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A Final Frontier?
By Mona Lease

Hi, all!! Before I start this: This column knows no racial/social prejudice. This column takes no sides. The point of this column is to present facts to you (pleasant or unpleasant) so that you might make an informed decision.

Somewhere around 1982 or so - K-Mart in Greenville, Ohio opened for business. A friend of mine worked there. She shared that K-Mart corporate headquarters sent a guy to Greenville from New York.

He rolled into Greenville from the Big Apple...full of ideas about how to make Greenville's K-Mart prosper. He said there should be a huge sale on Thanksgiving Day...Thanksgiving Day!! My friend said the store would not be open that day. With a sputter - he asked why. She explained how we do things around "here."

He explained that in New York, people did Thanksgiving early - as a family. Then around 1 pm - the women all went shopping at Macy's, ect.

The guys turned on the tv - it was time for football....NFL, Budweiser, Clydesdales...America. (The only reason I'm writing this is because of the whole NFL Boycott:  this might be a fight to keep and maintain the final frontier...man/himself...humanity/itself.)

The NFL has become synonymous with Budweiser...which has a reputation for being a good American-made product from a recipe over 100 years old. Budweiser has a reputation for being behind and for the working man. All of the "working man" press (as it were) brought in the Clydesdales (hard working horses). This is all under the American Flag and the National Anthem. It goes without saying (or it should) that the working man works hard...pays taxes...maintains the homeland so that our armed forces have the resources to go where they are needed to defend this ideal.

This is America - work hard - play hard. And this whole theme: NFL, Flag, National Anthem, Budweiser, Clydesdales - might be as close as we get to America's "Mom, Baseball, Apple Pie and Hotdogs" (or however the order is to go).

With our advanced society - we have the ability to speak to others in Ireland. Actually - I have! Me - with my compromised mental ability to grasp how I can "Skype" (picture and voice) on my little laptop computer with people halfway around the world. If I knew anyone on the moon - I could Skype with them. We are far past WW1 when we had guys playing baseball only in this country. We now play sports around the world. We have satellites strategically placed in the sky around the USA. We can "bounce a signal" around the world!!

Consider this from the National League Rulebook: "A 62-63 (of the National Rule book) states the National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game and all players must be on the sidelines for the National Anthem."

"During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the Flag, hold their helmets in their left hand and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American Flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we (all involved with the football game) continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the Flag and our Country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline such as fines, suspensions, and/or forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above. including first offenses." (Look up this stuff. And - I thought all of this went without saying. I've been to dragstrips, Eldore races, baseball games, etc. All of these observe the above rules.)

So - for all of our hard work - as a people - have we run out of things to conquer? Is that why we keep revisiting the issues of slavery, gay rights, abortion, etc? Is man - himself - the final frontier...with fear...with old hurts and hates to conquer?

Remember the kiddies and our service people. Take good care of the furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next time. Ever Toodles!! MONA


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