Someday Was Today

Don’t let anyone say that it’s just a game

For I’ve seen other teams and it’s never the same

When you’re born in Chicago you are blessed and you’re healed

The first time you walk into Wrigley Field
Our heroes wear pinstripes and heroes in blue

Give us the chance to feel like heroes too

Whether we’ll win and if we should lose,

We know someday we’ll go all the way,

Yeah, someday we’ll go all the way!

We are one with the Cubs, with the Cubs we’re in love

Hold our head high as the the underdogs

We are not fair-weather, but foul-weather fans

Like brothers in arms, in the streets and the stands
There’s magic in the ivy and the old scoreboard

The same one I stared at as a kid keeping score

In a world full of greed I could never want more

Someday we’ll go all the way

Yeah, someday we’ll go all the way

Someday we’ll go all the way

Yeah, someday we’ll go all the way

Someday we’ll go all the way

Here’s to the men and the legends we’ve known

Teaching us faith and giving us hope

United we stand and united we’ll fall

Down to our knees the day we win it all
Yeah Ernie Banks said “Well, let’s play two”

Or did he mean two hundred years

In the same ball park, our diamond, our jewel

The home of our joy and our tears
Keeping traditions and wishes made new

The place where our grandfathers’ fathers grew

The spiritual feeling if I ever knew

If you ain’t been, I am sorry for you
And when the day comes for that last winning run

And I’m crying covered in beer

I look to the sky and know I was right

To think someday we’ll go all the way

Yeah someday we’ll go all the way

Some day we’ll go all the way

Yeah, someday we’ll go all the way

~ Eddie Vedder (link to video)

Padding Your Pockets

A month or 2 ago I saw a story where a waitress altered a customers receipt to give her a bigger tip than what was intended. I remember thinking how shady and despicable that was. Well, it just happened to me.

When I called the restaurant this morning to address this, I mentioned this story to Joe, the guy I was talking to. He said this actually happens quite often! Now I don't know if he was trying to empathize with me but if he was, it was the wrong thing to say. It's a problem he's seen in his restaurant multiple times before.

Now in my case the restaurant's copy wasn't altered, however instead of charging my bank account $98 as indicated on the receipt they charged $100. It's kind of hard to mistake $98 for $100. I can't even justify that as fat fingers.

If anyone is reading this knows, don't the managers key all of the credit card receipts when they are "closing out" the waiter/waitress at the end of their shift? Or does the server do this? So who really is to blame here, and who's pocket was padded?

Joe is crediting my account the $2 dollar discrepancy (I want my two dollars!). But other than his apology and his quick action to refund me the difference there was no other offer of goodwill to reassure me that this restaurant, which is local and has multiple locations, is reputable and wants to earn my business back. Should there be? I think so, but then is that padding my pocket?

Two dollars on it's own is not much. I certainly wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been looking at my account this morning (I love online banking!). But when multiple customers are involved it becomes much, much bigger. If this is a 'normal' practice then this is deplorable despicable.

I just 'Googled' "restaurant receipt altered" to see if I could find that article I mentioned above (so I could provide a link to it). Wow, this is something that happens more often that I would have imagined. Silly me for trusting people.

Make America Great Again

Dear America,

You know what's wrong with us? We are a bunch of self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic people. All we care about is 'me'. What do I get out of this? How does this affect me?

In the news we have a girl with several other people in her car speeding just so she can take a snapchat. She ended up hitting another car at 107 mph. While she's on the stretcher being carted off to the hospital she snaps a selfie saying she's lucky to be alive. She didn't give two s***'s about the guy she hit or the others in her car. I see people on their phones while driving all of the time. For what? What is so important that you need to take that moment to send a text or read your Facebook or see how many likes you have on a post? Not a damn thing, that's what.

In the news we have a woman who wants maternity leave without having a child. Being a guy I certainly haven't had first hand experience with an actual maternity leave, however I can tell you I'm pretty sure the stress AND joy of bonding with your new born baby over those first 6 weeks is NOT a vacation or a meditative time to 'self-center' yourself.

In the news we have people concerned about what genitalia a person has when they walk into the bathroom. All the concern is about what is this person going to do to me or my family in that bathroom. Not any compassion for the person who is actually walking in to relieve themselves. I assure you, Caitlin Jenner walking into a men's room is going to cause a lot more issues than her walking into a woman's bathroom. And what, a law is going to magically stop someone with ill intent from going in and assaulting someone? No.

We really need to start thinking about the 'other guy'. If someone needs help, help them out. Quit focusing on if they are using you. Just know that you put good out there. Try to look at them from their perspective, you might just see something new.

Don't worry, I'm not going all Bernie Sanders on you. People still need to earn their way in this world. But a kind gesture to your fellow man has never hurt anyone.

Stay Classy America,
Me