Black Relationships

It shouldn't be any surprise that black relationships are dismal at best. Black men and women dogging each other about how the other isn't worth squat; black men are trifling, black women are loud & ghetto, have babies by several different men and the list goes on from both sides. I can remember a time where black relationships were at an all-time high; both black men & women got along but as time went on, a divide & conquer mentality has crept into black relationships. Black women are dating outside the race more than ever before and black men have been dating outside their race for as long as I can remember. From a black man's standpoint, black women make their issues his issues, too argumentative, overly opinionated, ghetto, horrible attitude and the list goes on. From a black woman's standpoint, black men are dogs, jailbirds, thugs, mama's boys, have no direction in life, etc. Let me say that there are bad apples in every race. It's not a good look to base your judgment of people based on a few bad apples. That's like the entire class being punished for the actions of one student. At the same time, I'm aware that one person can mess it up for everyone. Black women are very loyal to their men, they will stick with him through thick & thin and I can respect that. We all want someone that will ride with us through the good & bad. If you want to date outside your race, by all means go ahead. Don't hide behind the "black men/women are foul" mantra because that's making you look bad. If black women are that bitter towards brothers and feel a man of another race can treat them better, be my guest. I could care less because that's less drama for me to deal with and at this point in my life, the less drama I have to deal with, the better off I'll be. The same can be said for black men who have given up on black women. No need to broadcast it, just do it and keep moving. Go get him/her, do right by him/her, make a family and live happily ever after. I'm not letting women off the hook to go ahead and continue their reckless behaviors but the good women hear this so much. Why not let these men be happy if they aren't going to be happy with black women? I was posed this question by a Facebook friend: How do you feel about this as a black man and what would be the repercussions among black men if this happened? My response would be to do what's best for you. If black men are so disappointed in sisters, they should find someone that makes them happy even if it is outside the race.

Facts & Truths

Some people have a hard time accepting truth for what it is, TRUTH. They will twist it every way they can in order to lessen the impact but at the end of the day, truth is truth. We have to adjust to the truth, truth doesn't bend to our desires. I remember the old adage "Truth hurts". Yes, the truth does hurt especially if one is used to getting their way 24-7. The person hasn't had someone in their life to keep it real with them and when a person comes along to tell them what it is, they don't know how to respond. Truth does not stop being truth because we can't wrap our minds around it. People need to embrace truth instead of bucking against it. Further wallowing in ignorance is prolonging your pain & suffering. Although truth tastes like bitter medicine at first, in the end it's beneficial because it will help you be a better man or woman; and that's what most of us strive for, correct? I know I strive to be better every day. I can't grow up an old fool that's still doing the same foolish things I did when I was in my 20s and 30s. Another aspect of truth is fact. What is fact? A fact is something that has really occurred or is actually the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability, that is whether it can be proven to correspond to experience Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable experiments. Opinions become facts if they are backed up by consistent observation, evidence or behavior. The sooner people learn this, the better off they will be.

Special Treatment

If there's one thing that irks me is rich people that find every excuse to avoid paying higher taxes. They shouldn't have a problem paying higher taxes, they are rich; they can afford it. It's the poor/working class & middle class that are struggling to make ends meet so they should get the bulk of these tax cuts. Let's be real, how can you pay higher taxes and you're on a fixed income? That doesn't make sense. It kills me that super-wealthy people find every excuse to avoid paying higher taxes. I think it's sad that the 1% of America controls the majority of dealings in life, from business to life. I find it sad that favoritism exists. Just because you're in the upper echleon of American society doesn't mean you get to call the shots. Even in the criminal justice system, a wealthy person can do the most heinous crime and they get off scot free because they can afford the best legal protection. If a middle or working class person did the very same crime, they would be thrown under the bus. In some strange way, seeing the rich get special treatment has inspired me in a way to improve my financial status through graduate education, entrepreneurship or other means because the more money you have, the more opportunities/services you have at your disposal. Unlike most people, when I reach the level of success I want, I'm going to use my influence to help those less fortunate come up. Being able to make a difference in someone's life through your influence is something that will stick with you for a while.

Working From Home

Many people are turned on to the idea of working from home and for good reason. You save on gas and clothing, you don't have to deal with co-workers that you don't like (let's be real, there will always be some co-workers that you just don't gel with) and most of all, the peace of mind that comes from working at home is priceless. I've always been attracted to working from home but just recently have I started to pursue the option full-time. If you can get a legit, work-at-home job, then go for it. That's what I plan on doing. The money I save from gas & clothing could be put to good use like investing in my mutual fund, saving, putting extra in the tithe/offering at church, there's many ways I could put the extra money to good use. Granted, many work-at-home opportunities are scams (which is sad) but the opportunities I get in my e-mail are the same as a regular job, one you go to everyday and offers a nice benefit package. Many companies are offering work-from-home as an alternative because in this economy, you have to save any way you can. Who knows, I'll make enough to where I can quit my regular job and focus on the work-at-home gig full-time. I'm a supporter of those who choose to work-at-home because there's really no such thing as job security: People getting laid off left & right and some employees haven't had raises in years. My work-at-home gig will be Internet Marketing or Telecommunications because those are two lucrative sectors. Knowing me, I may do both because why settle for one income when you can have both? Working from home is a feeling that you can't describe because although you may like the social interaction, at times you want to focus on your work and that's where working from home comes into play: You work full-time BUT you set your own schedule. If you wanted to get a couple extra hours of sleep and then put in work. I see why many people are turning to working from home. As good as working from home is, some people aren't cut out for it and that's fine. To each their own.

Men Wearing Pink

Since when did it become acceptable for men to wear pink? Pink has traditionally been a woman's color, always has and always will be. Under no circumstances should it be acceptable for a grown man to wear pink. I know a lot of women will say "A real man is secure enough in his manhood to wear pink and not care what others think or say" Yeah, right. Let's see how well it will go over when a guy comes to a woman wearing more pink than her. She would look at him like he's crazy and brush him off. Traditionally, men never wore pink so why all of a sudden is it the norm for men to wear pink? This is that craziness I see in society on the regular. I started this debate in one of the Facebook groups I participate in and it got pretty heated, which was the intent. You will NEVER, EVER catch Richard wearing pink under no circumstances. My mom asked me that question yesterday about why I don't wear pink and I told her straight up, pink is for women. There are traditional standards of manhood that men are to adhere to and wearing pink, in many man circles goes against manhood. I could care less what the next man does. If he wants to wear pink, that's on him but he can't get upset when other men clown him for it. It's ok to stand out but stand out for the right, not the wrong reason(s). I just feel it's sad how some men have forgotten manly principles/conduct and will wear any & everything with no regards. Men wearing pink has nothing to do with being secure to express themselves however one sees fit; it's about adhering to certain standards of conduct for men and women. Just like you wouldn't see men wearing handbags or hoop earrings (I hope not but you can never tell), men wearing pink should be outlawed.

Take It Or Leave It

We all have character/personality flaws, that's a given. I have them, you and everyone has them. Show me someone who's perfect (other than Jesus) and I'll show you a liar because none of us are perfect. Even though no one's perfect, that's no excuse for basking in your character/personality flaws. Some people take pride in the fact that they're mean/vindictive; you can call them on it until you're blue in the face and they'll still continue acting stupid. I look down on those kind of people and avoid them like the plague. There's nothing good about being difficult to get along with. If you have issues with everyone you meet, maybe the issue is YOU, not them. You need to work on yourself (I'm talking to myself just the same). Case in point, someone's ignorant and makes stereotypical statements with no remorse. They are called on their foolish statements but they  reply with "This is me, get over it." That's flaw and further shows your personality flaw. Thank goodness MOST people aren't foul like that. My view is that if you have a major personality/character flaw, fix it and keep moving. No sense in growing up to be an old fool. Some of these so-called adults need to grow up. Act your age and not your shoe size. The more people show their true colors, the more confirmation of my decision to stay to myself because I don't like flaw people. I guess that's why I prefer to hang with older people because older people have a lot more sense than people my age. Older folks have more life experience & wisdom that younger people don't have. I'm the last of a dying breed; meaning if someone gives me constructive criticism to help me improve, I make the adjustments. See how simple that was?

Friends & Associates

Most, if not all of us has a combination of friends and associates. We have people we've known all our lives and people that serve a specific purpose. I'm no different because while I have a select few friends, I have more associates. My associates are pretty much acquaintances, people that haven't made it to friend status but I do chat with here and there. I imagine it's like that for everyone because friendship takes time to develop; you have to invest time with someone in order for friendship to foster. Many people associate with others who are likeminded in thought, word, deed or goal. After the association has ran its course, the relationship dissolves. You have associations that turn into friendships because a group of people spend so much time together that it's almost natural for friendship to develop. My definition of a friend is someone who knows you inside & out, someone you can talk to about the ups and downs you're facing, a person that rejoices with you in your success and cries with you when you're going through rough times. An associate is someone you click up with for networking purposes; they can be influential in getting you where you want to go. Business associates are a good example of this because a rookie employee will click up with a vet in hopes the veteran will show him the ropes of the company so (s)he can work their way up. I think it's a given that we will have more associates than friends because it's not meant for one to have bookoo friends unless some people are just that good to where people are drawn to them. Of course, I believe that friendships can form from associations.