Real Celebrities are Heroes

Last night I realized something about myself.

I went to Ritas, a nearby Mexican restaurant last night with my friend, Katie. I immediately noticed a police car parked outside and figured we would encounter cops inside, since Ritas is a common hangout site for cops and fire fighters. Sure enough, across the room I spied two police officers sitting at a table, eating. One looked at me as I walked in and continued to watch me as I scanned the menu. I looked over at him and smiled - after all, we did make eye contact. He nodded and smiled back. I shyly looked back at the menu, like a child who just had a stranger say hi to them. I felt foolish, but this is where the realization kicked in. I tried not to keep looking over at them even though I was curious of what they had spread over the table. It was like I saw someone famous and I couldnt believe I was in the same area as them.

I look at police officers as if theyre celebrities. I put fire fighters and all the men and women fighting for our freedom on the same level.

I have instant respect for these people in uniform. I still get excited when I see a fire truck and just recently stopped waving at police cars (I feel it might be a little strange, seeing as Im 20 now). I am always in awe when I come across them. Im always dumb-founded, wanting to say something funny so they have a funny story to tell their buddies back at the precinct, or firehouse. Typically, with fire fighters, my conversation starter involves my aunt, who works at San Miguel fire station. (Usually the trucks/fighters I see have San Miguel all over them.) That always goes over real well. They ask who my aunt is - they always know her - and then theyll talk to me, since shes kinda important and I am her niece! I dont usually talk to police officers. I get nervous that if I say the wrong thing they could get suspicious of me. I highly doubt that would ever happen, but the power they hold makes me extra cautious. My uncle was a San Diego cop for years. I should be a pro at talking to those guys. But I always hesitate before saying something.

Anyways. As I was acting like a child, afraid to talk to a stranger, I realized I looked at them in the same way someone would look at a celebrity. However, why do we get so excited to see a celebrity - an actual "famous" person? What have they done, really? [Im grouping here, of course... I know the following allegations dont apply to every celebrity.] They provide entertainment, sure. Shoot, give me a mirror and I can entertain myself for hours. I dont get any money for it, though. They provide "role models" for kids to look up to. Although most of these people take advantage of the privileges they dont deserve. They behave in a manner they should be ashamed of and are definitely not the people I would want my child to look up to. They give to good causes. Well give me millions of dollars to spare and Ill start my own charity. But are they risking their own lives to save others? Are they protecting citizens at the expense of losing their friends or their own lives? Do they ever ask themselves 'will I go home tonight?'?

So really who are the real celebrities? Dont get me wrong, I realize that every time I turn on the tv, there is some famous person that is providing me entertainment. But why do we put them on such a pedistool? Shouldnt we look at the real heroes and put them on a pedistool? Maybe it sounds foolish to view them in such a way, but ultimately, they just dont get the credit they deserve. They deserve to have people come up, asking for autographs. They deserve to have people want to take pictures with them. They deserve it... And they do all they do without expecting any type of gratitude.

Hope for Humanity

For several weeks, I have been debating what to blog about. I know youre all just itching to hear about what is happening in my life... I know I am such an exciting person. But I try to have points to my posts. I know I typically dont have a point and I end up rambling - which could happen in this blog, too. I still dont have a system of what I want to talk about. I would upload some pictures, but my camera wont connect with my computer and upload my pictures for some reason. As soon as I get that figured out, maybe Ill have more of a story to tell. Pictures say 1000 words, but I can easily add an extra thousand actual words. =)

Well yesterday turned into much more of an adventure than I had planned. Yet, it provided a moment of gratitude, and hope, that humanity might not constantly turn on each other. Without going into explicit detail of what occurred, Ill provide a short version.
My mom and I had to travel to the post office to pick up a package... I know what youre thinking. The post office?? Two days after Christmas?? Youre insane! And maybe so, but I had to do what I had to do. So we forced our elbows out, ready to plow down whoever stood against us with a problem.

Although really, we didnt expect a problem. We knew, more than anything else, it would be time consuming. It would be a test of patience. It would determine whether we could handle the busy street of Fletcher Parkway afterward, packed with cars heading to the same place we were - wouldnt you know?! But a problem did occur. And not only that... it escalated.

It began when a woman entered the parking lot going the wrong direction. If you know the El Cajon post office, Im sure youre already rolling your eyes and letting out a sigh of "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" (Even if youre not familiar with this particular parking lot, you understand the image and how irritating this is.) But it gets better. This woman began to back out, giving us all a little relief... only until we realized she was parked waiting for a spot from a leaving car... about to compete with the car directly in front of us - who was going the right way and following the rules. I know, I know. Well the dumb wrong woman won that battle. Obviously she was willing to fight a little harder.

Skipping some parts of the story, we were lucky to pull into a newly opened spot and walked into the post office, appalled at what we had just witnessed. Unfortunately the girl was two people in front of us, clutching her young son, looking around as if she was about to get jumped. You heard me, she knew she was in the wrong and she knew someone was gonna call her on it. I was proud that that person was my mom.

She looked directly at my mom, who took that moment to tell her that move was flat out rude. Not a microscale of remorse showed on that girls face as she began to argue with my mom claiming shed been waiting for 15 minutes and had no other choice but to enter the wrong way. My mom wasnt distraught or escalating, just putting her on notice that there are other people waiting, too. Not five seconds later, the woman who had been cut off, walks by and mentions how rude that was, then walks out of the building.

I had overheard a man saying he heard the wrong girl laugh when she got out of her car, as if to be proud of herself and stick it to the right car. All the while this girl was defending herself to my mom, he stood at the entrance, listening to what she was saying. Finally, he broke his silence. I wont give detail of what he said, but he put a cement foot down... hard to move.

[This story is turning longer than I had anticipated, but arent you captivated?!]

Needless to say, she ended up leaving, chasing the guy outside to have the final say. She never came back in and decided to do her business elsewhere. It was truly one of the most ridiculous things Ive ever seen - her not taking responsibility for being in the wrong, not apologizing, trying to justify her actions, arguing with someone who was older than her and therefore had more authority... It was terrible.

But the entire experience was exhillerating. It gave me hope. People, who were not directly involved in the situation, joined forces to stand against an injustice. I know its a simple situation, compared to the massive issues we face today, but its a symbol that people still recognize right and wrong. And that people arent afraid to stand up for someone. It was exciting. If people will stand together against something like this (which, honestly, it was extremely rude) then theres no doubt in my mind well be able to stand together in the future, against the tough stuff and the simple stuff that still needs to be brought to light.

I know we still need a lot of help.... but for now, Ill cling to that situation. Ill hold on to knowing that there still are people out there who will be honest and uphold what they know to be right. Cuz after all, where would we be if we all were constantly against each other? We all need somebody to lean on...