Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, and Poor Police Work

Surely you've heard about the shooting in Sanford, FL not too far from my very city of residence. You don't need me to recount details that have been endlessly retyped and posted everywhere. I don't get paid for that anyway.

No, I won't do that. What I will do is let you know how I feel about this whole mess. My opinion matters so I'm going to share.

Lets start with the basics. I have so many problems with this whole situation. I'll save best (worst) for last. That picture above goes first. What is the deal with that? I never liked the idea of a picture of Trayvon from 4-5 years ago being used to represent him. I felt like we were being set up for some foolishness. When I first saw that photo I thought, "how unfortunate that that young 17 year old boy, who looks about 11, was killed." And it was/is sad. The problem I have is that when recent photos of the ACTUAL 17 year old that was killed come out, people are going to feel hoodwinked, bamboozled, and tricked (not rightfully so).

Then, suddenly, all kinds of pictures of Trayvon pop up, and some people start to feel a bit different about the situation. I'm going to blame the 24 hour news cycle mostly for this mess. Instead of gathering all the facts and then reporting, we get bits and pieces here and there. It took a week just to get a recent picture of him! Now people see him and see a whole different person. Now he looks like a threat to Zimmerman. Now they have some doubts about the shooting. I wouldn't say ALL the media is trying to create bias (some are), but pictures without context do just that. The photo of Zimmerman in an orange jumpsuit next to a happy looking 12 year old creates one type of bias. A picture of a 17 year old black kid with a grill also creates a bias. I wish these pictures had background attached to help eliminate some of the bias associated with them. That annoys me.

Another thing I don't care for is the vilification of these two people. The initial story, along with 911 calls I've heard, make Zimmerman sound pretty bad. That along with a prior arrest record do him no favors. If that record has no connection to the current case, I don't want to hear about it. I want the facts as it pertains to this situation. If, by chance, his record did show this type of thing was possible, then please share. If he was an evil racist psycho, I want to know. If he got arrested for a DUI 5 years ago, I really don't care.

Now the spin is going the other way. So Trayvon had been suspended from school? He wasn't a perfect angel? He got in trouble for truancy? Hell, I got in trouble for that. Sounds like he was a teenager doing dumb stuff. I have yet to hear anything that would relate to what happened last month. There was marijuana residue in his bag once you say? Oh... that's nice. I have some stories to tell you then. Later...

My real problem is with the Sanford PD (SPD). Those dummies really screwed up. Whether they did on purpose or not isn't even my issue. Corruption is everywhere, racism is too. I can live with it. My problem is that they were so stupid as to not even do their due diligence at the scene. Whether malicious or not, don't you have to at least take crime scene photos? Did they get pictures of the wounds Zimmerman claims were inflicted upon him to at least somewhat corroborate his self defense claim? Did they take his weapon or do any sort of gunshot residue or drug test on the man? It would seem the answer to those questions is no. That is just plain dumb. Oh, but Trayvon got a drug test. Thanks for that, good looking out. Then you've got witnesses saying they were coerced into telling a specific version of the story during interviews. Then, Zimmerman gets to just leave the station. I guess because his story was good enough. Who knows? An all time poor showing for the SPD. They are the ones I'm truly upset at.

I'm willing to bet if they had done their job properly, we wouldn't even know this happened (maybe I would since it's kind of local). The whole thing is unfortunate. Zimmerman was out riding around trying to be a hero and Trayvon was truly in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Some reports have Trayvon at 6'3 140 pounds. That was me in high school. That's just something that hit close to home for me. I can visualize this kid because I was very similar physically (a little heavier though!). I can't even imagine what was going through his mind during whatever happened that night.

I'm not going to sit here in judgement of either person, just the police. I will say that Zimmerman had no business confronting Trayvon in any way. That was wrong of him. That's all I can say for sure. Now, one person is dead and another is in hiding. I just hope this all gets sorted out.

I know one thing though, however this plays out, someone is going to be mad.

Don Draper and My Birthday

Hello, it's been a long time since I've posted. I've either been busy or just didn't care. Well, I have some free time this week so I might do a few posts in between doing nothing. 

The man you see above is named Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm, on a show called Mad Men. The show is set in the 60's at a New York based ad agency called Sterling Draper Cooper Price (after the four partners at the firm). Don is a man with a complicated past and a lot of secrets. Over the four seasons, the viewers have learned a great deal about the man. His fellow characters are slowly learning about him too.

Season five started last night. In it, Don's second wife, the much younger Megan, decided to throw him a surprise 40th birthday party. As viewers, we know this will not sit well with Don, and Don's pupil Peggy tells Megan as much. Still, Megan persists saying it will be the kind of party people go home from and have sex. Okay, whatever that means, sounds swinging.

Anyway, she goes ahead with it and Don is predictably upset afterwards. Even though Megan did this (totally embarrassing and kinda cute) thing: 

Don didn't like having these people (co-workers and "friends") at their home. Besides that, Don had actually turned 40 six months earlier. See, his real name is Dick Witman. He took the Don Draper identity after the Korean War from a man he served with that died. Megan knew this (he told her between seasons apparently), as do a few other characters, but not many. To Don/Dick, his birthday isn't a big deal. In fact, most people don't even know when it is.

How does this relate to my birthday? Well, like Don/Dick, I don't really do much for my birthday. I haven't since I was a child. I'd also rather not have a surprise party (nor have I had one). Like Don/Dick says to Megan after the party, "I don't need to be the center of attention." That's Dick Witman speaking, because Don is constantly the center of attention at work.

I'm similar in that way as well. At work, I'm very personable and friendly. People like me, but I do that because I have to. Few if any of them know any more about me than someone that I would meet today and give a quick overview of my life to. They don't know when my birthday is. I have friends that don't know (most of them). Just this weekend one friend asked if I had a birthday recently (only if 5 months is recent sure).

The point being that I no longer see a need to celebrate my birthday. Part of the reason is that, like Don/Dick, so few have even known when my birthday is to even celebrate it. I also see no need to inform people of when it is. If they want to know, they can ask.

The day is more important to my mother than anyone else, which is nice. Don/Dick doesn't even have family that knows or cares about his actual birthday.

I can say one thing for sure, if my attractive wife did care enough to give me a surprise party, I wouldn't be mean about it like Don/Dick was last night. In fact, I would thank her for it. I still wouldn't want it, but isn't it nice to know someone actually cares enough about you to do that? I'd think so.