You've Got To Give A Little, Take A Little And Let Your Poor Heart Break A Little ...

If we, the people, begin taking a wide range of initiatives to take back our country from the politicians, radical activists, major-media pundits and government bureaucrats, that would go a long way towards solving many of the nation’s serious and pressing social and economic problems. In a relatively short period of time, the U.S would be back on track.

Before I go on, I want to make one thing clear. In the following paragraphs, I am not boasting or tooting my own horn. I am simply laying the foundation for what I consider to be a very important message.

That said, back when I was a little boy and teenager, I was always the one who went to battle for the timid children and “nerds” in order to defend them from the neighborhood and schoolyard bullies. When I was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, I always looked out for the men under my command and went out of my way to “prop up” the ones who were not as strong as the others. Throughout the 35+ years I worked in the corporate world, I always championed the “little people” in the companies I worked for and did such things as encourage them to increase their levels of education and to be more responsible.

Now that I am retired, I do a lot of volunteer work. Two-to-three days a week, I voluntarily work in a homeless shelter for men, doing whatever I can to help some of them get back on their feet. In addition, I am a member of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and I do a lot of volunteer work for that organization. I chair two meetings a week for my “home group”; I chair several A.A. meetings a month at one of the New York City hospitals for military veterans, and I chair one A.A. meeting a month at one of the city jails (the Manhattan Detention Facility, a.k.a. the “Tombs”).

Over the years, and going all the way back to the late-1960s when I was in the Army, I have helped hundreds of people improve themselves, to further their educations, to advance and succeed in life and to stay out of trouble with the law and so forth.

The following is a true story and is a pretty-good example of how I have always operated when it comes to helping others:

Back around 1999, I was a senior vice president in a large life-insurance company. At the time, a young black woman who was 19 years old worked under me as the assistant to my administrative assistant (secretary) and she was a poor single mother with a little two-year-old boy. She was a very bright and intelligent young person but she was a real “ghetto child”.

She was a good worker and quite efficient but she had a major shortcoming. Her attendance was atrocious. She called in sick at least once a week , usually on a Friday, a Monday or the day after pay day. Things got so bad, I placed her on warning and informed her if she took another unscheduled day off work, she would be fired.

Well, about a week after I issued her that warning, she called in sick again. When my administrative assistant told me that the young woman was taking off work, I called her immediately and ordered her to get her “little behind” to work. She responded that she was “just too sick to come in”.

When I hung up the phone, I got up from behind my desk, put on my coat and left the building. Outside, I hailed a taxi and told the driver to take me to the tough, rundown neighborhood in the Bronx borough of New York City where the young woman lived.

Arriving at her shabby apartment building, I marched right into that place, walking past all the crack dealers and other ne’er-do-wells who were hanging out there and went up to the front door to her little flat.

I banged on the door and from inside, she hollered, “Who’s there”?

“It’s me”! I hollered back.

In no time, she cracked open the door and while looking quite shocked, she excitedly asked, “What are you doing here, Mr. ‘Feenix’ ”?

“I’m here to take your little ass to work”, I replied firmly.

Just as I said that, a bare-chested young man showed up at door and stood beside her.

Glaring at me, he growled, “Get the hell outta here, ol’ man ’n leave her alone”.

Glaring back at him, I gruffly said, “No, chump, you get yo’ black ass outta here. I’m taking her to work where she’s supposed to be. And if you try to stop me, I’ll kick this door in ’n kick yo’ sorry ass. So get the f . . k outta her way.”

Doing a fast forward, the young lady got dressed and I took her to the office.

And from that point on, I “leaned” on her every day, discouraging her from hanging out with “losers” and encouraging her to “make something out of herself”.

To make a long story short, I ended up talking her into joining the military and in mid-2000, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy. And as of today, she has been in the Navy for 11 years, she has advanced to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, and she trains other sailors in Norfolk, Virginia where she owns the very nice house that she and her son, who is now a teenager, live in.

In my opinion, the foregoing account is a very good example of the “miracles” that can occur when people get involved. If I had left it up to government to set that young woman straight, more than likely, she would presently be a “welfare queen” with a whole litter of children born out of wedlock.

And that leads me to discuss the reason why I entitled this article, “You’ve Got To Give A Little, Take A Little And Let Your Poor Heart Break A Little … That’s the story of, that’s the glory of, LOVE”.

YOU’VE GOT TO GIVE A LITTLE

Every one of us must find and take the time to help those who are less fortunate than we are -- or do such things as be heavily involved in the schools our children attend, keep our neighborhoods clean and orderly, provide assistance to our elderly and/or physically/mentally-challenged neighbors, work in soup kitchens, tutor school children and help the unskilled to gain skills.

YOU’VE GOT TO TAKE A LITTLE

Trying to help others, especially many of the needy and troubled, can be one of the most frustrating things in the world. Many are “very rough around the edges”, causing them to be belligerent, highly discourteous, stuck in their counter-productive/self-destructive ways, or down-right stubborn and/or lazy.

When trying to help others, you cannot allow any of that to get you down or to cause you to give up. On those occasions when you encounter those kinds of situations, you should just pick up and move on to the next person or persons -- or community -- that needs your help.

YOU’VE GOT TO LET YOUR POOR HEART BREAK A LITTLE

While trying to help others, you just might find yourself in the middle of troubling situations that are very sad and seemingly hopeless.

If or when that occurs, go ahead and have a good cry but do not allow yourself to become debilitated by your sadness. Take out your handkerchief, dab away the tears and get right back to work.

That’s the story of, that’s the glory of, LOVE

Way back in the day, there was a very popular song by a talented singer named Jackie DeShannon. It was entitled, “What the World Needs Now … is love sweet love”.

As some of my New Orleans relatives would say, “I gare-RONE-tee you that widespread and constant displays of love towards one another and towards the needy, disadvantaged and troubled will go a very long way towards moving the U.S. beyond its current state of crisis.

If we, the people, take matters into our own hands to secure solutions to the nation’s social and economic problems -- and turn our backs to all of the left-wing liberal politicians, activists, pundits and others who are out there clamoring for more government intervention -- we can take back our nation. We can wrest America away from the ones who are working around the clock to make everyone of us a “permanent ward of the State”.