Do blacks get what they deserve?

As I stood in the long post office line the other day, I notice a lot of grim faces, more than likely related to the long wait with only  1 clerk working.  I smiled at everyone that made eye-contact with me.       Somehow, for some reason, the man with the more salt than pepper hair with overalls and  raggedy boots  in front of me wouldn’t turn around for me to greet him, so I initiated…”I love this rain”(jokingly)(it had been raining for seven straight days, several times per day)…he turned around, ” then come and mop up the water in my basement”(we laughed).  I finally got a chance to greeted him with a smile.

We made small talk about the weather,recent local headlines, his pending retirement from the  United States post office(he was mailing the papers on this day), then he dropped a bombshell!

He names several post office locations where he had worked, then he started to compare the service in those areas(mostly white neighborhoods).  I informed him that I’m in sales and  run a small business.  I shared with him that I  frequent many post offices to mail invoices to my customers and  was very familiar with all the locations he had named, and my daily schedule takes me to a plethora of zip codes throughout  the metro Atlanta area.

He stated, ” in those areas, white people don’t stand for this crap!”, they would write their congressman, senator, T.V. Station, whoever could and would make this line shorter.”  I agreed…” why do you think that is ?” I Chimed in.   “We always complain about things, we are not willing to do anything about.”…”we can’t get off work”, we have a lot of single parent households, so after work we’re too tired to think at all.” he continued.     He whispered.   “It’s a shame, that we don’t care about anything but ourselves these days “   “The post office has the money with these ever-increasing postage prices, look  in the white areas  where they have very nice, and new facilities and no one in line”…maybe 1 or 2 people”, the minute that line appears to overwhelm the clerk(s), someone falls from the sky(from the back room)…”may I help you?”  “it’s sad.” he said.

I asked him does  he have any  internet intellect(know how to navigate the internet).

“Yes, a little”,  he stated.  I shared with him that on the internet you don’t have to be somebody powerful to make powerful changes.  You don’t have to take off work, you don’t have to….he interrupted, ” but how many black people you think are going to take the time to really, and truely improve their community, unless it has something to do with some celebrity, materialistic item, or whatnot(a  person, place, or thing AKA a NOUN)?”   I stared him straight in the eye for a few seconds, then replied….The key is to not worry about who will not do it, it starts with you, you can start a revolution in this neighborhood.”  ” I don’t live in this neighborhood, but I know somebody, who does, which is you..I care about you..so it’s time to go to work on getting a better post office in this neighborhood.”     ” Thank you, Mack, it was very nice to meet you..I will remember what you said.”  I replied. “are you gonna do anything about it?”   he nodded.  we waved goodbye to each other with a smile.

This is a small feat  in the grand scheme of things, that can be accomplished, with a positive attitude and determination. I know this task  may seem a bit scary for this gentleman, who is not very abreast on the internet, but it can be DONE!

I think of this as “Practice” for a bigger goal.

It’s better to sweat in practice, than to bleed on the battlefield.

You see, it does not take a new law, or an invention to change the world…just good people doing good things….MAKE THAT CHANGE!

Peace, Love and JOY!

Mack T

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