One day while moving about in our kitchen my wife asked me to look for some red wine
vinaigrette in our pantry. I gave a valiant effort into finding this bottle and was convinced we didn’t have it. But she was insistent it was in there. She was familiar with it and where it was last placed. She got up and looked and in less than 30 seconds she found it. I say that to say this, far too often we can’t appreciate what someone has or is experiencing because we aren’t as familiar with the situation as they are. Face it, sometimes in life you have acquiesce to someone else because you haven’t walked in their shoes. You can’t relate to their situation. Often times some people are callous and lack empathy in regards helping these individuals through the challenges
they are facing or have faced.
This past week there where some examples of some affluent individuals doing this very
thing. One being Phoenix Suns and Mercury majority owner Robert Sarver. Who was accused of some heinous and insensitive acts towards his staff. He was accused of using racist and sexist remarks towards women and minorities. His elitist behavior was just another example of a deeper systemic problem we have here in America. That if you have deep pockets you are bulletproof. You feel as though you don't have to be held accountable for your actions. This can’t be further from the truth. While I’m not a big fan of using the N-word even amongst other blacks, most blacks that use it, use it in a way to express kinship or connection. Historically when this word was used by non-blacks it was used in a derogatory manner. But apparently Mr Sarver didn’t get that memo. You wonder why Draymond Green can repeatedly say that word and hardly anyone bats
an eye? It’s because he isn’t using it to disparage anyone about their skin tone. Whether you like it or not, Mr Sarver is not bestowed that luxury. His insensitivity towards the history of that word lead to
his current 1 year suspension and 10 million dollar fine. He made women uncomfortable by making disparaging and inappropriate
remarks, he once dropped his pants in front of more than 60 people during a charitable event that he was hosting. His actions were akin to some other sports franchise owners who lost their teams. Donald Sterling lost the LA Clippers and Jerry Richardson lost the NFL's Carolina Panthers based off of similar accusations. Sarver has not been stripped of his team as of now, but it remains to be seen if public pressure doesn’t drive him away. He doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong but if your wealth and power makes you out of touch with the common man. Why would you? That’s kind of par for the course.
Lastly "Buckhead" Brett Favre. Word is when he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons he would hang out in Buckhead and drink himself to oblivion leading to him getting traded to Green Bay. This is the same Brett Favre who also settled out of court after accosting a pair of massage therapists as a member of the New York Jets, but was highly critical of Deshaun Watson's desire to be traded, albeit facing similar demons. What level of selfishness and human piece of fecal matter must person be to steal from the poorest of the poor? That's like going up to a homeless man and taking money from their panhandling cup while you are driving a Mercedes Benz. We know that some elected officials are crooked, that's a topic for another day but not an NFL icon. I'm exaggerating but you get the point. Are those Copper Fit checks not clearing? I guess we should have known he had questionable decision making since he is the league's alltime leader in interceptions thrown. For this man to have the audacity to use these welfare funds to benefit his agenda after he has had an illustrious NFL career and is still a viable commercial is endorser is beyond belief. Yet over the years he's been highly critical of guys like Colin Kaepernick over kneeling in protest for systemic racism and oppression. A cause in which Kap donated millions of his own money to support. Kaepernick was bringing light to the very thing Favre and the Mississippi Governor at the time are suspected of contributing to, oppressing the less fortunate. The rules are just different for some people apparently. This type of behavior can no longer be tolerated and should not be swept under the rug. The point is respect our differences because you haven’t experienced the pain and anguish that someone else has had to toil with. We all have a role to play in life. The last thing we need is people with gluttonous mentalities to abuse the people who are most in need of support. If God blesses you with resources, use them to bless others, it's not solely for your own fleshley desires.
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