That Fight Ain't Fair, Call In the Real Men

Late to work today for a variety of irrelevant reasons, I was in my car watching the clock tick past the time I was supposed to be on a call, wondered why life seemed to be in slow motion and became convinced that the red light I was staring at was stuck on red. And so would I be. Permanently.

Then next to my car was a bulky man who, like I, looked like he just woke up. Yet, for breakfast, he was pouring the remaining portion of a large bag of gummy candy straight into his mouth.  So many of them poured forward that he could hardly shut his mouth when he turned to smile at me. He then proceeded with the kind of chewing where the teeth can’t shut completely due to excessive content, the cheeks go wide and crooked to dislodge chunks of gummy on the side, all the while swallowing the back-of-the-throat gummies whole. 

Then singer John Mayer came on the radio with that song that is played across the country over and over and over again. A creative rhythm, cute song. 

For this first time I actually listened to the lyrics and this part of the song caught my ear. I said, “Amen to that.”

And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want

But listening further, I realized Mayer was obviously never a Marine. Nor Army. Nor, apparently, a ‘good guy doing good things’.

John Mayer, if he really believes his lyrics, is the type of guy that inspired this real man, LTC Randolph C. White. Like White says, there are men you can call better than others. It’s the 'green light go' choices that make a better man. But apparently, there are a lot of us stuck at "Stop. Stop and give up."

Then Mayer's refrain came, and it kept coming about 100 times. By the end of the song, the stop light turned green and I wanted to tell the Mayer man to go. Go and get a life.

Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

That's why we're waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It's not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It doesn’t take long to figure out that life isn’t exactly a divvying out of fairness.  Talk to the children like that little girl in that Yezdinar village who just had their parents brutally killed. Or the parents in that other village who recently had their children brutally murdered, probably before their very eyes before they too were viciously murdered.

I don’t think that little girl would feel like prayers get answered when she finds out there are bunch of highly paid, latte sipping, guitar playing goofs who are sitting around complaining that things aren’t going their way then sneering that because the “fight ain’t fair” they won’t join.

That little girl’s “fight ain’t fair” either – and that’s why she needs the Mayer-sing-and-act-alikes of the world to get off our behind and do something about it.

Here’s the truth, while many of us are sitting around in our L.A. latte house complaining or chewing enormous mouth fulls of gummies, there are men and women doing the extremely hard work of making things better.  The simply-better folks don't say, "It ain't fair! I’m going to sit around, pout and wait for things to change."   

It all reminds me of that band, Dave Matthews, the one that from atop a bridge dumped their bus load of excrement on a boat floating on the Chicago River. Just like the rest of life, the arrogant, spoiled indifference of others has the same impact as that bus did – it dumps societal excrement on everyone else. And he didn't just do it with his bus.

Dave Matthews writes, “Bottom line: this war is wrong and this war is un-American.”

I’m not sure what is so un-American about saving young girls and boys from the violence of war – to bring peace back to their valleys of dreams. As much as Hillary, Reid, Pelosi don’t want it to be true -- the green light surge of General Petraeus, our military, and Iraqi leadership is succeeding.  Succeeding in that battle, even trying at great sacrifice, is worth it. It is worth it for that child. It is American. The best of us.

Meanwhile, those who take Mayer's lyrics as their apathetic rule of life aren’t half the men of many out there.  Instead, please, let's refrain from singing their refrain—it’s whiny. Let's stop dumping their excrement of indifference on everyone else. Instead let's follow the lead of those who are doing something with their life for others, at deep sacrifice. Ultimately, helping others requires you to jump in deep where things aren't fair. In fact, it's rough, ugly, gut wrenching work -- but its fruits bring back hopefulness, childhood, peacefulness.

I read this recently, a real man, who writes to those “waiting for the world to change” -- those who are disgruntled at the inconvenience of difficult battles -- “Sorry guys, we'll be done in a second with our efforts to make sure you don't get blown up on your way to your friend's house.”

Can't say it more precisely, Major.  You guys are not only a handsome lot, you’re just better.  Like this man, Randolph White, a real man, said. It's worth a listen.   

Comments

[Lynnis]

If after listening to that speech, you don't have tears streaming down your face or can swallow around the lump in your throat, You aren't AMERICAN. I remember my son's graduation from Marine boot camp(in S.C.) How my heart was ready to burst from my body. The feeling is the same today as it was then. These MEN and WOMEN are OUR sons and daughters. I, for one, will be standing there ever so proudly behind them. God Bless them one and all!
Thanks for reminding me.

Faith and Smiles
Lynnis

[brat]

Amen! Just found this - and you! Will be posting this (and linking of course!)

Thank you for sharing this.