26 Reasons to Do the Right Thing

Let me preface this entry by reminding you that I am a middle school special education teacher of 10 years...now, on to the story.

So it only took a few weeks for it to happen, but finally, someone with a dollar-sniffing lawyer shrouded in the guise of doing good, has emerged from the chaos of the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy. To the tune of $100 million, Irving Pinsky of New Haven, CT, has filed a lawsuit that is backed by the altruistic motive that, "It's about living in a world that's safe." Pinsky goes on to claim that the school system failed to protect the victims, of whom most were between the ages of 5-7 years, from "foreseeable harm".

My words here will most assuredly fail in expressing the frustration, irritation, and general disgust that I felt (and still feel) regarding this latest moment in human history. Does change need to happen? Most assuredly. Does perspective need to be taken? Beyond doubt. The details are all there, or perhaps they aren't, to convince you that this latest action is both ill-researched and ill-conceived. By his own admission, Mr. Pinsky acknowledges that he doesn't even know the extent to which his client was witness to the events on that horrible day. However, he does point to her hearing over the loudspeaker system in the school building the events that unfolded: the shouting, pleading, threats and unforgiving gunshots, all harbingers of what was about to reign down upon the rest of the Sandy Hook inhabitants that December morning. It was this "morning broadcast" that Pinsky sites as the impetus of his client's distress, yet was it not also her blessing in disguise? Without the mass communication, how many others would have fallen victim to a madman's (mad young man's) violent rage? If Mr. Irving wants to really make a statement and change the practices of how we protect our children at school, why not ask for policy change and reformation without attaching a dollar amount to the request? Yes, I know that money makes the world go 'round, but perhaps the loss of so many innocent lives is inspiration enough to incite a change.

A few years ago, I was involved in a car accident which resulted in my body sustaining multiple bone fractures and bruises, including 3 fractures in my left wrist and elbow and a compression fracture of my L2 vertebrae. In the legal sense of the situation, the blame for the accident lay upon the shoulders of the person who drove the 15-passenger Econoline van ahead of my little 2004 VW Golf GTI. When I careened into the 10ft. ditch on the side of the road where I had taken evasive action to miss the van as it came to an abrupt stop and resulting roll to avoid the stopped vehicle in it's path, a lawsuit was the farthest thing from my mind. However, that very proposition was presented to me just a few days after I was released from the hospital. At first I felt the self-righteous entitlement of, "Yeah, it's all that stupid person's fault that I just had to burn through a month's worth of sick days and lay on my back for nearly as long. I deserve some compensation!" As the legal process then began to proceed, I realized that this was not the right thing to do. There's no telling what was going on in that driver's life the day the mistake was made. It could easily have been myself in that seat behind the wheel. Besides, what good would a lawsuit do? It would ultimately have come out of the insurance company's pocket anyway, and that cost eventually would have been trickled back into society in the form of higher premiums. My real payoff: discovering that the van was filled with students from the county in which I live, ranging in ages from 7-18, and that not one of them was harmed in the accident. Please don't mistake this as some kind of weak comparison to what happened in the northeast, or that those events were a mistake in any sense.

My point is this: Suing for money doesn't make people sorry; it just makes them pissed. If you want real change, hang your claim on a noble purpose that isn't tainted with the veil of greed. Instead of forcing the state of Connecticut to pay $100 million, why not find a way to raise that money to support the community efforts voluntarily. Like I said, there is plenty of motivation...at least 26 reasons by my count.

Mattress Fires and Meat

Sooo...while sitting in the tire shop the other day waiting for them to tell me that they in fact cannot plug the hole that a 6" screw left in my tire (they originally said it would be "no problem"), I encountered a woman from the islands. Our meeting was aloof at first, as she just kept standing precariously close behind me while I sat in the waiting area watching a show on the TV there about people living in some kind of commune in a state I can't remember where everyone participates in farming the local garden and lives "off the grid". Our initial contact came when, in reference to the earth-style home being featured that consisted of untreated wood, she asked me, "What do they do when the termites eat away the supports?" My reply was, "Well I guess it will be a bad day." And I thought that would be the end of it. However, I was soon to discover much more about this lady than I ever thought I would about a stranger I met in a tire store waiting room. She went on to tell me about her son, who now has a family of his own and is docile and successful, but was once so hyper and impulsive that he set fire to his bed mattress because he wanted to show his mother what a pretty fire looked like and once poured a rare Jamaican perfume all over her bed because he wanted her to sleep in a room that smelled nice.
 

Through the ramblings of our conversation, we also ended up stumbling upon the topic of food...namely meat and where it comes from. She brought up a familiar story about how chickens are raised and what their hormonal impact is on people today, and I mentioned the fact that essentially, all of the meat in this country is controlled by 4-5 companies. She then, without warning, mentioned the name "Monsanto" with the same disdain that you might utter the word "cancer". Her direct quote was, "Monsanto is the Devil", and after I laughed out loud, I replied, "That's what I hear." If you want a peek at the other side of this agricultural pillow, click here.

After a little more conversation, and her revelation that she is now a vegan vegetarian, we parted ways, as I was called into the work bay to be told by the mechanic that he could not repair my damaged tire.

I'm struggling to find a good conclusion to this story, but when the kind Jamaican lady mentioned the chickens back on the island and how they used to fly up into the trees to roost for the night, I thought I'd share it with you.

Cheers!

A Diverse Group and a Legend

Apologies for the brevity, but free time has been increasingly short as we approach the first day as a group on the mountain. Yesterday we finally got to meet the rest of the members of our team. Ability wise, as well as geographically, it seems we span the spectrum. Some of the climbers are from areas like Boston and Washington, D.C.. Others are from Kansas, Denver, and even a relative local from right here in Washington. Oh yeah, Georgia is represented too. In terms of ability and experience, it appears we are equally diverse. A few guys have climbed several 14ers, including one member who has done work for NOLS and even served as a recreation specialist for the Army (civilian). We do have 2 climbers who are part of our military (Army and Navy). On the other end of that spectrum, we have a young couple from Kansas with little to no experience in climbing (Sound kinda familiar? See last year's SFS climb). The best part about all of this though is getting to meet new people who all want to do something big for a great cause.

The highlight of yesterday had to be finding out that Dave Hahn will be our lead guide on the trip. If you don't know who he is (and I don't expect many of you in Georgia would), look him up. He's pretty much a rock star in the climbing world, and he's one of the top mountaineers in the world. Just returning from Mt. McKinley, he takes on the chore of leading us up Rainier in just a few days.

Today we head into the park to begin our one-day climbing school. Tomorrow we begin our attempt at the summit. More to come as soon as I can. Pray for our safety...and that we have fun! Off to breakfast now.

Appearances Aren't Everything

A Starbucks grande latte, bars of dark chocolate, or maybe cocaine. Those were my guesses as to what obviously was being given away for free in the airplane bathroom as we cruised from Atlanta, across the Mississippi River, over the Rockies, and finally into the bustling emerald city of Seattle. In the span of about four and a half hours, I swear half the population of Washington visited the facilities. And guess whose seat got changed to its new location just outside the door of this mystical, magical dispensary (or perhaps depository)? You guessed it. Apparently, the only thing missing behind  door number 1 was an exhaust fan...nice.

Aside from the steady stream of people coming and going next to my seat (see what I did there?), the flight wasn't too bad. We arrived at our destination thirty minutes ahead of schedule with enough sunlight left to catch an aerial glimpse of the uppermost reaches of Mt. Rainier's 14,410 foot peak rising above the clouds like a dark and brooding monarch standing over his subjects. In a few days, I'll be standing on top of that peak...at least that's the plan.

After navigating my way to a sweet rental car that resembled a jelly bean with great gas mileage, I made my way down to a quaint neighborhood just outside of Olympia. Here, a couch was waiting for me as my crash pad for the evening. The couch, and the house it resided in, belonged to one of the guys who would be joining our climbing group in a few days to summit Rainier. A member of the Navy and probably around 5'7" in his mid to late twenties, Eric graciously opened his home to me, a complete stranger, for the night without many questions. It's good to see hospitality doesn't only reside in the South.

This morning I awoke around 6am, thanked Eric again for his generosity, and headed on down to Ashford. Unlike other towns found just outside the entrance to a national park, this place is pretty spartan in its appearance, and maybe that's a good thing. Aside from the campuses of the two main guide services who apparently run most of the mountaineering trips in the park, and a few scattered cafes and diners along the road leading right up to the park gate, there's a noticeable lack of the typical tourist trap businesses that try to sell you things like a chunk of granite they claim is "your very own piece of Mount Rainier". The town also isn't over-crowded with RVs and tons of families wanting to do little more than drive through a national park in their cars, snap some photos, and give in to little Johnny's demanding of a mountain-sized basket of french fries. In fact, it seems most of the people here are either elderly couples wanting a quite time away from the city, or ambitious climbers who want to take on the most glaciated peak in the lower 48. It isn't much to look at, but Ashford seems to be serving its purpose and avoiding the carbon-monoxide choked masses at the same time.

Since I had time to kill before checking in to my bunk at Whittaker's Bunkhouse, I decided to drive into the park and ride up to Paradise and the visitor's center to get some info on day hikes. The bug to get on the mountain was too strong to resist, and I needed to spend some time at higher altitudes in an effort to acclimatize, so I changed into some appropriate clothes and hiked the five mile Skyline Trail loop, cresting at around 7,000 feet before descending back to the Paradise parking lot. The views were breathtaking, and it was the perfect way to spend the better part of the day.

Tomorrow, I plan to visit the other side of the mountain and hike a trail or two near the Sunrise area. It may also be a day to meet up with the first arrivals of our climbing party. I don't mind flying solo for the moment, but a little company will be welcome. Until tomorrow...  

Off to the PNW

Today I leave for Seattle and the great Pacific Northwest. In a few days I'll be taking on the challenge of climbing Mount Rainier with 8 other climbers from across the country as prt of Big City Mountaineers and their Summit for Someone program. Over the next 8 days, I'll try to post and update as much as I can as I explore not only the geography of the area surrounding the mountain, but also the makeup of the different people who will be a part of this climb and why they are volunteering.

Tonight I'll be carried westward via the good folks at Delta and will spend the evening just outside of Olympia on the couch at the home of one of the members of our climbing party (thanks again, Eric). Then tomorrow I'll make the drive into Ashford and set up my home away from home on a bunk at Whittaker's Bunkhouse. More to come soon.

For the Sake of What's Right

Service. It's the topic I've been asked to speak on for my school's annual Beta Club induction ceremony. Let me preface this post by saying that, due to an onset of writer's block, the following writing will probably be abrupt, convoluted, non sequitur, and riddled with grammatical errors. Please bear with (hanging preposition).

You would think that coming up with 10 minutes of rhetoric to entertain a group of middle school students would be easy enough, but that seems to be eluding me at the moment. Service is the act of giving of one's self for the ultimate betterment of mankind, even if only in some small way, without the expectation or compensation of praise or personal gain. That sounds about right, doesn't it? The real challenge though, lies in the very words, "without the expectation or compensation of praise or personal gain". Here's the thing. Serving can feel really good. And why shouldn't it? I mean, you ARE doing something good, aren't you? However, the key thing to realize, whenever you are doing any kind of serving, is that you must keep in mind that you are doing this thing because it is the RIGHT thing to do. The fact that it is good is in fact the driving force, not the reaction that you may or may not get from the people on the receiving end of your deed. This is the lesson that I learned this past Christmas.

I had one of those "revelation moments" last December where the clouds parted, and the light hit me just right, and I remembered the true meaning of Christmas...presents! Ok, Ok, giving and sacrifice. With that in mind, I decided that I would head downtown and volunteer with an organization in Atlanta that, among other things, served Christmas dinner to disadvantaged families. After seeing a post on their Facebook page requesting help with getting the donated meals from the restaurant to the place where the meals would actually be served, I volunteered to be the transporter. I contacted the head chef at the restaurant, and I even went so far as to call the guy who was running the program to ensure everything was set.

The next day, Christmas Eve, I drove the 60 miles from my house to the restaurant and pulled into the parking lot actually excited to pick up the food. I walked in only to discover that someone else had gotten the food (an hour before I was told it would even be available), and basically, my efforts were in vain. I drove home with my sister (whom I had convinced to join me), and trying to make light of the situation, stopped by Starbucks and grabbed two Peppermint Mocha Frappucinos, just to take the sting out of the issue.

After having our customary cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, my sister and I loaded back up in the car and headed back to Atlanta to do the serving we had promised to do. As the familes began to pile into the crowded confines of the building, we learned that each volunteer would be matched up with a family and would be spending the afternoon in fellowship learning the personal stories of each family member. Now keep in mind that these families are all supposed to be economically disadvantaged, so imagine my surprise when I saw that each person in my assigned family was carrying a cell phone with internet capability and was actively using that ability. But why did I assume that just because they have cell phones that they didn't need some kind of support? We spent the afternoon in gradually more and more casual conversations about anything from NBA hoops to complaints about our jobs (but thankful for having one at all), and it dawned on me that this is what my service on this day was all about. Namely, not me. To share, even if for only a few hours, common concerns, complaints, and the occasional debate over Falcons vs. Saints, it meant that regardless of our situations, we were all just people trying to get through life. See, that's the thing about serving. You usually end up getting as much if not more out of what you do than the people who are the actual recipients. Shhhh...don't tell anyone.

So, am I saying that service is really fueled by some self-aggrandizing motive? Not exactly. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once tried to describe this situation in a sermon he entitled "The Drum Major Instinct". His conlcusion was that if things were kept in perspective, this innate drive can be one of the most powerful and effective forces on Earth in the name of service, and each of us holds this ability within ourselves. And with that, I'll discontinue this rambling post and leave you with some far more coherent words from a far wiser man than I. I told you I would be abrupt.

"Everybody can be great...because everybody can serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant." - MLK, Jr.

Please, as always, feel free to share your opinions, good, bad, and in between.

A Life in Flux

Changes and Progress...

Those are the two words that I would choose to best describe what my life has seemed to be full of over the last few months, and it's funny how meeting someone can bring all that about. The changes have been widespread and in depth, ranging from diet to time management to philanthropy, with fitness sprinkled in along the way. You know, the typical kinds of projects your average, suburban weekend-warrior takes on.

I'm continuing to focus on my nutrition, and my eating habits are now becoming standardized. The vegetables are organic, most meats and poultry products are grass-fed or cage-free, the sugar has been replaced by agave nectar, and the milk has been replaced by almond milk. I'm cooking just about every night for dinner, and fried food and fast food essentially no longer exist in my vocabulary. The results? I'm maintaining a steady weight of 176lbs, down from 185lbs since December. Body-fat percentage has visibly decreased, almost none of my 34in. waist-size jeans fit me anymore, and there is an overall sense of just “feeling better” that I carry with me throughout each day. I actually like the food that I eat, and I don't walk away from meals thinking, “Man, those 3,000 calorie chicken fingers were so good.”

Does focusing on eating better foods and creating more home-cooked meals take some adjustment to the time schedule? Of course, and that's why I have also decided to cut back on my soccer coaching career. The spring brings with it a hiatus from club soccer, as the high school aged players are currently all involved with their school teams. This has given me a break from the typical week of 4 training days, 400+ commuting miles, and 14-hour work days. Remember, I also have a career as a special education teacher in a middle school? When the fall rolls around, I'll only be in charge of one team instead of three like this last year, so I'm hoping to continue having spare time to dedicate to my personal sanity and other endeavors like keeping my fitness at what I hope are at least moderate levels.

As most of you who are friends with me on Facebook are probably already aware, I have tried to become a regular at my local indoor rock climbing gym, Ascension Climbing, making appearances at least 2-3 times a week. I'm now working on 5.8 projects, which I realize may not sound very impressive, but considering I only started climbing 5.6 routes on a consistent basis about 2 months ago, I'm happy with the progress. Sending a 5.10 by July may be ambitious, but it gives me something to work towards, and I love how this sport challenges me both physically and also mentally. It's not just about powering through a climb. There are techniques and problem-solving skills required that keep things engaging and fun. In addition to climbing, I'm also continuing to work on my running in preparation for the Publix Half-Marathon coming up on St. Patrick's Day weekend. My long runs are presently in the 6 mile range with pace times typically around 8:09/mile. With these two activities, I'm improving both my cardio as well as my strength. Now that the weather is warming up, I'll also be incorporating more hiking and backpacking to build up my legs for Rainier.

Finally, I've tried to work on doing my part to help my fellow man....er...young man, by forming and leading a Sibling Support Group at my school for students who have siblings or family members with disabilities. With the help of Holly Monahan, another special education teacher at Rising Starr, we have established a weekly group meeting where we are working on how to deal with being the sibling of someone with a disability. It gives the kids a chance to have their voice heard and to share with others who are in the same situation. Knowing you aren't alone can be a powerful thing. As I'm now introducing a series of lessons on leadership (since these guys are all going to have to be leaders in their families), it has been incredible to see the ideas and suggestions coming from such important young men. Although I still envision bringing a program like Big City Mountaineers here to Georgia, I feel like this is a good place to start and am excited to see where it will go.

That's all for now. I want to personally thank each and every one of you who has already helped contribute to my Summit for Someone climb of Mt. Rainier in July. Please keep spreading the word to others who you think might be willing to help out. New updates will be coming, so be sure to keep checking the blog and my climber page!

Oh, who is this person I met who has helped inspire so much of this change? Well, that's a topic for a different entry, but regardless of the outcome, I thank God for their introduction into my life.