Blog Lafayette

As you probably already know, today was Veterans Day in the United States. It is a day set aside for each year for every one of us in this great nation to remember the service and sacrifice of our military men and women, past and present, a sacrifice that even went to the point of losing life or limb for some.

I did my heart good to hear of a decent amount of celebrations and ceremonies were held today to honor Veterans in many communities. School children in many school districts performed in plays and skits, sang patriotic songs, and spoke of their gratitude to the men and women who were present in the various settings. Cities held parades and honored the fallen soldiers of all our American generations at military shrines like the Vietnam Wall in Washington DC and in local communities. VFW posts were centers of activity as veterans got together to swap stories and comradeship.

John Barber WWI U.S. Army

Do you have any family members who have ever served in Wartime or in peace? I am sure you most likely do if your family has been in this country for any amount of time. And don’t get me wrong when I make that distinction. There are many new Americans who are strongly patriotic and love this “land of the free” that we live in, who would gladly serve their adopted country if the need arose. I have had several family members who served our country in time of war. My grandpa Whitley served in the Navy during WWII and my mother’s father, my grandpa John Barber, served in the Army during WWI. One of my father’s brothers served in Vietnam and was awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded by shrapnel during a battle. And my oldest Son is active duty Air Force and has served since the day after 911. Many families are similar in their ability to look only a little ways to see a son or a daughter, aunt or uncle, father or mother who has served.

All of that to simply say, Thank You. You are appreciated. Without your service, America would not exist, or at the very least, it would not be the great place that it is now. We Americans serve proudly and we serve freely. I am so glad to have been born in America. Thank you veterans, for keeping us strong and free and proud. Happy Veterans Day.

I have a full time job that does not allow me to know my schedule more than just a few days at a time. This makes it a little more difficult during election season to do my duty as a citizen of the United States. But not impossible. I will have to take advantage of early voting or absentee voting in my precinct before November 2nd to make sure that I get my vote in.

You might ask, why does it matter? Is it really all that important? This year’s election season has taken on a larger than life quality when it comes to the tone of the upcoming elections, so many people might be tempted to accuse me of thinking of voting as more important than normal this November 2nd.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. The real truth of it is this, voting is extremely important in every election, not just this one. We have the very great privilege of living in a country and a time that allows us the freedom to have a choice in the people and ideas we put in place to guide our government. It is very important for us as a people to make sure that we exercise our right to vote. But even more important is our responsibility to know why we are voting for the people and ideas that we lend our check mark to.

This makes me ask the question, What good is it to vote if you have no idea why you are voting, or if you have no idea of the long term consequences of your vote? Don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying don’t vote. What I am saying is, please know why you are voting for the person you are choosing. Get to know their record and their ideals. Your decisions of today will have an impact on your life for many years to come.

Do you know who is on the upcoming ballot or what they believe in? No? Then now is the time to begin researching the candidates. To find out who is on your upcoming ballot in November go to https://indianavoters.in.gov/PublicSite/PublicMain.aspx. You can fill in your personal information and then you will be able to find out if you are ellegible to vote and who is will be on your ballot. You will also be able to see what questions will be on the ballot so that you can research them to find out what your choice will mean in each question.

We seem to be able to find time to watch our favorite episodes of NCIS or Covert Affairs on TV. Can we make the time to find out who we will be voting on and what they believe before it is time to cast our ballot? I hope so!

A story in today’s Journal and Courier Online about an increase in thefts of catalytic converters from Toyota 4-Runners got me to thinking. The story spoke of the money that thieves get from scrap dealers for catalytic converters because the converters usually contain one of three precious metals, platinum, palladium or rhodium that bring high per ounce prices. One of the people interviewed made a statement that I have to take issue with.

He said “catalytic converter thefts go in spurts as the price of the precious metals rise.” “It comes down to tough times, and people are stealing the converters.”

I admit that I don’t know the entire content of the interview or the exact intent of the interviewee when he made that statement. But looking at it as it was stated in the interview I have to say that “tough times” is not an excuse for these anyone to steal. We live in a great town, state, and country. Opportunity is built into the framework of our legal and political system and our way of life. I do not think that in a country where help is only a little time and effort away if you choose to work within the system, that theft is ever an option that should be looked lightly upon.

Don’t get me wrong. I would do practically “anything” to keep my family safe and fed. But as I stated above, we live in a country and time where that “anything” does not need to include theft. I would dig ditches, deliver pizzas, work two fast food jobs all at the same time and anything else I needed to do in order to make a full weeks wage to feed my family and take care of bills. Theft is the “easy” way.

I do take comfort in the fact that many many more people are law abiding and responsible in our great land than are not. We are a people who believe in law and order and in hard work as a whole. The Lafayette area is no exception to that way of thinking. I have met and continue to meet great hard working people of all social, political, and racial identities here who would never take the easy way out.

Just one more reason why I like living in the Lafayette area.