Change We Can What???

For those of you who have just come out of a few years hibernation and turned on your TV set, you may be seein words bein thrown around like change…change you can believe in…changes we need…etc. And, like most folks who live in the United States, you ain’t all that hopped up on changin things.

I’m reminded of the story of a young feller down in Pine Bluff who had recently hitched himself up all legal and all to one of the cutest fillies in southest Arkansas. For two whole months, he was the honey-do energizer bunny running all around his place a-mowing the yard, fixin his new wife’s car, and just general what-nots that marriage brings to a feller who’s been enjoying the single life for so long. He was beginning to feel the “bind” in the tie that binds. Not to mention he was seriously a-missin his ol drinkin buddies.

So he says to his new bride, “Honey, I’m gonna run down to Billy’s to get a beer.”

“You want a beer, sweetheart?” she answered as she opened up a new styrofoam ice chest sitting next to the store-bought refrigerator. There was six different kinds of beer. He could see his favorite American beer and some from Germany and Holland, too.

“Uh,” he said. (That’s what guys do when you ladies get the best of us like this. We take a moment to pontificate on the situation, and ‘uh’ is usually a good start.) “Uh, but honeypie, I sort of wanted one in a cold mug like Billy uses.” He smiled right smartly as he came up with a solution to his dilemna.

“Oh, you want a cold mug, honey bunchkins?” she said as she drew open the freezer door and showed him a whole dozen frozen mugs that was so cold Sarah Palin woulda thought she’d just stepped outside to gander over at Russia.

“Ummm, uh,” he said as the smile quickly fell plumb offn his face. “Uh, but munchkins, Billy has those pickled pigs feet and nachos and boiled eggs and stuff that really makes beer go down smooth.” He cracked the beginnin of a smile but was afraid to go overboard like he’d done before.

Sure enough, his wife opened the over door and puled a dishtowel off stuff she had covered up on that formica counter and there was nachos and pickled pigs feet and boiled eggs and chicken wangs and tamales and bratwurst. “You want something to make the beer go down smoother, sweetiepie?”

“Ummm, huh, uh,” he whispered a might softly. “What a wonderful wife you are, bunchkins. But I kinda miss the coarse talkin of the guys down at Billys.”

His new bride turned to face him headon with her hands on her hips, “Listen dirtbag. You sit your butt down in that chair, shut your dadgum mouth, drink this beer in this cold mug, eat this food…and forget all about ever goin to Billys again!”

And they lived happily ever after. Well now, America is a-needin some changes to take place and some of those changes will mean we do things a little different than before. After all, that’s what change is. We need to think about the way we use energy and the way we use healthcare and the way we treat the environment. And them big ol’ companies need to start thinkin about how they been treatin their employees by bringin in cheaper labor from overseas or sending jobs overseas.

Wall Street has turned companies into analysts-driven businesses rather than customer-driven businesses. They forget that there ain’t no business without loyal customers and good employees who turn customers into loyal customers.

You and I need to stop bein one-issue citizens and take a look at the whole picture. Think about that before you pour petroleum-based paint on somebody’s fur coat or coonskin hat. And, why are some of you folks so all-fired up about denyin rights to other folks that you want for yourselves?