent a visitor as they would like.

Blast From The Past

When I pulled the mail out of my mailbox on Friday the 11th I saw an envelope in handwriting that sent a chill racing through my body and a smile searing across my face, so much so that I tore open the envelope while still parked at the cluster mailboxes half a block from my house.

The envelope was from a gentleman that I have been blessed to call a friend since September 1974.  Though there have been multi-month patches of non-communication, each time we speak with each other it’s like we just spoke the day before.  There is never any need to worry about being judged, for NOTHING can shake our commitment to our friendship and each other.  He is the only person with whom I truly feel I can be myself, warts and all.  

For reasons I will not go into here, he and I are destined to be friends not spouses.  But that is so much better in so many ways…

Anywho, what had me so entranced at the mailbox?  After ripping open the letter I saw my own handwriting from the backside of an enclosed piece of paper and I knew I was in for an embarassingly humorous look back at my past.  (Un)fortunately that confidence was not proven wrong.

On a lined piece of paper ripped from a notebook were these words, dated August 17, 1981:

“I, my name, being of sound mind, do hereby promise that I will rid my speech and letters of all nasty comments before (his name) departs for his sophomore year at Embry Riddle Aeoronautical University at Daytona Beach, FL.”

Said letter was signed by me and witnessed by a friend.

Obviously, the same wit I have now I had then, but I am now able to keep it under control (sometimes) so it is humorous (mostly) not offensive (hopefully).

Once my laughter subsided and my face returned to its normal color, I couldn’t wait to call my friend.  I sped home, parked the car, fed the cats then picked up the phone.  I knew instantly what I was going to say to him or his machine, and laugher was threatening to overpower my response. 

Fortunately for me, and him, I was able to spit out THE most appropriate response ever:

Hola, Senor (his name).  I just opened your letter and I need to know whether or not you’ve started your sophomore year at Riddle!  If you have then I’m screwed…if you haven’t, I still have a chance at meeting my commitment.  Love Ya!

He hasn’t returned my call and I don’t expect to hear from him tonight given his schedule and the time difference.  But I giggle every time I envision him listening to my message as I know with absolutely certainty that he will bust out laughing..

NEVER Forget!!

Mr. Kennedy – Edward Moore (Ted) Kennedy

When I was 5 months old, Mr. Kennedy was sworn into office for his first term as the Democratic U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.  Until his death this past week, I have never not known him to represent me, and though I moved to California 4 years ago, I have always thought of him as MY Senator.

So what are my first thoughts when I hear his name?  Champion for the common person, selfless, Camelot, survivor, JFK’s brother, John-John’s uncle, womanizer, Chappaquidick, father, husband, statesman, honest, humble, sailor and respected.  After watching, reading and listening to the events of the past several days, I have to add one more description — hero.

Many of the negatives that surround this man happened while I was too young to be aware, but their shadow was always present thanks to the memories of those who refused to forget.  As I became a voting adult, Mr. Kennedy became a larger presence on my radar, one who’s opinions, bills and stances I never questioned.  My support of him was unwavering, and I believe he alone was responsible for my Democratic party affiliation. 

I will admit that a part of the attraction was Camelot.  The Kennedy family truly has been America’s version of royalty, but it was so wrought with tragedy that I could not help but be sympathetic.  I am not that much older than Ted Jr, and I clearly remember his bone cancer and the loss of his leg.  If something so devastating could happen to a priveledged person of roughly my age, who’s to say that it could not happen to me?  I don’t remember the details but in my mind’s eye I have pictures of Ted Jr skiing with his prothesis….

For obvious reasons I have no recollection of JFK except what history has documented, the same for Robert.  However I do have actual memories of JFK’s son, the future of Camelot.  I absolutely remember the Saturday morning I was at work and my boss came out of his office to tell me that John-John’s plane was missing.  I thought it was an hour late as my boss had failed to tell me that it had been missing since the night before.  As utterly tragic as that event was, I know without a doubt that the images of Mr. Kennedy and the family spreading John-John’s ashes in the ocean was the very first time I understood that Mr. Kennedy was the Patriarch of the family, and that Camelot’s final chapter was coming.

Fast forward to last year and the news of Mr. Kennedy’s cancerous brain tumor.  I was saddened, but I refused to believe that this heralded his end, yet on some level I knew that the end was near.  I was in tears watching the Democratic National Convention…Camelot was alive and well, and energizing the Democrats so much so that Barack’s appearance was almost anti-climactic.  That night there were two things of which I was certain.  First, that Barack Obama would be our next President, and second, that Mr. Kennedy would be dressed in his warmest woolen coat to watch the inauguration in person.

I celebrated on both occassions.

In early August of this year when Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed away and Mr. Kennedy was unable to attend the services I was heartbroken.  It wasn’t so much because of Eunice’s passing, though I have admired her Special Olympics quest beyond measure, but because I knew absolutely that the only way Mr. Kennedy would NOT attend the services was if his own journey to everlasting life was at hand.

Tuesday night, August 25th, I fell asleep while watching TV but woke at 10:40PM Pacific Time to the breaking news that Mr. Kennedy had passed away.  Though not unexpected, the reality left me stunned.

It is now Saturday night, August 29th.  I have seen coverage of his death, the journey from the Kennedy compound to the JFK Library/Museum, his repose at said Library/Museum, the private family service at the same locale, the funeral Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Roxbury, MA (also called the Mission Church) and the graveside service at Arlington National Cemetary.

I am speechless.  I have learned so much about Mr. Kennedy that I am ashamed I did not know this prior to his passing.  At the same time, given the speeches from those who knew him best, I am a testament to Mr. Kennedy’s life’s work — to make right what is wrong and to champion the common person.  Not once in the extensive coverage that I watched and read did I hear that Mr. Kennedy wanted to be recognized for those efforts.  All he wanted was to know in his heart that he had done all he could to make life better, dreams possible and hope a reality for every American.

My mind is swirling with so many concerns and questions about who will lead Camelot, but in my heart I know that they are non-existent in the minds of those who knew Mr. Kennedy the best.  Foremost on their minds is health insurance for the masses and any other legislation that could make their existence tolerable. 

Mr. Kennedy, you have led by example, and though battles on the floor will encircle health care reform and other issues near and dear to you for years to come, your intent, your heart, your caring will be present in the hearts of all who cast a vote. 

Please rest in peace Mr. Kennedy.  Rejoice in the reunion with your parents, siblings and younger generations.  You have more than earned such a glorious celebration.  Take comfort in the knowledge that those you left behind are embraced in love and comfort by a nation thankful beyond words for all you have done and all you have set in motion.