Before I turn the blog over to Slim Randles for his Wednesday’s Guest post, I just have to take a moment to stop and remember George Floyd, the man who was so callously killed by a Minnesota police officer on Monday. Floyd was being arrested as a suspect in a forgery case, and after he was on the ground and handcuffed, one officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for close to 8 minutes, while another officer stood by and watched.
A video of the incident went viral on Twitter, and when I saw it yesterday, I just wanted to cry. The police officers’ total disregard for Floyd’s life as he repeatedly told them he couldn’t breathe, and bystanders urged the officers to ease up, is disgusting.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Why is kneeling on a suspect’s neck considered proper detainment?[/inlinetweet]
Four police officers have subsequently been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department.
Now here’s Slim and his rather wacky friend, Windy, who hasn’t been able to say one sentence without twisting a few words until they scream. I have a need for chocolate today, and I’m willing to share. Grab a piece and enjoy…
It’s always a treat when Windy Wilson stops by the Mule Barn for a cup and a visit with us. He got all settled in while we waited for him to talk about what was most pressing on his mind.
It didn’t take long.
“Now you fellas know it shore ain’t perlite to interrupt a guy when he’s educatin’ the kids, right? A real gentleman wouldn’t do it. But that didn’t slow down this weird young guy who was visitin’ one of our hometown girls.
“I think she met him in college where he was majorin’ in bein’ wrong, and brought him home to meet the folks. The way it was, I had a few kids I found coming out of the malt shop, and I kinda herded them over to this year sidewalk bench so I could ‘splain how school used to was back in the day, you know?
“So, in the midst of my dislertation, this weirdo guy walks up and says to me that I shouldn’t be tellin’ them kids about workin’ hard because that’s jest how the gov’ment gets ahold of ‘em and makes ‘em into slaves. Hey, I’m not klddin’!
“Then he starts in to lecturin’ them, and me, about how we have too much stuff and need to share it with other folks. Now that ain’t bad, I guess. I don’t mind sharin’ Seems right. But then he says we don’t have the right to own anythin’ at all.
“I had me a look to see how these year kids was ascorbing this nonsense, and I saw that Garcia kid wasn’t happy. He jest got a brand-new bike last week or month or somethin’ and he thought he ought to keep it.
“So, bein’ the on-the-spot grown up, I ups and asks weirdo what he would suggest we all do about it, and he looks straight at me and tells me to go dial an electric materialism!
“Took me kinder flat-footed there for a second, but I rallied. I puffed up a bit and straightened HIM out. I said, ‘I ain’t gonna do it!’”
Windy paused.
“Besides, guys, I shore didn’t know which number to dial.”
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Brought to you by “Strange Tales of Alaska,” by Slim Randles.
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In addition to hosting a radio show, Slim Randles writes the nationally syndicated column, “Home Country” that is featured in 380 newspapers across the country. He is also the author of a number of books including Saddle Up: A Cowboy Guide to Writing. That title, and others, are published by LPD Press. If you enjoy his columns here on the blog, you might want to check out the book Home Country. It features some of the best of the columns he has shared with us, as well as the 4 million readers of the newspapers where his columns appear.
That’s all for today, folks. Whether it’s humor or philosophy, Slim always has a good uplifting message. Be safe. Be well. Be Happy.