Weird Conversation of the Night

I was a witness to a bizarre conversation outside of the bar last night. In order to protect the identities of the innocent, names and details have been changed. So I was at the front door talking to Dude as he was having a smoke when this couple comes outside. The husband asks if he can bum a smoke which the dude obliges. So the Dude, Husband and Wife start chit chatting about California (the couple just moved back from L.A.), female pubic hygiene and male facial hair (You really don't want to know, LOL) and other random subjects that can be covered in time that it takes to have a smoke. Then the conversation gets weird.

The Wife tells the Dude that he looks familiar. After a second, she says to him "I have your phone number on my phone", to which the Dude said "Yeah right". They all decide to do a shot together and go inside. While inside, it really takes a weird turn. As they do their shot, the Wife gets up to use the ladies room. The Husband has her phone and makes a phone call. I watch as the dude looks at his phone and has a missed call. The Wife did have his number on her phone since the Husband had just dialed it. The dude had a perplexed look on his face when the husband stared straight into the Dude's face and said point blank "Did you sleep with my wife?". The Dude swiftly answered "No Way dude". All night the Dude was wondering how in the hell did the Wife get his number and as certain that he was that he didn't sleep with her, he could not be truly certain. Weird indeed. LOL.

FH

Quotes of the Night

Quote#1
In celebration of the rain that we are currently receiving here in NYC, here is one of the quotes of the night:

There's only 2 things that melt in the rain: Sugar and Shit. And luckily for you, you ain't that sweet but you're not that shitty either.

Happy Rain Dancing.

Quote#2
This one come from a pair of Italian tourists who couldn't believe that Myron and I would not let them in on their word that their ID-less friend was 27: "Fuck America"

I understood their point about not needing to carry an ID in Italy but ladies, When in Rome...No pun intended. LOL.

Just Call Me "Mr. Ed"

I can normally say that I don't hear many new things when it comes to the connection of my chosen Nom-de-guerre with customers. Last night proved differently.

I was introduced to this young lady who works in a lounge nearby with a friend of mine. Now we all believed that we had met one time before but in case we hadn't met, what harm can come from a second introduction.

So My friend says this is Diamond, she works at the bar with us. As I shake her hand I say my name is Sisco. She lights up and returns the following to me:

"Sisco? That's the name of my horse! No offense. You know how many times people have told me that Diamond was the name of their dog? No worries, My horse Sisco is a sweetheart"

I have no doubt that my Equine counterpart shows a high level of sweetness towards his owner. LOL. Naturally, all of us Siscos, no matter what size, shape or species we are, are great in exhibiting the sweetness.

Hey, at least she said I was the name of her horse and not her donkey or jackass. LOL. It is like Donkey says in Shrek 2 "I'm a Stallion, Baby!!!"

FH

Chile vs. Haiti...Who's Better Off????

I read a post to the Being Latino blog page that left a bad taste in my mouth. It had nothing to do with the commentary, but with the subject. It has been debated in the media wether or not the people of Chile is in a better position to deal with the 8.8 earthquake that hit the city of Concepcion this past weekend as opposed to the people of Port-Au-Prince Haiti. I mean really now, does it matter? Earthquake victims are earthquake victims regardless of where they are from and what economic class they come from. Those that are under the rubble are trapped regardless of what school they went to, what neighborhood they lived in and what jobs they did. Take the following article as an example: Why Chile Fundraising is Off to a Slow Srart.

The article quotes an article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy dated March 1, 2010 which states the reasons for the lack of fundraising for Chile's earthquake victims. Here are some of them (Thanks to Efrain Nieves of the Being Latino Blog for the synopsis):

According to the Chronicle:

- Oxfam America had so far raised $3,499 for relief efforts in Chile while it raised $2.9 million in the same time period for Haiti;
- World Vision U.S. has raised $220,000 so far for Chile while $3.9 million was raised in for Haiti;
- The American Red Cross held off on launching a text-messaging campaign for Chile relief efforts, although it raised $1,000,000+ for Haiti.

What's the hang-up?

There are a few reasons for the slower pace, says The Chronicle.

- Chile is in a better position to deal with the damage than the impoverished country of Haiti.
- The earthquake happened over the weekend when fewer people are tuned into the news.
- Chile had requested assistance from the United Nations, but not yet from international humanitarian groups.

Not to place blame, but the Latino community has dropped the ball. Being the largest "minority group" here in the United States should have led to a bigger movement to generate aid for the victims of Chile as was done for those in Haiti. Where are our actors, actresses, singers and influential people here in the United States asking for funds and making songs for the Chileans as was done for the Haitians. It really sucks that this becomes a popularity or pity contest (depending on your point of view). To paraphrase my friend Matt Hill who compared the poor in the United Staes who are in need to those in Haiti:

You put a suit or pretty dress on them (the poor in Haiti) they look great and Oprah is proud. You put a suit on one of ours and it looks like a homeless guy in a suit. It's all about perception and Haiti is in.

And I guess Chile is out.

To Donate to Chile through Habitat for Humanity Click Here
To Donate to Chile through the Family Care Foundation Click Here
You can now text “Chile” to 90999 to donate $10 to survivors of the Chile earthquake.

Random Thoughts on Random Subjects

I was looking through some back issues of the New York Times that I have stacked in my living room in an attempt to discard them and I came across three articles that piqued my interest. Here goes.

1. People and their preferred passwords
So I came across an article dated January 21, 2010 titled If Your Password's Still 123456, It Might as Well Be HackMe and it got me thinking about how people really must be gullible. I mean seriously folks, 123456? Really? Based on a study done on a list of passwords that was stolen by a hacker, 1234546 is the number one password chosen by users. Want to guess what is number two? 12345. Yes, 12345 is the 2nd most popular and until 123456 became the top password used, 12345 was the top password. What happened to originality people. Have people lost their imaginations and creativity? Oy Vey.

2. Invitation to shop via text
This article in the Business section of the New York Times dated February 23, 2010 titled Take a Step Closer For an Invitation to Shop goes into detail the efforts that retailer North Face is planning to undertake to keep customers up to date. By using Placecast, the North Face would be able to notify customers (who have opted to be in the program) about any sales and offers when the customers are within a certain range of stores via text. At first I thought about how annoying that would be. As it is, I get countless emails from online sellers that I have used in the past on my Blackberry. But as I pondered the technology, I must admit that it is rather intriguing.

Say you were thinking about getting a cup of coffee and you were signed up with Starbucks to get texts (in a similar fashion as North Face is intending to do with Placecast) when you were in the range of a store. What's the probability that you would just go into a Starbucks after you got the text as to not getting one. Honestly I wouldn't know the odds or percentages, but I'd wager that having gotten a text with a discount code would probably get me to go to Starbucks as opposed to another coffee seller. But that's just me. We'll see how that whole thing plays out.

3. Public Perception of Fathers
This article came from the Health section of the New York Times dated November 3, 2009 titled Fathers Gain Respect From Experts (and Mothers) and I have to admit, it struck a nerve with me. Allow me to elaborate.

The article went into how fathers have historically been deemed to be uninvolved and the methods that were consciously (and subconsciously) used by various groups including mothers, doctors and clinics to perpetuate that image. Now, I'll be the first to admit, fathers have made things difficult for themselves. The deadbeats have always made things difficult for those of us who are heavily involved with our kids. But old fashioned views and ideas of child rearing also play into it. Let me give you an example.

When my kids were infants I would drive to Hastings-on-Hudson to do my banking. Living in the Bronx, it was easier to drive into Westchester County than to cross over the Triboro Bridge twice to make a deposit (Astoria Federal Savings has a number of branches in Westchester County). So this particular morning, I walk into the branch with both kids in the double stroller that my wife and I labeled "The Cadillac" since it was so long. This older woman comes up to me and says "Aww, look Daddy took a day off to be with the kids". Not thinking much about what she said, I answered that I had them everyday. I wish I could have taken a picture of her at that exact moment, I'll never forget the look on her face.

I can only imagine her thinking that I was a deadbeat, a bum who chose not to work, living off of my wife. So I decided to answer her silent comment by telling her that I worked nights full time and took care of my kids every morning. I wasn't freeloading off of anyone as she may have thought I was. I told her it was ok, she couldn't help herself by thinking that way. But that is the way people think. They think that fathers worry about their careers over their kids. And its true, many fathers do feel that way. Allow me to tell you about another situation I was in.

A number of years ago I had a patron of Fraunces Tavern ask me why I was still working as a Bouncer/Doorman at my age instead of working towards a good career (like he was doing on Wall Street). Once again, here came the assumptions of people coming out into the open. I asked him if he had children and he said yes. I'm not sure of how many, but I phrased my comment as so:

I have kids as well, sir. Working nights has given me that chance to experience things with my children that most men never get to see since they are working so hard on their careers. Six figures, a suit and a tie will never replace the memories of seeing my kids walk for the first time, hearing their first words, and having them spend most of their daytime hours with me than with a stranger. Can you say that you experienced these things while cramped in your office 10 hours a day?

His lack of a response was more than sufficient. So what am I trying to accomplish by all this. Maybe you'll think that I have a chip on my shoulder. I'll be the first to admit that I do. Sure it pisses me off when the school nurse will call me on my cellphone and ask for my wife when I am listed as the main emergency contact on the school's contact sheet. I know that old habits die hard but we need to change folks. I'll get off of my soapbox now folks.

Later,
FH

Tiger Woods and the Media

So Tiger Woods made his first public appearance to apologize for the whole affair situation. I've said since day one, the only people who should have been interested in this situation was his family and again, the only people he needs to apologize to are his family. Not the media and not the public, only his family. To me, the media jumped on this story like the pack of jackals that they often show themselves to be. I know some say that since Tiger is a public figure all bets are off. To that I say BULLSHIT. He's still a human being whose kids had to deal with the throngs of photographers taking continued pictures of them. They get scared as any kids would when surrounded by a crowd. I know mine would. So with that in mind, a certain part of his speech stood out to me. Here it is:

I have always tried to maintain a private space for my wife and children. They have been kept separate from my sponsors, my commercial endorsements. When my children were born, we only released photographs so that the paparazzi could not chase them. However, my behavior doesn't make it right for the media to follow my 2.5-year-old daughter to school and report the school's location. They staked out my wife and they pursued my mom. Whatever my wrongdoings, for the sake of my family, please leave my wife and kids alone.

Tiger's right. No matter how many women he slept with behind his wife's back, the bloodthirsty behavior by the media towards his family is unacceptable. Didn't the paparazzi learn from the death of Princess Diana? Didn't they learn of the dangers that can come from following someone excessively? The problem is that the media is selfish, only looking at their by-line and nothing more. Let people live and deal with their issues and problems on their own. Billions have done so without media intervention for centuries. Just report the news that needs to be reported.

Tea Party and Carpetbaggers

I'm going to take a bit of a political bent with this post. Now for those of you who don't know me very well, I'm not one to really discuss politics in public. But for this I'm going to make an exception.

1. The Tea Party Movement
Regardless of the points that the Tea Party tries to make and the methods that they use to bring their points to life is irrelevant at this moment. What I want to focus on is how important this movement is to changing the political landscape of this country. I believe that the American political process has become monopolized by the two party system thereby stagnating said system. What I believe that we need are multiple parties represented in both the Senate and the House of Representative at the Federal level and among the State and Local houses of government. As it is, many people feel that their views and thoughts aren't being addressed by their representatives, who use their power and influence to push through their own agendas. Also, voters would rather not vote Republican or Democrat since they feel that either party isn't looking out for their best interests. So what to do?

I think people forget that as this country started to grow and develop the political process grew to represent different views. As with the examples of the Congessional Elections from 1828 to 1866 you had a minimum of three parties represented in Congress with the Congressional election of 1850 and 1858 having five parties (not including independents) gaining seats in Congress. Even the Congressional Elections during the Depression Era were marked by four or five different parties gaining seats. So why not now. Why should the American people in this country feel that their vote is being wasted and their voice is being ignored by their representatives. Is the Tea Party the model? To be honest I'm not sure. But hopefully they are the beginning of the shift from the two party system standard.

2. Carpetbaggers
This is something that has always bothered me. It seems that in the last 50 years or so that New York State has become the stepping stone to higher political office for people from other states rather than resident New Yorkers. This is currently being seen in the example of former Representative Harold E. Ford, Jr. of Tennessee. Though he has yet to decide to throw his hat in the ring for the Junior Senator seat of New York in the U.S. Congress (currently being held by Congresswoman Kirsten E. Gillibrand) the debate is raging about what makes a New Yorker. You kiddingly hear from those who have emigrated from other states into New York that it takes five years of living here before you officially become a New Yorker. I'm not sure what qualifications the state uses before declaring someone a New Yorker, but just setting up shop here with a mailing address should not be enough. Take Hillary Clinton as an example.

It seemed as if she moved to Chappaqua, New York and immediately announced her intentions to run for the same seat that Congresswoman currently holds. The same can be said about former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Give Harold Ford credit, he's been living in New York City for three years paying taxes before anyone even heard of his wanting to run for the Senate. What happened to the days of Al Smith and Thomas Dewey working here in the city, earning their names walking, working and sweating on our streets. The last person to do so in that manner was Rudolph Giuliani who a U.S. Attorney and Mayor of New York City. Like the Frank Sinatra song says "If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere". I guess it is easier for some to just add New York to their resume so they can move on up the ladder rather than trying to make it "anywhere"