One Tony at a Time

The FIRST Tony! At "Tony's" Grocery (you can't make this shit up folks!) in Chicago.

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ANNOUNCEMENT:

This post is constantly UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Why? Well, simply put...I really think that I am on to something. But it is only a whiff of a scent in the air that I am aware of and can't quite pinpoint, YET. We all know that delicious moment when you can smell that someone, somewhere is burning wood in a fire... Firepit? Fireplace? BBQ smoker or grill? You don't know where it is, but you catch a whiff. And it is THRILLING!

THAT is what 's happening to me right now with life.

Even after my own great epiphany that happened very recently (not nearly as hip or dramatic as Saint Paul's was all those years ago on his way to Damascus, but for me? It was–happily–life-changing. Even after an event of THAT magnitude that felt like a blessing, a miracle, and a gift from God Herself, my one true superpower is that I KNOW exactly what I do NOT know.

You dig?

I'm searching, and I WILL find it. I have some REALLY cool ideas...EVERY DAY, But at "the end of the day"... I know without a doubt I personally,–li'l Stevie Wiest hisself –ain't nuthin but BULLSHIT! FACT. Full Stop.

And THAT'S OK! It is just fine by me because I am now LEARNING each and every day, each and every minute of each and every 24 hour cycle. Because I WANT to. I'm forgetting to eat! I haven't slept much... I'm SCARING people with my fervor, zeal, and general air of insanity. Oh The Hugh Manitee!!!

But I have Deborah and she has an iron-strong hold of the tether that connects me to real life like the people do that hold onto the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Balloons (I'm fairly certain that I'm the Spider Man balloon...just sayin') So, I am all good and VERY blessed.

Fear not!

Therefore, this post will be pinned at the top of WCBC and will now be an honest work in progress. As my man Stephen Colbert would say: "Join us, won't you?"

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One Tony at a Time

I have documented THOROUGHLY these past two weeks here at WCBC...one might say obsessively (yep) manically (yep yep) fear, sturm, und drang (YA!) now a bit more joyfully (OH HEWWLL YEEEAH) and with ever-increasing love and personal understanding (WHEW),.. I have been coming to grips with 5 November, 2024.

On that day, for me and many, many of my friends, the Old U.S.A. decided to vote off of the stage (fair-and-square!) the good folks from 1776 who had a grand dream (Truth Justice and The American Way! Also Truth Justice and The American Way as an aside...BOTH of these clips seem hopelessly out-of-date today. And for that, I grieve.) and instead ushered in the cray-cray folks (so they seem to me) who want to burn the house down! It STILL looks like that to me...but these are early days...

I have to hope that we can be BETTER than all of this.

HOWEVER... GUESS WHAT?...I can do MORE than just HOPE.

And so can YOU!

(Insert dramatic pause here... how about this cue)

DAYUM that is SO cool! Love me some T.O.S. Y'all...

But how CAN we do better in this dystopian Matt Gaetz Trump Elononian NIGHTMARE! Here is the answer:

ONE TONY AT A TIME!

Lemme elaborate...

For the longest time... (decades?) I have been in a rut of trying to monetize stuff that nobody wants to pay for. It has been the ULTIMATE "definition of insanity" thing where over-and-over again I keep tilting at windmills with the same results. And those results: NUTHIN.

Guess what my friends? That ship has SAILED! Ya know what other ship has sailed? The Democratic Party. Know what else? The li'l "d" democratic democracy as well. My MAGA brothers and sisters (they only got TWO genders Y'all) now have the "con" as Kirk would say. And the sooner us woke left folk come to grips with that, the better.

But what THEN?

As of November 16...here's what I have come up with.

On that day, God tapped me on the shoulder and said:

"Hey Meatbag."

"It's time."

Here is my idea that came to me recently with the force of an EPIPHANY on a metaphysical MIRACLE level. (Kinda SCARY when that shit happens in REAL LIFE Y'all...aint' gonna lie...just ask my dear Deborah... but I digress...)

Lets' get away from our social media shells, our phones, and our deep-set remorse, dread, and fear! Let's step away form a caricature and hatred of "the other" whoever that may be at the moment. LEt's STOP dehumanizing our fellow travelers!

Let's TALK to one another...IN PERSON...ANALOG!

John Lennon had it right "All You Need is Love." Jesus has it right too. Let's make sure that Jesus does NOT leave Chicago!

Let's talk!

Over the past few days, I have formulated some bullet points for a procedure. Check it out:

• People need their space! Don't scare them! DEfault mode ALWAYS: Leave 'em ALONE!

• Many (not "many enough" I think) folks like to take a walk to ponder life and to be alone. RESPECT THAT and ALWAYS give them their space.

• Some people are actually having a "Beethoven Walk" like me. This is probably about 0.00098 of the local population. HEY! Waidaminnit, is THAT where Spotify got the number that they use to "pay" their content creators per "download?" Probably not as they now pay them ZERO. But it made for a nice laugh, no?

• MOST folks out there right now have on "ear buds" (invisible) or retro headphones (comfy and QUITE visible) These people have chosen to tune out. And that's ok. Especially if they arew listening to Greenhouse by the Yellowjackets with Vincent Mendoza's heartbreakingly gorgeous string compositions and flourishes. SOmetimes, they are listening to podcasts, audible books, pop music, music of all types, or they might be on the phone with family or friends. LEAVE THEM BE!

All of the above is "baked in" to our current society. As an aside, I LOVE the term "baked in" it is SO perfectly descriptive! Imagine trying to remove ingredients from a cake such as baking power or flour. It IS possible on the super micro scientific level, but not so much from our breakfast tables, you dig? At THIS point, all of the above has been been baking for DECADES. Guess what?! NONE of us will change it in a day, or a year, or...well, we ain't gonna change it. So please DON'T TRY.

But sometimes...

• Look a receptive-seeming person in the eyes as you walk by them and just smile. You'll be surprised how many times that simple act of recognition and manners LIGHTS UP a fellow human being.

• If they seem receptive, i.e. they look back and smile...try saying a simple "Good morning." If they don't answer, they either have on earbuds or they need to be left alone. HEY! they might be packin' HEAT...move on oh happy love warrior...MOVE ON!

• But if they answer with "Good morning" give 'em another look...

• If they STOP to say "good morning" ask them how they're doing. You might just save a life. I know that sounds hyperbolic and over the top...but we don't know what each other are thinking...they might be scared, brooding, dark, giving up hope...and by you saying a nice li'l "Good morning" they might just think...HEY! I am noticed, I am recognized, I am validated!

• Or they (more than likely) will just think you are insane (especially in a major city) and try to ignore you. Dangerous world out there my brothers and sisters. BE CAREFUL AND BE SAFE.

  
  

I seem to initially strike fear into my fellow travelers and instantly activate their "lizard brain" into a "fight or flight" amygdala alarm! Maybe it's because of the way I look on a typical day when I'm out-and-about?

• So BE CAREFUL! Don't overdue it (says the man who regularly overdoes it!)

• The goal is to just help folks check back into reality, get away from their phones, and dark thoughts, and let them know that love still exists and that they are recognized and validated.

• SOMETIMES...as I did the other day at our local "Tony's" here in Lincoln Square...

• You MAY end up saying hello to someone who will make YOUR day, recognize and validate YOU, and make YOUR soul smile. SUCH A DEAL!

• That's what happened when I said hello to the guy at the top of this article. I just said nice to meet you, and he beamed a great smile and laughed. So much so in fact that I asked..."Man, can I take your picture for an article I'm writing?" He said, "SURE!" The results of which you see up top.

• We ran into each other three more times...as folks often do in a grocery store, and each time we had more fun, talked a bit more, and laughed.

• DAYUM! What if I had just walked on by looking at the ground being pissed off at THE PRICE OF EGGS! (Hey....THAT sentiment is what brought down the U.S. of A.!)

• I finally asked him his name. "Tony" he said. I said "NO SHIT!" (we were friends at this point) THAT'S RIGHT! The first "Tony" that met at Tony's Grocery Store was actually called TONY! Coincidence? ...I think NOT!

• Turns out that Tony is a salesperson who stocks specific product from store-to-store (I once did that gig as well back in the day) SO, we hung for a bit, laughed and generally made each other feel great.

• I am currently hot on the trail of exactly WHO Tony is via the good folks at Ton's Grocery. Stay tuned...

There you have it folks. If you and I can make just ONE "TONY" per day feel better about their life...JUST THINK how well we will have done at the end of an entire year.

Just sayin...

Be careful out there my friends...

One Tony at a Time.