Being a Christian Man...

Before I get started, first let me apologize for the mini "hiatus" I've been on. This past week has been finals week, which means i've been in the books nonstop for the past 4 or 5 days or so. Anywho, I had my last final today, so I can get back to my writing.

Well, getting right into things, I've been having a problem with a "standard" that's supposed to exist in my culture. As a Christian Man, it's always been instilled in me that if somebody asks me for something, and I have the means to do so, that I'm supposed to help them. I don't have a problem with this, persay. Most of the time, I'm usually happy to be able to help somebody else. In the immediate past, i've found myself to be quite a resourceful person. Because of the way i've been raised, I guess you could say, I've always been independent. Other than relying on my parents, I've always had to rely on myself. Hence, my resourcefullness. Anywho, those around me, I'm assuming, have seen me as being resourceful as well and typically tend to ask me to help with stuff, or if they can borrow stuff, or anything else that can fall under this category.

Now, my problem is this: Why is it that SOME people find it necessary to take advantage of this???

*gives CRUCIAL side eye*

As a Christian Man, it's understood that if somebody wrongs me, that I'm supposed to turn the other cheek......I ONLY HAVE TWO CHEEKS THOUGH. I just want the world to know that...lol. I'm starting to find it VERY difficult to help those friends of mine that only come to me when they want something. To be perfectly honest, it pisses me off...hahaha. If you're one of my friends and you're reading this and find yourself getting slightly irritated as you read this...then maybe I'm talking about you. Who knows?? Maybe you should try calling just to say "hey Tony, how's your day going??" as opposed to "Tony...can you [finish statement here]." If you're one of my friends and we just talk from time to time with there being a need ALWAYS present...thanks. I really appreciate that.

....smh....

Maaaannnnn....let me get off my soapbox. I gotta start cooking dinner in a little bit.

Ohh yea, if you haven't got on that Asher Roth album....you NEED to go ahead and make that move. It's only $7.99 on iTunes.

I just wanna be successful

As you can tell from my profile pic, I am a black male. You can imply from my name, Mr. College Man, that I'm young. Put two and two together and what do you have: a young black man.

Why is it that, statisticly, by the time I was 18 years of age, I should have either:

A. been dead
B. been in jail
C. been with child
D. been doing absolutly nothing with my life
or
E. been dead

You know, I have a problem with this. Why is that I just can't statisticly be successful? ...smh...I suppose that's just "the man" trying to statisticly hold me down, literally. Well, anywho...I refuse to be a statistic. That's too boring for me. I'd rather march to my own drum beat, which ironically disqualifies me from being a statistic.

Take that "man"

Bridges and Cliffs

Here I am once again, on the key board. Expressing the events that take place in my universe. Today, I have an actual lesson as opposed to mere events. Nothing dealing with the law or "The Man" today...lol.

For those of you who know me in real life, I would like to think that I'm a very smart, intellectual young man. I've been told many, many times, that my age in wisdom FAR surpasses my anatomical age. I've learned a countless number of lessons in my 20+ years of existance, and one lesson that I'm taking on now in my life is this:

Sometimes it's just better to walk away from the cliff instead of burning the
bridge.

This can be used with lots of different situations. In this particular case, I'll use people. Some people are just destructive. I'll even go as far as to say crazy. Mentally distressed. Something to that effect. Anywho, when dealing with people like this, "burning the bridge" may seem like the best plan of action. Cutting off all ties to them - "buring the bridge" - might help the situation at the moment, but in the grand scheme of things, I really don't see how this can help anything. They might be out of your life, but you are still in theirs. And I must say, this is something I'm realizing/learning as I write this. No matter how much you try to remove yourself from specific individuals/things COMPLETELY, they still find a way to cross that bridge back into your life. In conversations I've had with people, I find that most people "burn bridges" when friendships are damaged, slander/libel is committed, etc., etc.

Walking away from the cliff, as I'm realizing now, is so much easier. All it requires is acting as if something/someone doesnt exist anymore. Now, please dont let this be confused with a problem. If you have a problem with someone/something, address it and get it dealt with. And afterwards, no where in the book of life does it say you have to remain in contact with this said thing/person. Just continue life as normal. As if they never existed in the first place.

And frankly, after much thought and analyzation, it requires much more energy to burn a bridge than to walk away from a cliff. That extra energy could be used to do something constructive...like think, read, solve problems, you know...the things scholarly people do.

Well internet, I'm gonna get off now and get back to writing this research paper...smh...

One last thing before I go, I witnessed selective ignorance today. It may have been one of the saddest things I've ever experienced.

On that note, Good day and Good night.

A Trip to "Bankhead"

Sooooooo...a while back, I happened to get a traffic ticket. Not a "speeding" ticket, not a "failure to stop at a stop sign" ticket, not even a "driving without headlights" ticket. I got a "failure to obey traffic control device" ticket. Basically, all I did was a make left turn where there was a no left turn sign.

*sidebar*

even though this is only my second visit, why do all my posts have to deal with the law??? hahaha

*end sidebar*

So i get the ticket and try to figure out how much it's going to be. I call the police department everyday for a SOLID month to figure it out. The week before my court date, the automated lady tells me that I can't just pay for the ticket...I HAVE to go to court.

I get to court, and the judge in session must have been having one of the BEST days of his life or something like that. Personally, I think his wife must've done "something" extra or something, but then again, that's just my opinion. Anyways, to make a long story short and get to the actual point of this blog, he says that instead of having to pay the ticket [which would have been $153] all I have to do is take 2 classes.

Well, this past Friday I go to the first of the two classes. The location [which I called a week ahead to check] was downtown off of Peachtree Steet. In my head, I'm thinking

"No big deal...cool beans."

I get there when it's supposed to start, and the guy sitting there tells me it's at the other location.

"okay...the lady earlier this week told me it was here, but whatever"

I hop back in the car with my lil sister and punch in the address to the other location. We drive, and drive, and drive. Along the way, our surroundings seem to progressively be getting worse...like

"ohhhhhh snap...we're in the ghetto"

worse. We roll up the windows, lock the doors, drive with the music down low. You know, the stuff people normally do when they're driving through a bad area.

We arrive at the destination, and this is how I KNOW we were not in a good place. The name of the destination we were at was named "Bankhead DUI Classes."

"ohhhhh junk...stuff just got real"

Now mind you, I'm not here for a DUI class. I don't drink. This is just where the class I had to take was being given at. Anyways, I get in the class...30mins late and sit down. The people also in the class are as follows:

* the token white girl - she looked scared for her life. You could CLEARLY tell she was outta her elements. She looked like a fish out of water.

* the young black girl - she probably turned 16 two days ago. As usual of people her age, she was texting the ENTIRE time

* the pregnant black girl - she was hood. And her stomach was quite large. Like, she could probably go into labor next week or something

* the two thugs - now, one of the thugs didn't look that intimidating. We actually held a converstation for a lil bit during our break. The other thug was pretty legit. Like "I have a tear drop under my eye" legit. He may have killed someone before. [I kid, I kid]. He's probably why the white girl was so scard.

*the 'I shouldn't be here at all' black guy - according to him, he was too cool to be there. Also according to him, he shouldn't have been there in the first place. "The Man" was out to get him while he was going 3omph over the speed limit

So class ends, and while I'm outside waiting for my sis to come pick me back up, I take a gander around me and actually notice how bad the place is around me. It's terrible. I've been in the hood before, but dang...Bankhead is the forreal hood.

I say all of that to say this: I am NEVER getting another traffic ticket again....EVER. And shame on the FCPD for having my class where I could have possibly died.

....smh....

An Extra Credit Assignment...

First of all, let me say hello to blogspot.com

Although I am new to this website, I'm not new to blogging and things of this nature. So, I'll just jump right into it....

An Extra Credit Assignment

So, I'm a student at Georgia State University. You know, tryin' to stay on my scholastic hustle and whatnot. I stay on my grind with the academics. I go to class. I do homework. I go to study sessions. The list could go on and on. Well, every so often, a professor will throw some extra credit my way. My business law professor did, and the story of my extra credit is quite hilarious...

So I go to the courthouse this morning to sit in on a courtcase. What I'm supposed to do is write a report about what I observed during the trial. Well, I get there, find a case, sit down and start taking notes. Due to restraints by "The Man" [the government], I can't really say what I want to, however, I will say this: I feel bad for the guy that was on trial. It ended up being brought to the table that one of the defendant's [ the guy being prosecuted ] witnesses committed perjury, WHILE AT THE WITNESS STAND. Basically, he lied while being cross examined by the prosecuting team. It shocked me, to say the least. And to make matters even worse, the guy being prosecuted is an illegal alien [an immigrant] who's been here since '81. His family was there and everything. Once the guy lied at the witness stand, the defendant's family started looking at him ALL TYPES of sideways. I didn't get a chance to stay for the entire courtcase because I had other engagements...but I will say this:

I feel bad for the guy being prosecuted.

They are about to throw the BOOK at his a** and prosecute him to the FULLEST extent of the law....smh....