Glory Days.

Way back when, in Englewood, my friend's mother wisely said "You don't know how awesome it is to grow up here." She went on to say it was local to cities but far enough away to be safe, that while we had to drive (or beg for a ride, or one crazy occasion...ride the ole' ten speed) to the movie theatre or mall, it was only 40 minutes away and really, what more should kids want to do than to go to the beach anyway?

Englewood comes up a lot in my thoughts these days. I always quoted Dazed and Confused while in high school, "if I ever refer to these as the best days of my life, remind me to kill myself'" but even then, I think I knew how lucky we were. I think Randall "Pink" Floyd probably changed his tune too. I mean...he drove an El Camino and went to see Aerosmith in their coked-out prime, of COURSE his high school career was awesome.

Moving forward to my adult years, one of the things I get to be proud about is that I work for a company that gives altruistically.  Between 2011-2013, we raised over $1m for local schools, and those dollars went to programs that are underfunded or worse---dying on the vine, or already dead and gone.  I remember somewhere around 1996, when my friends and I were just (legally) tasting the freedom of vehicle ownership, when Charlotte County proposed to cut arts and theatre.  So many of us stood up, drove to the City Council Meeting, and downright threatened to drop out of school if they did.  We may have been heathens, but dammit---we stood for something.

Nowadays, some of these kids don't even have the programs to begin with, which is why the company at which I work pledged to give towards those programs.  It's hard to stand for something if you don't have a wall to lean on, so to speak, and we decided that we wanted to provide a foundation.  I hear adults ALL OF THE TIME saying that kids are so lost these days...but do we seriously wonder why?  Robotics clubs, art, theatre and music...those were what we targeted, because those were the programs being systematically destroyed (and not surprisingly---the programs that teach creativity, critical thinking, and autonomy).  People thought we were nuts, because those were schools in poorer LA 'hoods, in which we rarely, if ever, sell a Lexus vehicle.

And maybe we were nuts, but...didn't I just post yesterday about embracing the madness?

Today, we are beginning the launch towards a new direction in altruism, which partners with a local animal shelter and creates a 100% dog friendly auto dealership.  We have completely lost our minds.  

I was afforded the opportunity to be a little off and a lot creative by attending a high school that didn't have metal detectors, supported a huge theatre program, and by and large...didn't have the LA problems that I have become so used to hearing about from the kids we sponsor.  It may be sad to say those were the Glory Days, and I sure as hell wouldn't go back to them, but we had it pretty damned good.

And the weirdness of theatrical collaboration back in the day, learning to stand for something...it undoubtedly made my ascent into the madness more...fun.  Madness these days means a dog friendly dealership that gave over a Million bucks to local raggedy arts high school kids.  We're weird, and luckily, weird is right up my alley.

Skeptically Yours,
Bigskeptic