3.30.12

I saw some things today...

An Asian man in an alley way swapping out CDs on a Discman. I remember when I got my first Discman. It was awesome. I even had that car adapter thing that was like a really really long wire attached to a cassette tape. I doubted they even sold these any more, so I did a google search. You too can own a brand new Sony Discman courtesy of Amazon.com for the low price of $43.96. Sure beats the 200 or so my parents must have paid in the 80s!

A Mercedes parked right in the middle of the crosswalk of the parent pickup line at school. Right in the GD middle. Not the nose of the car creeping into the vicinity, not the bumper sticking over the line a little. I'm talking full on, entire car, straddling the mother freakin' cross walk. I tell you, the people who appear at our children's schools during 'parent pickup' are some of the most untamed beasts our society has to offer. C'mon dude! Your tricked out Mercedes, super slick haircut, buff body and designer sunglasses didn't scream " Pompus Prick" loud enough? You really have to straddle the crosswalk? Really?

A People magazine with a cover photo of Trayvon Martin several years younger than the age he was when he was shot. I get that this is a tragedy, really I do. I think George Zimmerman deserves to be, and will most likely eventually end up, behind bars. If he was a black guy who shot a white kid (hoodie or not), he would never have left police custody. I hope that justice is served in this case and I believe that in time this will happen. One thing I can certainly do without, however, is People magazine trying to manipulate me emotionally by showing the photo of a much younger looking Martin so as to further project the image of innocence. That photo isn't going to change any minds. If you've been following the story and you don't think, "Man, that's messed up. That kid shouldn't have been shot," then the cover of People magazine sure as shit isn't going to change your mind. The only thing that cover can do is intensify the already existing outrage and send people of an already certain opinion into a tizzy. Using this photo was unnecessary and irresponsible, not to mention an insult to intellectuals everywhere. Intellectuals read "People" magazine, right?

A picture of Ceasar Chavez. Acknowledging my ignorance for a moment, I don't know who this dude is or what he did, but apparently it was significant enough for the City of Tempe to close their government offices in honor of him. I know this because I drove downtown today to pay my employer's City of Tempe sales taxes only to find that the doors were locked for, according to the posted sign and picture, the one and only (well actually, probably one of many) Mr. Cesar Chavez(es). Ironically, on my way down to Tempe, I had to pass through the mostly Mexican town of Guadalupe, where school was most certainly in session.

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