A Tale of 2 Events

By...Erik Schuman

Today is June 2. One day out of 366 on this year’s calendar. Less than three weeks until Summer. Today is just another day. Right? Wrong!

It was on this day in 2007 that the youngest of my nephew/nieces was born. I waited 48 hours until my sister-in-law and brother came home to head over to their place to meet my niece. I do not have any kids. There are many reasons for it – none of which need to be noted here. When I held my niece for the first time it was awesome. She was so tiny (duh). I could have picked her up and tossed her across the street as if she was a football – she was that tiny. But holding her was so precious.

It took almost two years for us to be able to understand what she was saying. It was slightly worrisome, but I also knew once she started talking she would never shut up and that is certainly the case. Although like most kids her age she rarely talks to anyone using her voice. Instead it is Instagram, Tik Tok and other forms of social media.

As I said last week, she has only one other uncle and he lives almost 300 miles away. So, I am the one who spent a lot of time with her. I would play “hide and go seek” with her. She would be under the blanket in my parents’ room, “hiding” there along with my father. I would be in the room, counting to 10 until I went “looking for her.” My brother (her father) told me when I counted to skip numbers and see what happened. I did that. I would count to 10 but only using odd numbers. I would count “1-3-5…” and when I did that I would hear “You forgot 2, 4 and 6.” I would start over again after stopping to laugh. Here she was trying to hide from me yet scream out from where she was about something I did wrong.

I couldn’t even begin to count the number of pictures and videos I have taken of her. Recently her mother was asked for some pictures of her from her early childhood. She contacted me and asked me what I had knowing what I had was more than what she had. She plays soccer. I have her very first goal on video. That “sixth sense” said to record the corner kick her team was taking so I did. She scored and all of her family went nuts. Even more so when they found out I got it on video. One day when she first started playing, I took pictures of her. She got tired of it and asked me to stop taking pictures of her. I ignored her. We walked back to the car after the game and she said she was mad at me for taking pictures after she asked me to stop. I asked her if she knew why I did it. I expected something like, “Because you love me.” I did not get that. Instead she replied, “Because I’m cute.” It took some time to stop laughing but once I did I told her she was right. How can I argue with a 4-year-old?

She has an older cousin and sister. The cousin is almost 10 years older than her and her sister is 18 years older. Because of this age gap I was able to quickly get her out of Chuck E Cheese earlier than most and get her to Dave & Buster’s. I enjoyed my time with her at CEC but anyone who has been there knows you count the days until your child outgrows it. When she first went to D&B she put up some resistance. Until she saw all of the games there and fell in love with them. She especially loved all of the prizes. The stuff kids bring home from CEC means the world to them. Until they get home and then they don’t care about it anymore. Anyone who has been to D&B knows you can bring home some good stuff there. I can only afford to take her on a Wednesday when games are half-price. I have probably taken her at least 20 times and loved every time. I allow her to bring a friend and that makes her even happier. The one we visit has a Yogurtland across the way and a Panda Express next door. I have treated her to both practically every single time I take her. When I went through my cancer hell last year I made a list of things I wanted to do once I got better. Taking her to D&B was on the list. I took her on January 1 since that was a Wednesday. I enjoyed it more than any other visit. I took a picture and it is my phone’s home screen. I realize our trips to D&B will now be few-and-far-between. While that stinks, I am OK with it because it means she is growing up and transitioning from being a baby to a kid to a young woman to being in high school starting in 2021.  But if she thinks we are done going to D&B, as well as Panda Express, Yogurtland and more she is sadly mistaken.

I also picked her up from school around once a week from Kindergarten through firth grade. I would come up to the class to get her. The school allowed some time after class ended for the adults to pick up their kids. I would get there early and always goof around with the kids in the class. I would sit at my niece’s desk and tell the other kids in the class I was my niece. They would tell me I was not but I said I was sitting at her desk so I must be her. I would get the kids riled up and most teachers were cool with it because they were laughing themselves. When we left, I would take her home or to soccer practice. As we walked to the car what she said to me was always the same thing: “Uncle Erik can I have your phone and can we go to Yogurtland?” I said “Yes” to both. Taking her to Yogurtland was so much fun. Seeing her choose which flavors to pick from was funny as was seeing her put toppings on them. If you purchase 240 ounces in a 12-month period you get a silver rewards card, it gives you many extra perks. I had one for two years because of taking her all of the time. I have said when I die they will read my will and what I have left and it will be about 30-cents instead of the $400-million I might have had if not for treating my nephew and younger niece to many places to eat and Dave and Buster’s.

Last year I missed her birthday party for the first-time ever since I was in the hospital for my fourth chemo visit. I was looking forward to going to her party this year but, as is the case with everyone, birthday parties are not taking place in 2020. Although later today we are going to her house for a surprise birthday party (I am posting this on her birthday but won’t send her the link to see it until after we get home from the party). It has been a real joy seeing her turn into the smart, well-behaved, educated, talented person she is. I am proud to say I am her uncle. Just like I am to her older sister and my nephew. Luckily, she is finishing 7^th grade this year so next year when she completes 8^th grade hopefully, she can have an actual ceremony and not the virtual one schools are forced to have now.

I am now going to transition from a joyous topic to one not as much but one making worldwide headlines. Sadly, for the wrong reasons.

There is no debating the fact excessive force was used on George Floyd, the Minnesota man killed by the Minneapolis Police that sparked outrage across the entire country. Not only do I have no problem with people protesting his death, I would have been more upset had they not.

But it is one thing to protest. It is another to loot and vandalize.

This is protesting – standing in front of this many tanks as this man did in Tiananmen Square China, daring them to run him over. They did not although people escorting him away not long after this was taken might be the only reason why.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated protesting. Peacefully. How many times did MLK advocate turning things violent? I’ll save you the time to look it up. The answer is: NEVER! Because he realized a peaceful protest is the only way to go. Rosa Parks never got violent. She just refused to give up her seat in the front of the bus and because of it accomplished so much more than if she got violent and destroyed things.

I am OK marching in the streets and demanding change. You lose me when you start burning cars, vandalizing buildings and businesses and turn something into a version of “Shop till you drop.” The people doing this are low-life cockroach scumbag THUGS! No other way to put it. There is video of a “man” in Minneapolis walking by a business and just breaking windows. Just because. That’s not a protest. That is criminal behavior.

Atlanta is 908 miles from Minneapolis (Over 1100 if you choose to drive between the two cities). The College Football Hall of Fame is in Atlanta. Friday Night, May 29, it was vandalized. Windows were broken. None of the displays were touched. What was touched was items in the gift shop. Many items were stolen. What was done to the place was not done by protesters. What was done to it was done by animals let out of their cage for a short amount of time to act like the goons they are. These same “people” are first in line to complain when someone looks at them wrong yet they have no problem doing a complete “180” when they can be part of a “mob mentality” and do things they think they will get away with. Sadly – most will.

Check out what happened in Los Angeles on Saturday when people broke into a jewelry store and took anything they could get their hands on. See these rats scurrying out of the store with anything they can get their hands on. This is not protesting. This is people committing felonies. Most stand to get away with this disgusting behavior. Some will get caught because they will have a big mouth and brag to the wrong people about all they took

The ones who get caught will cry a river of fake crocodile tears and say: “That’s not the real me.” NO. IT IS! The “real me” is the “me” that we are when no one is watching (or we think no one is watching). When no one is watching, guys reach down into our pants and “adjust our junk.” Or pick our nose. Or belch so loud to be heard 400 miles away.

During normal times (meaning pre-Covid-19) there were around 25,000 take off and landings from planes in the 50 United States. That comes out to about 750,000 per month and around 9 million per year. Of those 9 million we may only hear of about 10 of them every year. That comes out to: .0001%. The last fatal US commercial airline crash was in February 2009. That means we have had over 100-million flights take off and land without a single crash. Yet if a plane goes down tomorrow that will make more news than the previous 100+ million that were safe for the entire duration. It doesn’t mean the airline industry is bad. Just that plane. When a cop does something stupid and uses excessive force, that doesn’t make all cops bad. It just makes that cop bad. And since cops are people and people have bad days and some people are bad people it means directing our anger at the bad cop – not all cops. Same applies to doctors that rape their patients (Larry Nassar – I am talking to you). It means THAT doctor needs to go to hell. ASAP. Not all doctors.

What Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is alleged to have done is inexcusably wrong (I want to emphasize that in the United States of America we are presumed “innocent until proven guilty” and while it sure looks like what Chauvin did was criminally wrong, until/unless he is convicted in a court of law – and not public opinion – we have to presume he is INNOCENT). What the thugs, looters and miscreants did after is just as wrong. Sadly, very few of them will be caught and prosecuted since, unlike with Chauvin (and the other three officers with him), a video that clearly gets a shot of their face will not be available. Until they do something like this again. And they will because just like with Chauvin this is not the first time they did something like this. It is just the first time they got caught.

Things will be very interesting when the verdict for Chauvin’s trial is reached. Especially if it is not a “Guilty” verdict and I don’t think it will be. Keep in mind in a criminal case the jury must be a unanimous 12-0 decision. Anything else is a “hung jury” and as we have seen in the past cops don’t get convicted in cases like this and I don’t expect Chauvin to be convicted and when that happens…get ready for a replay of what we are seeing now. Maybe even worse.