Sunday, Bloody Sunday

I received a phone call at work on Monday. See, I work for a couple who own their own business. They are old friends of mine. When the wife isn't here, I get to answer the phone and field all the calls. This call was a gentleman who was searching for work and wondered if we were hiring. In the almost 10 months I have been here, we have never been in a "hiring" mode. We just tell the individual to come out and fill out an application. I could tell from the guys voice that he was black. I don't like using African-American. This country is overly PC. If you were to categorize me, I would probably be an Italian, Nova Scotian, Scottish, Irish American. I really don't know, or care too much about it to worry. But, anyways, I told him like everyone else to come fill out an application.

My office is on the other side of the building from the main office where my bosses desks are, so I really don't get to see when most people are coming and going. This gentleman showed up to fill out his application. Apparently he is either from Louisiana, or at least lived there, as his phone number came across on the caller ID as LA. I left for lunch at noon and his car was here and had LA tags on it. You don't have to be a detective I suppose, right? Well, when he showed up, one of my co-workers came in to inform me we had, "a black guy here filling out an application." I wasn't too surprised by this, as truthfully, here in Cut Bank, Montana, there really aren't too many folks who aren't white or Indian. What did surprise me was his next comment. "He had a mouth full of gold teeth! Maybe we should send him in to Cash for Gold and see how much we can get?!" Wow. That was all I could think. Wow.

Nothing more was said to me that day about it. The next morning I spoke to my boss on the phone, as he left town for the day and I wanted to ask him a few things. I asked him what he thought of the new applicant. He was excited, because he was a certified welder and could be of great benefit to this company in the long run. But also could be of benefit sooner than later since we are about to undertake building a pump truck here in the building. His welding skills will definitely be an asset. But then the conversation turned to what one of the elder gentleman had said to my boss. He asked if he was really serious that he was possibly going to hire, "One of those people". He also threatened to quit if he was hired, to which my boss replied, "Good riddance to you then. I am looking out for what is best for my company."

I have been thinking about this for 2 days now, contemplating writing about it. It never really dawned on me until this morning that all of this happened on the day we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. It used to make me laugh when I lived in the south that there were still Good Ol' Boys who felt the south was gonna rise again! People still believe this nonsense, in this day and age. Hell, the south doesn't need to rise again with the thinking of some folks in the north it seems. I have not been known as the most tolerant of people I suppose. Some may find me writing about this as funny, but I look at it as sad and scary.

Most of you may know I am a retired Marine. I spent over 20 years serving this country and the people who live in it, no matter what my beliefs or theirs are. Right now, there are people from all backgrounds in harms way, all in the name of, well, I don't even know what it's all about over there anymore. The mission has changed so many times, I've lost count. But one thing that I learned over the years as a Marine, is that no matter the color of your skin, we all bleed the same color.

"A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan."
Martin Luther King, Jr.