TC the Terrible

Well, truth be told a whole hell of a lot of people died today. Not all of them become a part of the nightly news cast though.

The two that will get the most coverage were Marines serving the Nation in Iraq. It’s their deaths that pushed the casualty count to over 2,000 since the beginning of the war. Never mind that this war has had the fewest deaths of any prolonged conflict in our history. The press and other nay-sayers will use the demise of these two heros to show that we made a mistake by liberating an opressed people. They will again sound off on the fact that we need to come home now, and leave those same people to suffer at the hand of whichever militant leader would climb to the top of the heap. The people we freed from one dictator would fall prey to another, and an entire quadrant of the world would hate us more than we could ever imagine. To leave now would show the world that the US has no resolve and no integrity.

Another death in today’s headlines reminds us of something we could all use. Class.

Wellington T. “Duke” Mara, the New York Giants‘ owner who died Tuesday at his home in Rye, N.Y., at the age of 89, represented everything that today’s sport is not.

I grew up a fan of the NFC East and at a young age understood that Wellington Mara was different from the other NFL owners. After 80 years of working for, running, and owning the New York Football Giants, Mr. Mara died of cancer today. Greg Garber over at ESPN.com has the best of the early obits on him and makes you wish you had known the Giants owner. In a world of self-obssesed stars (hello T.O.) this was a guy that was content to build quality teams and to work behind the bright lights.

And lastly there is another obit that you may have missed in the blur of our 24 hour news orgy.

Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies at 92

DETROIT — Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the modern civil rights movement, died Monday evening. She was 92.

Granted she was paid (by the NAACP) to sit there until she got arrested, nor was she the first black woman arrested for not giving up her seat. That still does not change the fact that her actions were the catalyst to kick the Civil Rights Movement into high gear. The movement went from equal rights to extra rights somewhere along the way and has become a real mess now. But good or bad, she’s the one that you’ll read about in the history books for the rest of time.

I got a call from THE WOMAN today while I was at the office. She was in a panic because the company I financed her ring with had called for me and wouldn’t talk to her.

When I got in touch with the guy the call went like this:

Him: We got your check today and there’s a problem.
Me: What kind of problem?
Him: Your bank issued us a check for $22,500 and your outstanding balance is just under $1700. What do you want us to do with it?
Me: Send the damn thing back to me.
Him: Ok. And you can get a new check to us, when?
Me: I’ll get the bank to overnight you one. Can you tear that one in half and send both pieces back to me?
Him: Not a problem.

The call with the bank went like this.

Me: The electronic check you guys cut for me should have been $200 and it went out for $22,500.
Her: Really? That must have been a really nice ring.
Me: Yeah, but not $22,500 worth of nice. Can we cancel that check and get a new one out today?
Her: Are you sure about the amount? Our system really doesn’t make that many mistakes.
Me: How many mistakes does it make? And yes, I’m sure that we need to get them a new check in the mail today and cancel that one.
Her: I’ll cancel the first check, but it is still going to show up on your pending check page.
Me: That makes no sense. How long before it comes off?
Her: I don’t think it ever does.
Me: Great.

Maybe it’s time to go shopping for a new bank.

Those two words are how the One Star General I work for described the briefings that I coordinated last week.  He’s a straight shooter and not one to give complements easily, so it was a major ego boost.

The rest of the day will go well now.