“Somebody’s Gotta Do Something”

05 November 2008
You know what I am talking about: You’re standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, through the front window you see some clown cut a little old lady off from a parking spot close to the door. Maybe you are driving down the road and three lanes over you witness the male driver smacking a woman in the passenger seat. It could be that you see a middle aged man reading a newspaper while he’s driving his BMW down the freeway in rush hour traffic oblivious that he’s crowding the next lane where two Hell’s Angels are riding. Regardless of your opinion of justified mob violence there is something down deep inside you that cries, “Somebody’s gotta do something!”

Now, I must confess I am not always the most finessed public speaker when idiocy takes up dwelling in a person. I don’t have a lot of patience with myself so there isn’t a lot to draw from for others. In my youth I dreamed of being like John Chrysostom (“Saint John, The Golden Mouth” 347 – 407 AD) who could speak with such pathos that he swayed masses to Christianity. However, time has since passed my youth into a distant memory and while colleges have attempted to train me as a public orator, I have yet to be called “golden.” In fact, there have been times when I have sounded neither golden nor saintly. Maybe this is the reason I found writing “The Grimm Reaper Report” to be more compatible with my basic demeanor. Oh, trust me, I can get my point across and leave very little to the imagination. One of the reasons I probably developed this trait was because I have heard enough talk when action was needed and truth demands that, “Somebody’s gotta do something.”

Once I was speaking with a fellow professional who just happened to be in the process of writing a book about communication. Our particular discussion was over resolving a partnership conflict needing serious restructuring and honest readjustments for fairness to all personnel involved. As I addressed the situation as it stood at that moment he waxed eloquent. He delved into quoting himself as he espoused vocal tone techniques, citing proper stance, emotional sensitivity and “seeking to be understood not merely attempting to be heard.” I listened respectfully for a matter of minutes as he was a learned individual for whom I had respect. Yet, as I listened I became painfully aware that he was lost in his theoretical approach to the problem and not the practics to solving the problem. He finally paused or maybe I had merely tuned him out as a basic survival instinct. I looked him straight in the eye and said, “And sometimes someone just needs to get up off their butt and do something.” Of course, this was not the polished articulate dialogue that he expected or evidently wanted to hear because the whole partnership dissolved pretty much after that.

My point is simply that we need leaders who have some God given backbone to make a decision. Now I don’t mean someone who is merely egotistical demanding their way or the highway. The last thing this old world needs is another person filling a leadership role who is half nuts, half baked, half informed or half egotistical. We need someone who will articulate the problem, provide a solution and take charge to fix a problem. To quote a gospel song by Bill Gaither, “When the house is burning to the ground there’s just no time to stand around arranging all the pictures on the wall.” The fact is, “Somebody’s gotta do something.”

Well, the election is over, we voted and the next President of these United States of America has been elected. Some are crying, some are rejoicing and some will do what they have always done – they’ll complain, complain, complain.... These are the people who are more part of the problem than part of the solution. I say either we are part of the fix or part of that which needs fixed. If you need more money – get a job. If you have a job and you are not happy, then get retrained or increase your education so you can get a better paying job. If anything in life isn’t to your liking stop your belly aching and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Stop looking for someone else to bail you out, YOU DO SOMETHING.

When The Reaper hands in his final report to Someone higher it will be too late to do what you needed to do but you can bet your soul, Someone higher is gonna do something!

THE GRIMM REAPER REPORT © 05OCT 2008
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