My arms are worked this AM. I’ve done double workouts the last three days and when you skip leg day that adds up. I’m so committed to doing this darn pull up I might start wearing them again. If they put images of Jessica Alba on them instead of Superman, I bet more men would pull them up! Just saying. Okay let’s talk about something we aren’t supposed to talk about. How much your Mom hates you. Ha. I’m just kidding, I don’t want to talk about that, but trust me she does.
Take a joke Sally. I miss that word. This weekend I went to see a comic I enjoy, twice. You see I misread the ticket like an idiot and drove all the way to Spartanburg on Saturday for the show only to arrive to a completely empty arena. I thought “Bucky, this doesn’t look right” as I pulled into the empty parking lot. I pulled up Ticketmaster on my phone and sure enough the show was on Sunday. It had been about 3 hours since I had done something insanely stupid so I was definitely due. At least I got to drive my new Van so it wasn’t all bad.
On Sunday I got to the show and had an extra ticket. I bought them months ago and purchased the up close tickets with VIP access to the sound check. So glad I did this. I yelled out to the crowd waiting in front of the venue that I had a VIP ticket for the first person that wanted it. A lovely lady of 73 yrs young named Susan took me up on the offer. Turns out her son paid $130 for a fake ticket so she was SOL until I showed up. I gave her the extra one and felt good about myself. Sometimes being kind is really simple. I tell you this not to brag because I don’t need your compliments, I tell you only so that you might think about it next time an opportunity arrives for you to do something nice for a complete stranger. I’ll never see this woman again, but she will never forget me for all the right reasons. There is power in that.
Now the point of today’s blog. Greg Gutfeld is a TV show host on FOX news. I get it some of you hate FOX. I don’t care about that and relax for a moment because there was a very teachable moment for all of us here. On one of his shows “The Five” there are five people that sit around a table talking about different news worthy topics everyday. Usually there are 4 conservative leaning people with one liberal leaning person. One particular liberal named Jessica Tarlov is strong in her beliefs and is usually on the complete opposite side of political issues which makes her not so popular with the conservative audience of FOX. At the show Sunday Greg put up pictures of his co-hosts and talked about “insider” info on each of them. He put up a picture of Jessica and about 25% of the crowd booed loudly!
I was close to the stage, in fact I was only about 10 feet away from Greg when put this picture up, and anyone that watches the show knows the group of people around the table are all friends regardless of their political disagreements. WHAT BUCKY?? People who disagree about politics can be friends?? What is this crazy BS you talk?? Yeah friends can disagree about things. Back on topic. I could see in his face the disgust with those in the crowd that booed. He was visibly annoyed by it, and yelled “STOP THAT!” Immediately. I was so proud of him at that moment. He said “We don’t do that. We can be civil to the other side and NEVER shut down someone from expressing their viewpoint.”
He talked about if you are right or believe in your position on a topic, you should be able to defend it civilly with words. In fact debate is great, it is healthy, and it sharpens your argument which makes us all better. Shutting down someone from speaking is kid crap. Babies scream. Adults speak. If you have to shout someone down you already lose. Facts are facts. I don’t argue politics with my friends from the opposite of me because it has no purpose. I’m not going to say some remarkable thing to suddenly change their mind and they aren’t going to drop some crazy sentence to make me say “I was wrong all my life, thank you for posting that FB meme!!” We are who we are and you have nothing to be ashamed about. Be proud of you, but NEVER think you’re so right someone else doesn’t have the right to exist.
We don’t have to agree on everything to be friends. The world is going to be just fine regardless of what 24 hour BS news tells you. Mad crazy people are easier to control. Calm thinking rational people don’t make rash stupid decisions. Don’t be a mad crazy person. If your opinion is correct you should be able to express your viewpoint with a kind demeanor and listen to others without disrespect.
I had a great time at the show on Sunday and met some wonderful people. J and S (pictured above and full names withheld) let me sit next to them and we had tons to speak about before the show got going. They are amazing people that watched my stuff while I went to the restroom, I’m so glad I made the trip (twice), and thankful I got to meet all the wonderful people there. My overall point is simply don’t be the person who tries to shut down debate. Enjoy the show, have respect for everyone, and understand it is YOUR character that diminishes every time you scream BOO.
FknBucky
READ * THINK * LIVE FREE
You can also go to a punk rock shows for 2 hours of mosh pit madness to release a lot of aggression. One time we actually fought the band once at the Ogden in Denver. That was an awesome show I saw with two Daves, a Skot, and Uncle John Jameson. Anyway. Violence is bad or something. 
FknBucky 