I'm Tired...

I’m tired of the hate. I’m tired of the judgment. I’m tired of the bigotry.

From the time my sister and I were very small children, our mom taught us that all people are equal and all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Yes, we grew up in rural Kansas, attended a Christian church, and went to school in a predominantly Caucasian community. No, we did not grow up with great wealth and affluence. We just had a normal childhood – and were raised by a fantastic, progressive mother.

I wasn’t raised to hate, so I can’t understand why there’s so much hate, judgment, bigotry, and intolerance in the world. It comes from all corners, too. Some religions don’t like other religions and choose to judge. Some races don’t like other races. Some heterosexuals condemn homosexuals. And what really kills me is that many of these people choose to hate and judge in the name of their religion – even though their very religion says they’re not to judge.

To me, the bottom line is that people are people. No one should be judged based on his or her appearance, lifestyle, religion, or anything else, until he or she has had a chance to prove/disprove himself or herself.

Do I like everyone in the entire world? No. But I’d like to think that I don’t pre-judge people based upon their characteristics. Typically, if I don’t like someone, it’s because he or she and I don’t see eye to eye, he or she is unkind or a bad person, or he or she is judgmental – and I always try to give everyone a chance first. Am I perfect? ABSOLUTELY NOT! If I said I was, you could readily call me a liar – and I hope you would.

I wish people could open their eyes and see that the color of a person’s skin is not a good indicator of his or her internal person; a person’s religion does not make him or her a good or bad person; a person’s sexual orientation doesn’t make someone right or wrong.

I’m just tired of the hate.

Oops!

Apparently, I've kind of abandoned my blog. It was completely accidental, so I'm staging a comeback. Well, I don't really know if it can be called a comeback, since I truly never left, but you get the drift.

A Powerful Weapon

Knives. Guns. Baseball bats. Clubs. Nunchaku. Swords. All are weapons and all, when used in the right manner, can be deadly, or, at the very minimum, extremely harmful.

But when I think about it, the most powerful weapon of all isn't an actual weapon and it can't physically kill or harm anyone. On the surface, it doesn't seem that powerful, but that's a deceptive facade, as it's actually incredibly powerful and damaging.

What is this weapon? Words.

Be careful with your words, for sometimes, even when they're said in an off-hand or joking manner, they may wound more deeply than you realize. And, much like the gun that's been fired or the club that's been swung, they can't be taken back. Yes, you can explain or even apologize, but the hurt's still there. And you know what? It doesn't always go away easily.

Crazy, Glittery, Trashy Vegas!

For the past three years, I’ve spent five days each summer in Las Vegas for work. I’ve never taken anyone with me, other than my coworkers. This year, though, I called my mom and invited her to join me; I’ve ALWAYS wanted to hang out with Mom in Vegas and this year, we made it happen.

Instead of flying in while I was busy with work, Mom elected to fly in on the last day of our tradeshow and we stayed an additional three nights. The beginning of our insanely fun girl weekend was fraught with complications, including no A/C in the airport, a super late flight, a lost cell phone, a hotel that forgot to hold our room, and an initial replacement room that looked like something from a horror movie, but we got the crap out of the way early on in the trip.

Sadly, even though we both took our cameras to Vegas and both have cameras on our phones, we neither one took a single picture. That’s a huge fail on our part, as documenting those memories would have been a fabulous idea.

We definitely made the most of our four days. We gambled up and down the Strip, visited Fremont twice, had fantastic balloon hats made at Margaritaville, spent way too much money in The Mirage at The Beatles stores, and slept very little. Oh, and we crammed in a bachelorette party and a wedding for one of my best friends, too.

I came home broke, but totally happy. I may not have won in the casino, but I definitely won in the mom department!

It seems like everyone these days talks about having a bucket list – you know, a list of things they want to do before they kick the proverbial bucket. I’ve never assembled a formal bucket list. Instead, I just know there are lots of things I want to do while I’ve still got time. I’ve done some of them, but nowhere nearly all; some have been amazing experiences and others haven’t been as fun. But this one? This one was a biggie. As I said, I’ve always wanted to do Vegas with my mom and it was more fun than I ever dreamed! And, yes, we’re already starting to plan our next trip. I can’t wait!

Second Place...

Remember those popular No Fear T-shirts from back in high school? You know, the ones that featured obnoxiously funny slogans? One of my favorites said, oh-so-snarkily, “Second place is the first loser.”

For years, I’ve quietly giggled over that saying, finding it meanly amusing – until today.

There’s no two ways about it – being second SUCKS.

Tornado Follow-Up

Here's the response that I finally received from the City of Midwest City late last week:

I am truly sorry for the problems you encountered on Tuesday. As you know Midwest City operates 3 public shelters and has a shelter manager designated for each location. The shelter at city hall was full that is why we had several people including yourself that were on the first floor and not in the shelter. Knowing that the Reed Center shelter was not full and knowing that citizens had adequate time to drive to that location before severe weather reached Midwest City I made the decision to send those not in the shelter to the Reed Center where it was confirmed that they were not full at that time. The City maintains its policy that only service animals are allowed in the shelter. Thanks!

Midwest City
Emergency Manager

I have yet to respond to him, but I seriously probably still will. I've been allowing myself a little time to cool down about being told that my life essentially didn't matter to this man. Don't get me wrong -- I'm super happy that we all were safe, but what happened was just flat unacceptable. And, honestly, I think this response is a watered-down, poor excuse of a response -- and one that I'm guessing this person was forced to make.

Shelter From the Storm...Or Not

The following is an email that I sent to all Midwest City, Oklahoma, City Commissioners, the Mayor, City Manager, and Assistant City Managers after I several of us were kicked out a storm shelter during last night's tornadoes, due to a lack of room. Thus far, I haven't received an answer. I'm hoping for a response soon. I'll keep you updated:

To Whom it May Concern:

For the past two and a half years, I’ve lived in Midwest City. When I moved here as a young professional, I did so against the advice of many friends who’ve lived in the greater Oklahoma City metro area for several years. Numerous people told me Midwest City was not safe, clean, or well-governed. I believed them to be wrong and have proven them wrong; I’ve enjoyed nearly everything about Midwest City…until last night.

Beginning Monday, central Oklahoma was warned about the possibility for dangerous weather. We were encouraged, even by the City of Midwest City’s official Twitter account, to have a plan in place, should dangerous weather occur. So, I set about developing my safety plan.

I learned that Midwest City provides three public shelters, so I called the City’s switchboard for more information. When I asked if I could bring my small, calm, vaccinated, dog in a crate, I was told, unequivocally, no – but more on that in a minute. I decided I’d leave my dog in the closet and seek shelter at City Hall, should the need arise.

With a plan firmly in place, once the sirens began to sound last night, I left my house and headed for City Hall, upset over leaving my pet, but reassured by the fact that I’d be safe. I got to City Hall and saw numerous people flocking in the door, many with pets. I joined the line and went inside. There was a major jam of people, so I couldn’t get down the stairs, but from my vantage point, I could see that people could easily make more room in the basement by crowding together. About 20 of us stood in the hallway upstairs, away from glass, figuring that was better than going back to our cars.

You can imagine my complete and total shock when we were told, even while Tinker’s sirens were sounding and meteorologists were warning people to take cover, that we had to leave! We were told, in no uncertain terms, by a City of Midwest City official employee (wearing an official polo-style shirt with, I believe, an Emergency Management logo) that we were not allowed to stay. When I questioned him, he told me he “didn’t care” where I went, but there wasn’t room for us at City Hall – when, quite obviously, the people downstairs could have moved closer and provided more room.

Luckily, I knew there was an additional shelter at the Reed Center, but, let me tell you, that’s not too much comfort when the sirens are sounding and you’re driving through pouring rain, all because someone “didn’t care”. Obviously, I, along with several other people, arrived at the Reed Center and was safe, but that doesn’t change the treatment that we received.

Are your Emergency Management employees truly that poorly prepared? Do they need to watch videos and review the stories of people from Joplin who were killed while in their vehicles? Or, to bring it even more closely to home, stories of those who died yesterday while driving down I-40 in the storm? Do they need to be taught that a vehicle is one of the most dangerous places a person can be during a tornado?

I would like to commend the staff at the Reed Center, as they were obviously well-prepared, kind, and caring. It was an orderly scene, with workers helping those with pets, children, the disabled, and the elderly. We were kept updated and everything ran very smoothly. When more people needed shelter, we were told to move closer to each other and make room for them. To the best of my knowledge, NO ONE was turned away. The Reed Center DEFINITELY needs to be used as an example for other tornado shelters.

Quite frankly, though, this entire situation has me re-evaluating my decision to live in Midwest City. Perhaps I’ll heed the advice of my friends and move to Oklahoma City or even Edmond, where they truly seem to care about the safety of their residents.

I hope you’ll take this email to heart and implement some much-needed training for your employees. There need to be policies and procedures implemented, including one for pets. Otherwise, I’m awfully afraid that there could be storm-related injuries or fatalities in the future, if this treatment and attitude continues.

Midwest City, I’m disappointed in you.