Black Eyes And Clowns

Today's Thoughts 6/20/12 Black Eyes And Clowns
By Jeff Head
A area of bruising around somebody's eye or better known as, a black eye. Ever had one? Most people have. I can remember one of my first vividly to this day. When I was still very young, around five or so, I was giving the chore one night of turning out the lights down in the basement. My problem with that chore was that the light switch was on the other side from where the stairs were. As I found out the hard way, the pole supporting the upstairs floor was right in the middle of the room, right in the middle of my path. Of course, still being scared of the dark; you know I was scooting towards that upstairs light at a good clip when I found it.

Then there are other types of black eyes. The black eyes that no matter how hard we work to keep ourselves looking good, some clown somewhere, and you can count on this; always figures out a way to show up on the TV or in the national newspaper. It does not matter who you are or what group you are associated with, from mothers to priest to police, some clown will find a way to do it. It just has to happen that way. I'm thinking it is a un-written law somewhere that we do not know about.

Now I know that these clowns make great news coverage and that news travels great distances when used by a politician as a scare tactic, but are they really worth more than a good chuckle at best? Anyone can tell you a story about a bad cop or perhaps a teacher or priest, you know that yourself. But do you think that either one of those groups wants to keep that clown within their group anymore then we truckers want to keep our brand of clown within our own group. I think not. No one wants connection with this type of black eye yet we all have to live with the tarnished image they leave behind as they do whatever it is they end up doing.

I wish I knew a good answer to never having anyone in my particular group giving the rest of us a black eye. I'm not sure there really is one. On the right day in the wrong moment, any one of us conceivably has the potential to be caught with our britches down. I've come close a time or two myself. Live long enough and sooner or later it will happen. What we can do though is understand that one bad clown does not make all the rest of the clowns bad people. No one wants a bad actor in a group giving the rest of them a black eye and this goes for police all the way to truckers. Not one group out there is immune to this.

I guess all we can do is realize that people will be people and from time to time, they will be a clown that gives the rest of us a black eye. Chuckle about it sure, why not. But to let one clown give all the other hard working decent people in that group a black eye, I think not. To many of us work way to hard in our own groups to allow just one clown to mess up our image. Let's not let them screw up the hard work and dedication put in by the majority no matter what group that clown comes from.


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