Newspaper Page Text
4A Clje l)pra(& Tuesday, April 20,2021
Opinions
Kudzu and Clay: Bar soap
CHRIS WALTER
cwalter@walterfoundation.com
r or the first fifteen
years of my life, I didn’t
know there was more
than one flavor of soap.
We had taken a trip to
visit my grandfather up
North. He was always
concerned with the finer
things in life. At least,
he tried to be. Either
way, 1 remember tak
ing a shower and being
caught off guard by what
I thought was a fruitcake
in their soap dish. Come
to find out it was just ex
pensive soap. Who knew
you could put rose petals
in soap?
The only soap 1 had
ever known was Jergens
bar soap. Need to wash
your hands? Jergens.
Need to wash your body?
Jergens. Face? Jergens.
Shave? Make a lather out
of Jergens. Although if
you’ve ever had the plea
sure of using the iconic
brand you would know
all you have to do is rub
a bar of it down your
leg and half the hair will
come out anyway.
Luckily when it
came to washing
our hair we had
memory recall
ing the intense
burning.
I’m sure that
my mom had
some type of
girly soap, but
we weren’t
allowed to use
her bathroom
so who knows.
My dad loved
the Jergens so
much that not
only did he use
it for everything
mentioned above, he also
used it as his shampoo
an economy size
bottle of Prell.
These days, if 1
have some extra
time while I’m
grocery shop
ping, I’ll look for
it on the shelf. If
1 can find it, I’ll
give it a sniff for
old time’s sake.
One whiff of that
magic green goo
and my eyes
start watering, not from
nostalgia, but muscle
and conditioner. For all 1
know, toothpaste.
He had a bar of Jer
gens in his big, red utility
van at all times, just in
case he passed by a pond
and wanted a good old
fashioned mountain man
scrub down. 1 think we
even washed dishes with
it at Scout camp. Always
prepared.
One morning, sitting
next to him in church 1
looked over and noticed
that he had a thumb
sized chunk of bar soap
stuck in his hair, possibly
from his shower that
morning. 1 whispered
to him and reached my
hand up to pull it out, he
immediately caught my
hand and pulled it back
down, looked me dead
in the eye and said, “I’m
saving it for later.”
Never question a man
with soap in his hair.
Chris Walter is a writer, artist,
and Barnesville native. He has just
published his first book, “Southern
Glitter”. You can find more informa
tion about his art and writings at
kudzuandclay.com
Pulling American
troops out of
Afghanistan
BY ELLIOTT BRACK
Gwinnett Forum
About our
American
troops in
Afghanistan,
President
Biden cannot
pull our troops
out of there
fast enough
for me. Our
country
should have
never been
deployed
sending
American
troops to that
part of the
world.
The British
fought there first, and
realized their mistake,
and left in 1842. Russians
came next fighting what
is probably the same
people we were trying
to destroy. This war for
Russia began in Decem
ber 1979, and lasted until
February 1989. About
15,000 Soviet soldiers
were killed, and about
35,000 were wounded.
After nine years of the
battle, Russia recognized
such a victory was impos
sible. And that was from
a country that is bumped
up right against Afghani
stan, and had relatively
short supply lines.
Contrast the Russian
position with the Ameri
can position: we had
to provide our nation’s
finest with supplies and
equipment they needed
from half a world distant.
Such an endeavor was
doomed from the start,
and it’s taken 20 years
and finally the fourth
president (after Bush,
Obama and Trump), Joe
Biden is willing to risk his
political and our nation’s
future on bringing home
our troops.
Hurrah for the so-
called Sleepy Joe Biden.
Some have even called
him “Biden the divider,”
but no telling how many
moms and pops, espe
cially of our troops actu
ally deployed there now,
or before, may think of
him as “Joe the hero.”
THE TIMELINE:
Oct. 7, 2001: President
George W. Bush said that
U.S. and British troops
began striking Afghani
stan for “harboring the
al-Qaeda terrorists”
blamed for the 9/11 at
tacks.
December
2003: American troops
now number 13,100 in
the country.
December
2007: Americans in
Afghanistan now num
ber 25,000. By 2009, it is
67,000. President
Obama plans to
send in another
33,000 Ameri
cans.
May
2011: Osama Bin
Laden is found
hiding in neigh
boring Pakistan
and is killed.
There are still
100,000 U.S.
troops in the
country.
September
2012:
Troop with
drawals means
the number is
down to 77,000
U.S. men in
a slow with
drawal.
March 2014: American
troops down to 34,000,
and by December Obama
cuts the forces to 16,100.
July 2016: Instead of
dropping the American
troops level to 5,500,
Obama says it will be
8,400 by the end of his
term in January, 2017.
August 2017: Presi
dent Trump says more
forces will be deployed,
to about the 14,000 level.
September 2019: A
total of 5,500 U.S. troops
will be withdrawn within
135 days. Later that
month, President Trump
says a planned high-level
meeting with the enemy
camp has been cancelled.
All totaled, the Pen
tagon shows that more
than 775,000 U.S. service
members were deployed
to Afghanistan at least
once.
Killed in Afghanistan
were 2,400 Americans,
with 20,660 injured, and
no telling how many
with mind-wobbling
nightmares. Add that the
cost so far of fighting in
Afghanistan is over $2
trillion. (Source: Depart
ment of Defense.) Those
who did not come home
are from all states, with
California the home state
of 755 troops killed. Geor
gia lost 220 of its people
to death in Afghanistan.
The announcement
this week from Joe Biden
will be greeted with relief
by most Americans, who
just didn’t feel comfort
able fighting a war for
others.
As a proud military
veteran myself (seven
years, 3.5 in Germany)
during the Cold War, 1 am
relieved that the loved
ones of Army, Navy, Air
Force and Marines per
sonnel will come home
from being deployed in
this unwinnable fight in
Afghanistan.
Thank you, Mr. Presi
dent.
ELLIOT BRACK
7 am relieved
that the loved ones
of Army, Navy, Air
Force and Marines
personnel will
come home from
being deployed in
this unwinnable
fight in Afghanistan.
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GUN CONTROL FEARS PROMPT SOME FOLKS TO CREATE HOME ARSENALS.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Be sure to call 811 before digging
Georgia 811 recog
nizes that many
people will be
planting trees for
Earth Day and Ar
bor Day projects,
so it is important
to remember to
contact 811 at
least three busi
ness days before
digging to have
underground util
ity lines marked.
Striking a single
line can cause
injury, repair costs,
fines and inconve
nient outages. Before
any type of digging proj
ect, Georgia 811 advises
the public to contact 811
by phone or online at
Georgia811.com to have
their public utility lines
marked for free. The best
way to avoid damaging
your utilities and risking
injury or loss of service
is to contact 811 at least
three days before digging
to learn the approximate
location of buried lines in
your area. After receiving
a call or online request,
Georgia 811 notifies the
appropriate member
utility companies. Profes
sional locators are sent
to the requested dig site
to mark the approximate
locations of underground
lines with flags or spray
paint. Once lines have
been properly marked,
the utility companies
respond in the ticketing
system, and the digger
can check that all utility
companies in the area
have marked their lines.
While diggers should
plant trees and saplings
away from the marked
lines, the Georgia Dig
Law specifically directs
users of mechanized
equipment to stay
at least 18 inches
away from the out
er edge of each side
of a buried pipe or
line. Professional
contractors will
usually hand dig
around a marked
line to discover the
true outer edge of
underground facili
ties.
The depth of util
ity lines can vary for
a number of reasons,
such as erosion, previ
ous digging projects
and uneven surface.
Underground utility lines
are too often damaged
because someone de
cided to dig without first
contacting 811. “With the
possibility of utility lines
only a few inches from
the surface, this simple
call to 811 will help
volunteers, contractors
and do-it-yourself diggers
avoid striking an under
ground utility line,” said
Megan Estes, Corporate
Communications Direc
tor with Georgia 811. Go
to Georgia811.com for
more information before
beginning the digging
process.
HG letter printing guidelines
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welcomes letters to the
editor. For a letter to be
considered for publica
tion, please include the
writer’s actual name,
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number. Limit letters
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Shorter letters are ap
preciated. All letters
are subject to editing.
No personal attacks on
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endorsements or letters
that are racially divisive.
Send letters to P.O.
Box 220, Barnesville,
30204, email it to news@
barnesville.com or drop
it by 509 Greenwood
Street, Barnesville.
April 18-24
10 years ago
BBQ & Blues was set
for the weekend with a
terrific lineup of enter
tainment on the schedule
for the big concert at Ritz
Park. Performers were to
include the Mark Henson
Band, Long Hot Summer,
E.G. Right and the funk
band Contagious.
25 years ago
An unidentified
12-year-old boy attending
the middle school kept
his perfect attendance
record intact despite
being struck by what was
thought to be a lightning
bolt. The boy was stand
ing in the doorway of a
mobile classroom when
he was hit. The student
was not seriously in
jured.
50 years ago
Another moonshine
operation was destroyed.
The operation was
located in a concrete
building just off Old Ze-
bulon Road. The still was
the largest ever busted
in Lamar County. Three
stills, each with a capac
ity of 720 gallons, were
destroyed as were 4000
gallon jugs, 2000 gallons
of mash and 56 gallons
of whiskey. Two trucks
were seized.
100 years ago
The U-Save-lt Store in
Barnesville was advertis
ing groceries. New po
tatoes were 5 cents per
pound. Squash was 10
cents per pound. Spring
lamb was 25 cents per
pound as were sausage,
steak and fresh water
trout. Roe shad were 30
cents per pound.
News tip?
770.358.NEWS
T&tyt Heratti
barnesville.com
770.358.NEWS
P.O. Box 220
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Staff
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