Rant #1,320: Hail to the Veterans

Today is Veterans Day.

Most of the country is off today in remembrance of these brave men and women who defend, and have defended, our country.

Me, I write about the military, but I guess the way I honor these service members is by working.

Anyway, the closest veteran to me is my father.

He was in the Marines during the Korean War in the late 1940s and early 1950s, before he met the woman who would eventually become his wife and my mother.

This was during a very interesting time in our history.

Not only were we fighting the enemy, we were fighting ourselves and the changes that were being made in our society.

The Korean War was the first war where men of all color fought side by side.

Or supposedly so, because it wasn't always 100 percent true.

Even though that was the order, it was carried out in funny ways.

My father was in a platoon where he and another man--a very ethnic Italian who appeared as if he came into the Marines directly from Rome--were the only white members of the group. My father was the Jew, this guy was the ethnic, and another one was Puerto Rican.

The rest of the group was black, so you can say this group was filled up with men who were sort of on the outside looking in.

My father tells a story about how, in the deep south, he had to go in a get food for the weary men after maneuvers, because he was the only one who would be served. He also was the lookout for bathroom breaks.

That is how it was back then; sort of integrated, sort of not.

My father was a private, and he was also a cook. He says they made him a cook because he was a butcher by trade, and they linked butchering with cooking.

My father had never cooked anything at all when he grew up, but he learned fast.

He never went to Korea. He had dual sets of papers, and spent time in the brig because they didn't know what to do with him.

He served in, among other places, Camp Lejeune and Guantanamo Bay.

He has some incredible stories about each place that have to be heard to be believed.

They are both funny, and sad.

After his two-year hitch, they wanted him to re-enlist, but he said, very politely, "No sir!" and that was that.

He went back to work as a butcher the very day that he returned to New York.

My father in law also served in the Marines during the same period, and comparing his time of service to my dad's, we have found that they were at one base at the same time--I forget which--for a few months.

Thus, it is conceivable that my father cooked for the guy that would be his future child's father in law many years later.

Kind of funky, isn't it?

My father in law actually went to Korea, and was injured in the fighting.

And my brother in law also was in the service, in the Navy. He served 16 years and has been out for many years now.

So those are my connections to veterans on Veterans Day. I am proud to have these heroes as part of my life, and I am happy that today, we respect our veterans, unlike during the Vietnam War era, where they were almost looked at as the enemy by some.

That was wrong, plain wrong. If it wasn't for their bravery, we would not have the great country that we have today.

Anyway, have a good Veterans Day, and as most of you reading this are off today, pause and think about the reason that you have off.

It is the right thing to do.

Rant #1,319: Happy Birthday

Today is my wife's birthday.

She is xx years old.

It really doesn't matter what her actual age is because, quite frankly, you would never guess it.

She keeps herself fit and trim, and she looks probably about 10 years younger than she really is.

Yes, I am a lucky man, I really am.

We had company over on Saturday afternoon, her brothers and their significant others, and our nephew's wife, and we got to talking about how all of us met each other.

Sometimes the road was a rocky one, sometimes it went pretty smoothly.

In my and my wife's case, I really didn't realize how smooth the whole thing went at the time.

We met on a blind date set up by one of those old fashioned dating agencies that have since pretty much been wiped out by the Internet.

Anyway, we got set up, and the first thing that we had to do was speak on the phone with each other.

Neither one of us is a real phone talker, and that first conversation stands as the longest phone call we have ever had with each other.

Anyway, she asked me what celebrity I looked like, and I said that some people thought I looked like Dustin Hoffman (never did, but that is what some people told me way back when, when I had hair).

She told me she looked like Adrienne Barbeau.

I was hooked, line and sinker, from that point on.

We met, and she later told me that after our initial date, she knew that she was going to marry me.

I didn't know, but after a few dates, believe me, I knew.

And heck, did I get lucky.

She is my dream girl, and I couldn't be happier.

She is a hard worker, a fine mom, and a great daughter to her father. Her mom is deceased, but I know that she really loved her mother and the feeling was mutual.

She has taken a well-deserved day off from work today, and I wish I could be with her today, but duty calls.

I love her more than I can put into words. She is my Rock of Gibraltar, and without her, I really am nothing.

So here's to her on her birthday.

Everybody should be as lucky as I was to have a person like her as their spouse.

She is the greatest woman on earth, at least to me she is, and I can't wait to get home today so I can wish her "happy birthday" to her very pretty face, and give her her gifts (one I ordered online, and hopefully, it will arrive on time).

I hope she has a nice, relaxing day.

She deserves it.

Rant #1,318: Big Mouth

As I have gotten older, I have learned, without a shadow of a doubt, that sometimes, you have to have a big mouth to get anything done.

Unfortunately, although they say that the quiet ones are the ones to watch, the loud ones are the ones to pay attention to.

I am a pretty shy person by nature, but sometimes, if pushed just a little too far, I can get pretty smarmy.

I really can.

As per my Rant yesterday, I have been having a tremendous amount of trouble communicating to certain people that I need specific information sent my way for my son.

These public servants have been completely useless to me, and their methods simply do not work and do not serve the public, the people who pay their bloated salaries.

So I took the bull by the horns yesterday, and I think it must have worked.

After once again calling the numbers that the public is given to reach certain factions of our government--factions that plead that they will help you with your concerns but instead, simply clog up the pipes--and not hearing from them at all, at lunchtime, I did what I told them I was going to do, and I called their boss.

No, not their direct boss, but my county executive. He is, in fact, their boss.

I spoke to someone immediately at his office, and she told me that she would get right to it.

And she did.

By the end of the afternoon, I received a call from Social Services, and they said that they would send my son a temporary card and ID numbers, so he could take advantage of the programs that he has thus far been denied because of the idiotic system that Medicaid is.

Not only that, but I received calls at home from representatives of both Social Services and Medicaid ... now that I have their ear, you can bet I will be calling them today to voice my concerns about how their supposed "help lines" don't provide any help at all, unless you want help in experiencing complete aggravation.

Believe me, I am sorry that I have to do this, but sometimes, you just have to have a big mouth.

And, of course, the problem is not settled until I get his temporary card in the mail. But at least now, I have a better person to call if I don't get the card by late next week.

And yes, I will call my county executive again if this festers. They need to know that those that work under the county executive are not doing their jobs.

So, my words to the wise for you is that if you ever encounter problems that I have had--whether with government or even in a supermarket--always demand--and yes, I said demand--to speak to the boss.

I don't like going over people's heads either, but sometimes, you have to do what you have to do.

And a boss does not want to hear that his workers are not doing their jobs, I can tell you that for a certainty.

I know that Ralph Kramden on "The Honeymooners," when he was in trouble, always used to scream, "I have a BIIIIIIG mouth!" but sometimes, if you use it selectively and creatively with the right people at the right time, that big mouth can pay dividends.

Time will tell for my son.

I will next speak to you on Monday. I was told several minutes after this column was written that I have to attend to something tomorrow--nothing bad, just something that will require me to take the day off from work, so I will speak to you again next week. Have a nice weekend.

Rant #1,317: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Yes, I voted yesterday, and I did exactly what I said I was going to do.

How many other people who voted can look themselves in the mirror and say, "You did what needed to be done."

I can do that, and I made my stand.

I wish others did the same.

Anyway, I have my own challenges to overcome today, which I have been trying to overcome for months.

My challenges involve my son.

No, he hasn't done anything wrong at all--he has done everything right, in fact.

However, government agencies have not done right by him at all.

As you know if you read this column regularly, he has a learning disability, ADD, and is out of school now.

After a long, arduous process, he gained Supplemental Security Income, which means that he also gets Medicaid.

The Medicaid part is key. It allows him to use various programs offered by organizations that deal with this type of thing, including programs that will hopefully put him to work.

He has gotten a couple of interviews on his own, but nothing has come of them. I think that when he is interviewed, employers see that he will need some help on the job, and they don't hire him.

Through programs that he can get through organizations and due to the fact that he has Medicaid, he can be provided with a job coach, who will see him through these jobs.

The problem is, he needs a Medicaid number, and that is really where everything happening now starts.

He has been approved for SSI/Medicaid for at least six weeks. We received the acceptance letter during the tail end of the summer.

Although he has already received at least one payment through SSI/Medicaid, he does not have his Medicaid number.

The payment came through his Social Security number, and without the Medicaid number, he cannot participate in any of these programs that he so sorely needs.

He has been turned down by various organizations because he does not have his number. He has been told to call back when he has it, but until he gets it, they cannot help him.

I am his official representative--no joke, I went through Hell to get that designation--so it is my job to see to it that he gets that number as soon as possible.

I have called Medicaid, they tell me to call Social Security. I call Social Security, they tell me to call Medicaid.

And calling these places is also a joke.

You can get entangled in their respective phone systems, and be on the phone waiting for an hour, only to be told to leave your name and number and they will get back to you.

And they never do.

I have persevered, and actually have gotten a few people on the phone to talk to.

Most are almost robotic, telling me what I already know and not helping me with solving this problem.

And yes, I have learned that what they say about most government workers is true. Many of them are mind numbing, don't listen to anything you have to say, just are pencil pushers, and I really wonder how we, the taxpayers, are paying people to do very little.

Anyway, through sheer luck, I was able to get the supervisor's number for Medicaid, and I have called her several times, faxed over some information that I was told to fax over, and still have not heard from this person.

The icing on the cake is that I called the other day, and I got a woman on the phone. I told her my mission, and this was how the phone call went.

"I can't do anything for you."

"Can't you transfer me over to Ms. xxx?"

"No, I can't, because the transfer button on my phone isn't working. It broke today. They use the cheapest parts here to save the county money. You can blame the county executive for that."

"Well then, can't you walk over and give Ms. xxx my message that I called again?"

"No, she is on the other side of the building, and I can't walk over there."

"Well then, what would you like me to do?"

I swear to you that this is not a fabrication, this actually happened.

Even amid this horror, I will persevere, and try again. And again if I have to.

This is your government at work, and as you can see, it does not work at all.

All the while, my son is at home, on his computer, just whiling away the time.

We have been told by various sources that it can take anywhere from six weeks to six months to get this number, and that is way too long a time to sit around and wait.

I have been told that my son can get a temporary number, so he can participate in these programs and get the ball rolling.

I feel I have reached a certain crossroads.

Do I continue to act professionally on the phone, and get nothing, or do I begin to get nasty, and that will lead me to the so-called promised land?

I just don't know.

In the past seven months of fighting for my son to get Medicaid, the only way that I have been able to get anything accomplished was to be nasty on the phone, only when necessary.

I actually reported someone who I dealt with to her supervisor in order to become my son's official representative. If I hadn't done this, I would never have gotten this designation.

Now, do I act this way again?

It seems to be the only way these people understand anything or will do anything for the public that they are supposed to be serving.

I will report back to you in due time about this, but hopefully, I won't have to resort to this method to get things done.

Rant #1,316: Vote, Vote, Vote

Today is Election Day, and it is time to employ your civic duty and vote during the national election day being held today.

No, we are not voting for President, but this is a mid-term election, so who we vote for pretty much demonstrates how much faith we have in our President and his policies.

But whoever you vote for, get down to the polling place and vote.

But no, I won't monitor you to see if you are voting, as the Democrats are allegedly doing.

It really isn't my business who you vote for, just that you vote.

All I can say is that it is time to judge those running on what they have done during their most recent terms, and to remove those who haven't lived up to the standards that we voted on these men and women to uphold.

And based on the past few years, there seems to be a lot of people who we voted for who have their own agendas, and who don't care about their constituents.

It is time to vote them out. Period.

But I know, people are chicken. They would rather vote for a full party line than to mix it up a bit.

That is such a wrong way of thinking, but that is how they vote.

I am going to mix it up quite a bit--I am going to vote for Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Liberals, even Libertarians.

I probablu won't vote for anyone who is going to win, but my conscious is clear.

You have to stand by your convictions. I can look myself in the mirror, and I can say I did a good job voting.

How many other people can say that, especially if you vote on only a single party, especially with a chance to really make a difference this year?

Anyway, the most important thing is to get out and vote.

And I plan on doing that when my polling place opens in a little more than an hour.

Will you be doing the same, or sitting on your tuckus and dong nothing today?

Get out and vote.

It is your civic duty.

Rant #1,315: The Governor of New Jersey

I am going to say right off the bat that I am not necessarily a fan of Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.), but I am also going to say that I am liking him more all of the time.

I applaud him for his stand, with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, that the nation's stand against the spread of the Ebola disease was not enough, and the two legislators making firmer rules for handling the disease in their states.

And the latest kudo that I give to him concerns how he handled a heckler on Wednesday, when he was giving an update on Hurricane Sandy on its two-year anniversary and his state's efforts during that span.

He basically told the heckler to "shut up."

Christie has handled hecklers like this before, and in this era of political correctness, I really enjoy his candor.

The guy had stood up in the middle of the press conference with a two-sided sign basically saying "complete the job," and the guy was attacking the governor and his policies.

Look, nobody said that the Hurricane Sandy predicament that many people still find themselves in is joyous; it isn't, and it is a shame that they have to go through this.

But, on the other hand, disrupting a press conference was not the way to do it either, and Christie had every right to tell the guy to be quiet.

He said he would talk with him later about his concerns, but you know what? The guy deserved to be treated like a child based on his behavior.

And the heat Christie and Cuomo have taken for their Ebola stand is really off base.

That nurse who is all hot and bothered and supposedly suing because her rights were violated ... maybe she should be told to "shut up" too.

Christie is a very easy target for Democrats and others. He is a roly-poly, big-mouth politician who does not believe in PC. He is as old school as they get nowadays, and that both turns people off as much as it turns people on.

People have also accused him of ruling his state with an iron hand. We may never know what he knew about the George Washington Bridge traffic snarls that were supposedly ordered by people from his staff, and there have been other instances where he appears standoffish and rude.

Heck, I attacked him when he had flags flown at half-staff when Whitney Houston died. I thought that was pandering to a certain segment of the population. The woman, who had lived in Newark as a child, hadn't ventured near her old hometown through her successes and was as akin to New Jersey at that point as I am.

But in this most recent case, sometimes, you have to go to the vernacular to get something done, and he did it here, and it was right and it worked.

Does he have enough vibe to become our next President?

Rumors are that he is running, but I don't really know.

But if he does run, and someone is as rude as the clown was the other day, I have no problem with Christie telling the perpetrator to "shut up" once again.

Haven't we all had that fantasy, to tell people bothering us to "shut up," and in this PC world, haven't we had to suppress our feelings because it just isn't right?

Well, it was right the other day, and I think it makes Christie a more human character.

I didn't say humane, I said human, and in this day and age, that is very, very important.

Rant #1,314: Halloween's Here

Boo!

Halloween is here today, on a Friday yet. Retailers must be loving this, communities that get overrun by kids looking for trouble are probably hating it.

My perception of Halloween has changed over the years.

As a kid, I loved the holiday, like just about every kid does.

You get lots of candy from your neighbors, and sometimes you get coins.

That is what happened to me as a kid.

I gave all the candy to my sister and mother, kept the coins, and I was happy as a lark (not my costume, I probably went as Batman or Superman as a kid, and one year I know I went as a baseball player, complete with bat and uniform).

I lived in a place with 20 buildings, thousands of apartments, and my friends, my sister and I would traipse up and down our building--and several other buildings--trick or treating, and you never saw so much candy in your life.

We only had two troubling incidents that I can recall. One, toward the end of my trick or treating years (probably 1969 or so), kids were jumping other kids for their treats. I remember somebody I knew got mugged right in the stairway in my building.

The other was that one time, my sister got an apple from a neighbor of ours, and it had more pins in it than you can find at a beauty parlor.

My mother would inspect everything we brought in from Halloween, and really, she shook her head in amazement at this killer apple.

And yes, we knew who gave it to my sister--an old, crotchety woman in our building--but in those days, you just let it pass, and you were happy that the apple was found out. Today, that woman, no matter what her age, would probably be arrested.

And these two incidents happened later in my Halloween trick or treating years, and it leads me to make some comments about today's Halloween.

Way back when I was a trick or treater, Halloween was a fun holiday. There was very little commercial about it, but we did buy costumes and candy for the occasion.

However, in the past 40-plus years, the holiday, in my opinion, has gotten totally out of hand.

This is a kids' holiday, but it has been co-opted by adults.

The entire holiday reeks of commercialism today, with seemingly everyone from McDonald's to the car companies getting into the act.

Adults have Halloween parties, and both men and women do their best to look their worst during this holiday.

Heck, there is even a sexy Ebola nurse costume out now, believe it or not.

And with these parties come a lot of problems, such as too much drinking and just overall bad behavior. Sure, not every party goes these routes, but you can just bet your local police department is looking forward to this holiday as much as they are looking forward to ... well, since it was brought up a little earlier, the coming of Ebola.

Halloween used to be such an innocent occasion, and even though I didn't eat a piece of candy that I got, I really enjoyed the fun of going door to door asking, "Trick or Treat?"

Today, it appears to be more "Trick" than "Treat."

In my community, hardly anyone comes to our door, even though we have holiday decorations up around the house.

Nowadays, you only go to houses of people you know, and parents take their kids around not to every house, but to only the ones where they know the occupants.

How sad that is, that a holiday of pure joy has morphed into one of pure fear.

I know it isn't like that in every community, but let me tell you, I got a real wakeup call a few years back that the holiday had changed from when I was a kid to what was then the present time.

I was driving on major highway on Long Island, and people--mainly kids--were throwing firecrackers at passing cars.

No, this was not my Halloween anymore.

The mischief should be fun, but in the current case, who has more fun during the holiday, the kids or the adults?

If you answered "the adults," you have just reasoned out why Halloween has changed for the worse.

Boy, I am so happy that I grew up when Halloween was something to look forward to, not an occasion to dread.