WE’VE GOT THE WRONG GEORGE

So there’s this place in Minneapolis, dedicated to this guy named George. Now I’m thinking, this here George feller musta done something outstanding to have a whole section of a city named after him. He must have been a real pillar of the community. A man people looked up to. A man who represented the best ideals of a community. A leader, a paragon of virtue.

https://www.startribune.com/shrine-to-george-floyd-could-be-permanent-at-38th-and-chicago/571211342/

I thought I would look into this giant of a man, this virtuous civic icon. I did, and I’m confused. What tremendous accomplishment did he achieve to make him worthy of this honor?

Now, my Meditations with Marcus Aurelious move me to keep this positive, so I’m not going to catalogue the reasons why this was a bad idea. Look, I really don’t know what he did with his life from 2009 on, but I know he did not die on the virtuous path. Certainly not befitting the naming of a part of the city of Minneapolis after him.

My mother was a hard-core alcoholic. You can have a devil in you, do self-destructive things, and still be a good person. I’m not saying George Floyd didn’t do some good things. I do, however, have questions.

My first question is, does the African-American community (I’m confused about that too, but that’s for another time.) not have more worthy personages upon which to bestow such honors? I’ll bet there is!

I know a George who should have a square named after him. The first clue he deserves it is that he’ll tell you that naming a square after him is a damn fool idea.

I met George at a conference in Arizona. I’m positive he wasn’t looking for a white friend, nor was I looking for a black friend, but we hit it off. He’s a former officer and a gentleman in the Army. An artillery man, which I didn’t hold against him. I was Infantry, which I’m sure he held against me ( It’s ok, everyone does, even other Infantrymen.). He liked gin and tonic, I like single malt scotch, Speysides.

He was there with his wife, a very pleasant young lady, and I could see they doted on each other. We talked every chance we could, sipped our favorite beverages together, and decided we liked each other, despite our glaring personal deficiencies. We remained in contact after the conference, sending each other stupid memes, social commentary, and the occasional deep conversation about families and life.

George is a family man. He’s got kids and grandkids, and he loves them all. If the African-American community wanted a model for a successful African-American male, I present to you my friend George. A tremendous work ethic, God-fearing (or wife-fearing, which amounts to the same thing!), patriotic, selfless, caring…young African-American men would do well to emulate THIS George. What did you do in the week leading up to Thanksgiving? THIS George fried turkeys for elderly veterans, so they would have a turkey for Thanksgiving. Nobody asked, that I know of. THIS George just saw a need, and stepped in to fill it.

THIS George is the kind of person who, if he was awarded a medal for bravery, would tell you he didn’t do as much as others did, and that there are more deserving people for the award.

I would say more people need to be like THIS George, and I would be right, but I am here to tell you, folks, there are a LOT more people like THIS George than there are like George Floyd. America was built by people like my friend George. Smart, resourceful, hard-working Americans who do the things that need doing, and not to have squares named after them.

These people are the ones we should be honoring. The ones who have actually done something to make this world better. What kind of a world would we have if we actually revered the right George’s?

Here’s the challenge for you. You have at least one of the right George’s in your life. Identify them, and do a simple thing that can be life altering. Acknowledge the thing they do that makes the world a better place, point it out, and thank them for it. It’s simple psychology. If you want more of a behavior, praise it.

Let’s get the right George’s. Our country needs them!