Newspaper Page Text
June 11,2008
^Reporter
PAGE 5A
On the outside looking in
Around the Bend
She’s not
from around
here, y^all
I really enjoy my work with FEMA and one
aspect that makes the job really enjoyable is
the cultural diversity of the people I work
with. A majority “FEMA-ites” are employees
who don’t work full time with FEMA and are
classified as Disaster Assistance Employees, or
DAEs. We are usually the first ones reporting for
duty when a tornado, flood, hurricane or when some
other of Mother Nature’s natu
ral disasters wreak havoc.
DAEs come from all over the
country. During the recovery
phase of the Mother’s Day tor
nados in Macon and middle
Georgia, I have been working
with people from all over the
U.S.A: Florida, California,
Tennessee, Guam, New
York, Puerto Rico and a
Cuban whose family
escaped the tyranny of
Fidel Castro. All have per
sonalities that are united to
help those affected by the
dastardly tornados that struck, making Mother’s Day
more than just Mother’s Day.
One of the more interesting persons was a native
Californian, very much of a feminist and flagrantly
independent. In a meeting with her, I, with inten
tions of southern hospitality, answered a question
she posed with the comment, “Yes ma’am.” In further
conversations with her I again respectively used
“yes ma’am” and “no ma’am” to her questions and
often in agreement.
After the meeting, she adamantly chastised me
saying she was not a “ma’am” and did not appreciate
being referred to as such. “I was not raised that way
and your Southern hospitality is demeaning, racial
and derogatory. A yes or no will suffice and you are
to answer by my first name with a yes or no.
Southern hospitality is a crock of *&$#$@D!,” her
chastisement concluded. I couldn’t resist with my
reply: “Yes ma’am, I will comply with your wishes,”
turning and walking away.
As a PS, she was not a FEMA DAE. She didn’t last
long and was sent back home to California.
NOW that the national dust has settled between
the Democrat candidates for president, the political
season has officially begun. The race to November is
on.
Locally, the D’s and R’s dust hasn’t settled and they
have begun squaring off. The political posters are
beginning to pop up with a lot of them already on
the public right-of-ways.
According to my sign counting, Lori and Joy are
about tied in the number of “vote for me” signs.
Haven’t seen any signs for the incumbent county
commission chairman and his challenger. So, at this
time I will consider the race even.
In the sheriff’s race, it is evident the incumbent is
ahead by about 10 to one when it comes to signs.
Between the incumbent district attorney and his
challenger, the signs I have counted make them
about even.
Come after Tuesday, July 15, the ballot will go to
the printer for the final face-off in November. Get
ready, the signs will be popping up faster than mush
rooms on a cow patty in a pasture.
THIS PAST weekend was a great weekend to be
out and about in Monroe County. Kicking off the
weekend was the Juliette Jam on Saturday after
noon. Heard the turnout was doggone pretty good
despite the temperatures hovering near the 100-
degree mark and sun block was more prevalent than
six packs.
You wouldn’t realize just how many local artists
are in Monroe County if you didn’t attend the silent
auction and social soiree Saturday night sponsored
by the Monroe County Arts Alliance. Some good work
by local artists brought in some good dollars for con
tinuing and promoting the arts in Monroe County.
Then, on Saturday night, “Mustang Sally” was a
free admission feature on the square in downtown
Forsyth. Super turn-out! I hear The Palm, Grits and
Jonah’s did a booming business.
These three events brought our communities
together. As the expression goes, “a community that
works and plays together, thrives together.”
LOOKING for pennies and squeezing them hard
enough to make Abe smile, now is the time city of
Forsyth and the county do some serious communicat
ing about combining services. Simply stated, the
duplication of city and county services as they now
exist is expensive for taxpayers. As it stands, both
the city and county have separate water and fire
services and law enforcement agencies.
It just makes common and business sense to nego
tiate combining such services, But, most govern
ments don’t take into consideration common sense
and don’t know how operate with common sense.
NOW that the Wal-Mart debacle is settled, sure
would like to see some red Monroe County clay on
the site like down on the Tift property. Be patient,
they are a coming.
Donald Jackson Daniel is the founder and former
publisher of The Reporter. He can be contacted at tul-
laybear@bellsouth. net.
A trip down Memory Lane
I f you failed to read the
front page of this pa
per and just skipped
ahead to see
what pearls of
wisdom I had this
week, you missed
something kind of
cool.
I won an award.
In fact, Will
Davis, the rest
of the staff of
this newspaper
and I won six
awards at the
annual Georgia Press
Association’s annual con
vention held last week in
Panama City, Fla. It feels
pretty nice to be recognized
a little.
However, I have yet to
grasp why the Georgia
Press Association had to
traipse all the way to
Florida to hand out
awards. But the concept of
traveling to Florida from
Georgia to get something
good is not a new one. Just
ask my husband.
THE FACT of the matter
is, Larry and I met in
Panama City Beach 22
years ago that very week
end - June 8, 1986 to be
exact.
My kids are cringing at
the thought of me telling
this story .... one more
time.... But
they’ll just have
to get over it.
On that
evening, I was
riding home with
my roommate.
You see, I was liv
ing every 19-year-
old’s fanta-
' r >i3- sy. . . I was
D living in
Panama
City. I fell in love with the
beach and vowed never to
return to dry land again.
Then I met Larry and all
bets were off.
That night it was hot. I
was tired. The strip was
crowded with all the kids
just out of school. I just
wanted to get home. But,
my roommate was search
ing for her boyfriend. They
were supposed to meet up.
Those were the days before
every child was issued a
cell phone at birth. We had
called Sam on the pay
phone several times and
since he didn’t answer,
Tracy assumed he was out
riding around looking for
her. So, there we were. . .
cruising the strip like a
couple of tourists. It was
humiliating.
Then I saw him. A vision
of 20-year old loveliness. . .
the cutest boy I had ever
laid eyes on. . . and he was
playing a guitar.
I swooned.
After a couple of passes,
he finally yelled at me and
I made Tracy stop the car.
We were soon inseparable.
It wasn’t love at first sight,
but it was darn close.
A FEW MONTHS later, I
was calling Georgia home.
I was 320 miles from my
beloved beach and I didn’t
care.
From time to time, we’d
take the kids to PC and
drive past my old house.
We’d drive by the Barney
Gray Motel where I first
saw Larry. It’s since been
torn down and a new con
dominium complex has
been erected in its place,
but we still know the spot
and tell the story to much
eye-rolling in the backseat.
We’ve never forgotten, in
all these years, how it felt
to fall in love.
I can still remember the
exact moment I knew
Larry was the one I was
meant to be with.
I was against marriage
as a practice. My mother
had been through a few
marriages and I was sim
ply not going to do it.
“Oh, you’ll get married
one day,” Larry told me
that week. “You will want
someone to grow old with.”
At that precise moment I
knew. . . I thought - I’d
marry you if you asked me.
Not too long after that,
he did ask. We were mar
ried in March 1987 and the
rest, as they say, is history.
SO,WHEN I found out
the GPA was having its
convention in Panama City
Beach and it just so hap
pened to be the same
weekend when I met Larry
there, I knew we had to go.
After all, the GPA saw fit
to issue a few certificates
with my name on them,
the least I could do was
show up and pick them up
in person.
But, in reality, it would
be hard to top the prize I
picked up in Panama City
22 years earlier.
Gina Herring may be
reached at 478-994-2358 or
ginaherring@bellsouth.net.
Teens fed up with status quo
BY STEPHEN DANIELS
GEORGIA FAMILY
COUNCIL
eenager and
young adults in
America today
are often charac
terized as irre
sponsible, self-centered and
lazy. Of course not all of
them are, but it always
catches my attention when
I hear about those who are
rejecting the status quo
and choosing to do things
that are difficult and coun
tercultural. In other words,
they are swimming
upstream amidst the
accepted social norms of
the day, even when every
one else seems to be going
the other direction.
Janie Fredell is a college
student who never would
have guessed the notoriety
she would earn when she
left Colorado Springs in
2005 for Harvard
University. Janie is com
mitted to saving sex until
marriage and was shocked
by the sexual culture at
the university.
Not just at Harvard, but
on college and university
campuses across the coun
try, random sexual encoun
ters (also known as “hook-
ing-up”) are common and
widespread. Men and
women are having sex with
people they don’t really
know, or have any inten
tion of committing them
selves to. Sex isn’t even
being reserved for the con
fines of a committed dating
relationship, much less a
marriage.
It may not come as a
shock to know that lots of
college men are seeking
sex, but what is surprising
(and troubling), is the
growing ease with which
young women are offering
themselves freely to their
sex-seeking male class
mates.
Her sophomore year
Janie decided to respond to
the continuous ridicule in
the student newspaper of a
campus student group
committed to premarital
abstinence by writing an
essay. It was published in
the school paper The
Harvard Crimson.
Here are some of her
thoughts, eloquently put:
“The woman who succeeds
in resisting this temptation
[she is referring to premar
ital sex] is she whose sex
appeal transcends her sex
ual aptitude. Such women
boast the intelligence nec
essary to make healthy life
decisions, the charm to win
the attention of men with
out promise of physical
compensation, the maturi
ty to acknowledge the dif
ference between love and
lust, and the confidence to
demand the former in situ
ations where they are pres
sured to compromise them
selves for the latter. The
mysterious allure of virgin
ity is not rooted in an
image of innocence and
purity, but rather in the
notion of strength: the abil
ity to withstand tempta
tion even in the face of
societal norms and expec
tations.”
And to the guys she
points out: “Men underesti
mate the impressiveness of
self-control, strength, and
rebelliousness in the face
of popular opinion and the
degree to which abstinence
makes them desirable to
women. Confidence, not
compelling hook-up stories,
is the key to sexiness.”
Ms. Fredell’s essay and
defense of the student
group known as “True Love
Revolution” garnered plen
ty of response - much of it
from her detractors who
dismiss her as
Pollyannaish or even anti
woman. But she points out
in a recent New York
Times Magazine article
written about her that
women suffer when they
have sex before marriage.
She believes it is actually
more of a feminist act to
control her own body and
not offer sex to men with
out strings attached.
Janie is challenging the
status quo. She is swim
ming upstream. That takes
guts; especially in an envi
ronment like a university
campus where choosing to
be abstinent until mar
riage is openly mocked
(despite all the rhetoric
about welcoming a diversi
ty of thoughts and
lifestyles). And to take
such a public stand is par
ticularly courageous.
There are other examples
as well. Alex and Brett
Harris are two young peo
ple who are choosing to
reject what many
teenagers believe is the
commonly acceptable way
to live - a “vacation from
responsibility” as these
teenage brothers call it.
Alex and Brett have band
ed together to create what
is known as the
“Rebelution,” which is a
movement aimed at
Christian young people to
encourage them to reject
the low expectations placed
upon them by the culture.
They hold conferences
across the county attended
by thousands of teenagers
and have even written a
book with the challenging
title “Do Hard Things.”
Zach Hunter is a 16-year-
old abolitionist living in
Atlanta who is committed
to eradicating slavery
around the world. He start
ed “Loose Change to
Loosen Chains” to raise
money to stop the human
trade around the world. He
travels across the globe
challenging his fellow
teenagers to get involved
in causes greater than
themselves.
These are just a few
examples of young people
choosing to swim upstream
and challenge their peers
to join them.
It’s easy to go with the
flow of the culture, to pas
sively do what everyone
else is doing. And in
today’s world of Ipods,
video games, social net
working websites and all
the “do what you want to
do” messages young people
hear, it’s easy to see how
simple it is to become self-
centered. Janie Fredell, the
Harris brothers and Zach
Hunter are doing every
thing they can to help their
peers avoid settling for so
little.
As someone a generation
ahead of them, I hope they
are successful. We all bene
fit from what they are
doing and can learn from
their message, no matter
what our age.
Georgia Family Council is
a non-profit organization
that works to strengthen
and defend the family in
Georgia by equipping mar
riage advocates, shaping
laws, preparing the next
generation and influencing
culture. For more informa
tion, go to www.geor-
giafamily.org, (770) 242-
0001, stephen@gafam.org.
Bread &
circuses?
To the editor:
With Mustang Sally
we are being provided
with circus.
When will the bread
come?
Ralph Bass
Forsyth
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Cheers for Backlogs ‘Over the River*
To the editor:
T he cast of "Over the
River and Through
Woods" presented a
delightful play using
their talents to the
max. Nick Cristano from Warner
Robins joined local seasoned
actors: Marion McDougall, Chuck
Randall, Elizabeth Hunter and
Alan Ralph in a wonderful por
trayal of a New Jersey family in con
flict. Newcomer to the Rose stage
was Linda Sherman who per
formed an outstanding role as
one of the grandmothers in the
play. I highly recommed it to all
who appreciate theatre at its best.
Patricia Morgan
Forsyth
MORGAN