nemokc's Blog

Monday, January 19th is Martin Luther King Day.    It was conceived as a day of public service to honor the memory of Dr. King.   It is a day that we as Americans have been asked to find some way to contribute to our community.    And all across the country people will take time out of their day to do "something".   Hopefully you will be among them. It doesn't have to be much.   Simply baking cookies for your local fire station or picking up other people's trash along the side of the road.   Maybe you'll grab an extra bag of flour to drop off at a homeless shelter or church food pantry.    But what ever you do, take time to reflect upon the possibilities of the future.

For years we have complained that the "younger generation" doesn't care.   They are the product of broken homes, disfunctional schools and an economy that offers little hope of success to the graduate of a public school.    We complain that pop culture belittles the importance of education.    Video games and entertainment  glorify crime and violence.    We have called our children a "lost generation" with good reason.   Because they were and still are.    

Liberals say all we have to do is put money into education to fix the problem.   Conservatives tell us that it's the fault of kids with no drive to succeed.    And both sides are right.    Without the support of families and a quality education, the chance of a child succeeding is slim.    Without a drive to succeed and a belief that success is a possibility, the child has NO chance of succeeding.     Government can fix the schools, provide housing, food and medical care for the child....but it cannot convince a child that success is more than just a dream.   It takes people to do that.  

But today we stand a chance to make a difference.    All across this country there are children who have watched the election of Barack Obama and now BELIEVE that anything really is possible.   You don't have to play ball like Micheal Jordan or play guitar like Slash to succeed.     Dreams have grown into possibilities.   

On election night, I watched the results at a party.  One of the guests was a young man who is from a single parent home.   He had worked for the Obama campaign after school.   I watched the look in his eye when it was announced that Obama had won.    And after Obama had spoke that evening, I caught him alone in another room standing in front of a mirror giving his own "acceptance speech".   His view of the world and it's possibilities changed that night.   You watch the news and see countless examples of children inspired by an Obama presidency.   And this inspiration has given us as adults the chance to reclaim at least part of a lost generation.

But thier inspiration will be shortlived and of little use if we do not try to nurture it.    Don't get me wrong.    We won't save them all.   But the ones we do are worth the effort.    Much like fishermen, Americans tend to fall into two categories:  Those that focus on the "many that got away" and those that focus on "the catch we landed".    It's fun to complain about the ones that got away but practical people who focus on catching fish...get to eat.

And so this year on Martin Luther King Day, take time to reflect on what YOU can do throughout the year to change a generation ripe for that change.   Join a mentoring program or Big Brothers/Big Sisters.   Get involved in your church's youth group.   Do something weird like joining the PTA.   Because for the first time in years, our children are open to our help.   Some of them believe in new possibilities for thier lives.  We need to be there for them.   It's not a question of liberal or conservative, Christian or Athiest, Black or white.   It's about our future, their future and the future of our nation.

"We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have little; who've been told that they cannot have what they dream; that they cannot be what they imagine.     Yes they can."

Barack Obama, Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008

New York City created quite a stir among civil libertarians in 1993 when the city installed the first "red light cameras" to monitor traffic violations.   "It's Big Brother come to haunt us!", they cried.   How can they prove that it was YOU driving your car at that particular place & time?  And everybody laughed at them for their stand.   It made sense.   All of the studies showed that the use of cameras to monitor cars that run red lights would decrease right angle crashes and save lives!  If you were against these cameras, you were willing to trade lives to spare your wallet from fines that resulted from your own bad driving habits.     You were nothing more than a horrible, self-centered, bad driver if you objected to the cameras.

Now some 15 years later, the charge that the cameras infringe on civil liberties seems laughable in this age of warrentless wire taps.    Why be concerned about something that in the long run does indeed decrease right angle crashes?    

And now these same cameras have arrived in Kansas City.    Ready to decrease our city wrecks.     Or will they?

Almost every study does indeed show a decrease in right angle crashes.  Fewer cars run the light & so fewer cars get broadsided from cross-traffic.  But those same studies also show an INCREASE in rear-end collisions!  It seems that a great many drivers in thier urgent desire to avoid the $100 ticket that accompanies your picture will slam on the brakes abruptly causing the driver behind you to collide with you.     OOOOPS!

In fact, a recent Department of Transportation report indicates that the money & injuries saved by a decrease in right angle accidents is severely offset by the increase in rear end accidents.   It also suggests that many of the previous studies have overstated the benefits of these cameras.

So why would any city want to install them?   The obvious answer is that it might have something to do with the $100 fine attached to each violation.    In Washington DC during the first 6 years they were installed, over 500,000 violations were issued resulting in over 32 million dollars of revenue for the District.

To be honest, it is somewhat of a tradeoff.    Lives do get saved.   Rear end collisions generally are not as bad as other accidents.   In this age of budget shortfalls, the revenue raised by the fines is  needed by most city governments to continue normal operations.   I might not like it but I can live with it.    I try to think of it as a tax on aggressive driving that helps our city operate.  (This may make me feel better when I pay my next ticket.)

But there is one other forgotten beneficiary of these cameras.  And this one REALLY bothers me.  Every time you get a ticket, every time you get rear-ended or you rear-end another driver, your insurance company gets to raise your insurance rates.   And that helps nobody but the insurance companies.

Oh, and one other thing you should know about many of the early studies that started this trend.  The studies that showed such significant & positive advantages to these cameras were funded by....auto insurance companies.   That's right.   The insurance companies funded the research that "proved" the need for the cameras.  The insurance companies then lobbied for the passage of laws to allow the use of the cameras.  And now the insurance companies get to make a lot of money off of you and me!    AND NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY!

Dear Mayor Funkhouser:

WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU???

You were elected to the office of Mayor on a pledge to run a more efficient city government.   You promised to focus on the "nuts & bolts" of city operations....no more metal plates on the streets.    We thought in electing a CPA for mayor that we as citizens would get a more fiscally responsible city government.   One that responded quickly & efficiently to the needs of it's citizens!

Instead we got your wife volunteering to drive us all a little crazy.   Instead the city spends over $25,000 on attorney fees because your wife doesn't know enough not to call an African-American woman...."mammy"!

I know  you claim that the now infamous "Mammiegate Lawsuit" is politically motivated.   That your wife did nothing wrong and often adds "ie" to the end of names.  Like "Funkie"?  But even if that is true, is she really so out of touch with interpersonal relations that she didn't realize the sheer stupidity of referring to an African-American city employee as "maam-ie" ?   Are you so politically inept that you failed to realize that your  opposition would use such statements to help derail your own political agenda?   That's why effective politicians (who get things like Light Rail passed) are careful about what they say and who they say it to.

You also promised early on "not to try this case in the media".   And then you go on NPR, Good Morning America, etc.  and suddenly Kansas City is in the national spotlight!   (And here's a little advice for you....NOT ALL PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY!)  

If you were looking to open a business in a new city would you want to subject your company to the dictates of a local government who refuses to acknowledge the legal implications of having a married couple working together.    A City Hall where discussion does not center around public policy but public mayoral "ball fondling"!   GET A CLUE!!!!  

Now let's add insult to injury on top of all this.    When the City Council passes an ordinance that prohibits spouses from volunteering in the same office as their significant other....you vetoed it.    Did you ever think to ask an HR expert what thier opinion of spousal help would be?   Obviously not, but when the council overrode your veto you did consult a lawyer in order to SUE YOUR OWN CITY!!!!!    Once again I must ask....WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? 

Mayor Funkhouser, I beg you, stop the nonsense.     Find a great community project for your wife to work on outside your office and start focusing on the city and it's people that elected you.   Focus on the problems of our city not the problems of your office.   We have unemployment at 5.9%.    Our crime rate is high.   Our bridges are falling apart.  The public school system is a joke.  There are real issues that need your attention!

Sincerely,

A concerned citizen.

Please feel free to copy this open letter to the mayor.   It can be e-mailed to mayor@kcmo.org  or simply call 816-513-3600.  But let Mayor Funkhouser know that we as citizens deserve better than he is giving us.   Be sure & post a comment letting people know if you get any sort of response from his office.

It's officially the "Christmas Season"!   That means lots of things....taking the kids to see Santa, The Charlie Brown Christmas Special, carolers, nativity scenes, hordes of angry shoppers frustrated by the noise & crowds.   It's very easy to lose sight of the meaning of the Holiday in these surroundings.

It's even more difficult for those of us in the hospitality or retail industry.   It's our busiest season & we have to do everything you have to do to get ready for the holiday....AND take care of you.  (And you're often in a pretty ugly mood by the time you come into contact with us.)   We know that taking care of you is  what we're there for, but it's still difficult some days to balance the "logistics of life" against the needs of our guests.  

So we dwell on how bad it is.   How sad it is that we can't afford to get little Johhny his new X-Box or Sally her new walking, talking, texting life-sized doll.  How rude that dirty so & so on table 8 was.  Why that nice couple lets their children run wild like animals through the toy department?  And so, somewhere in the long December nightmare of the hospitality world.....Christmas gets lost.

Many years ago, I realized that the only way to fight this attitude was to find someone who REALLY needed help.   You see, no matter how bad your lot in life.....someone nearby is even worse off than you.    Finding that person & lending a helping hand is a great way to bring back the magic of Christmas!    

I forgot that this year.   Business is way off.    Prices are high.   I can't afford to buy even half the presents I want to buy for the grandkids.   And then it happened again.   I saw that one person who reminded me to be thankful for what I have and to share with those who are less fortunate.    This year it was a little girl (maybe six)  who stood in line to see Santa.   She didn't ask for toys or gift cards.   She didn't want clothes or a pony.    All she asked for was a home for her mom & her sisters to live in.    Suddenly I felt very small and shallow.  

There are two annual area charity drives that I always like to recommend.   Each day on 98.9 THE ROCK, the Johnny Dare Morning Show picks a person in need.   They read on-air a letter explaining the situation and then listeners call in to do what they can to help someone else.    And the morning listeners always seem to respond!   It's the most uplifting 10 minutes of radio you can find on air.

The other drive I like is hosted by Fox 4's Love Fund.   Each year they combine with CVS to run "SACK IT FOR SANTA".    You pick up a bag at CVS and then fill it for an older child.  (Everyone likes to buy toys for little kids, but the 14 & 15 year olds always seem to get left out.)

So thanks to Fox 4 & The Johhny Dare Morning Show for helping us to remember what makes the real magic of Christmas!   And this season, please keep in mind that there are LOTS of people needing help and lots FEWER people available to help out.   So if you can.....PLEASE GIVE!

I did something last week that I have done many times without giving it a second thought.  Except this time it didn't go very well and it made me realize an unexpected danger that goes with this activity.    What scary thing did I do?     I ORDERED A LARGE THIN CRUST PIZZA FROM PIZZA HUT.

The pizza arrived over 30 minutes late, it was completely cold and the box was soaked with grease.   I spoke with a manager from the local store while the driver was still there.  He took $5 off the pizza because the delivery was late but informed me that all he could do with it being cold was to have the driver bring it back & they would make me another.  Other than that option I would have to call an 800 number to complain.  It was late, so I took the pizza & called the 800 number.   They told me that a Regional Manager would contact me within 72 hours concerning my complaint.    After three days had passed with no call, I called back and was informed that 72 hours really meant 3 business days.   I explained to the customer service rep. that I was really very angry and that it centered more on the complete lack of customer service from the local store & the call center than anything else.  If anyone had been proactive & offered me coupons (or really anything other than an 800 number) it would have settled the issue.    I was called back by the same customer service  rep. who said she would send me a certificate for two free pizzas and report to the local store manager how his employee had handled the situation.

So far, this was all just annoyance, nothing too serious.   But four hours later, I received 5 calls  from a private number.   I was screamed at, cursed at, threatened and asked if I wanted to suck various anatomical parts of the caller (who sounded like a teenage male).   They also wanted to know if I liked pizza.   Now I'm not saying that it was a Pizza Hut employee who called; but I don't believe in coincidences either.

This was a MAJOR ANNOYANCE.  But upon reflection I realized that it was more than that.    Any time you call anyone to make a delivery to your home you open yourself up to danger.    The hourly, minimum-wage employee on the other end of the phone has access to your name, your home phone number, your home address and even possibly your credit card number.   The possibilities and the inherent danger of this had never occurred to me until I received harassing calls in the middle of the night.   

The quality of the pizza or the slow delivery is really not an issue.   But the fact that someone now has personal information on myself & my family gives me pause.    I gave a lot of thought to all of the ways that information could be used and didn't like the length of the list I came up with.  I've since been told that Pizza Hut (and other companies) sell this information to search engines.  Those search engines then are used by insurance agencies, government departments, creditors, debt collectors and anyone else willing to pay a fee to track you down.  It made me think a lot about the number of times I carelessly give personal information out.   It a mistake I make frequently and hope to correct in the future.

And in case your wondering, yes I did call Pizza Hut to report the harrassing calls.....and guess what?    The mythical Regional Manager of Store #726245 (who never called me concerning the original complaint) will get back to me about the threatening phone calls within three business days.   TALK ABOUT QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE!  It's made me very happy to go pick up my own food in the future.   But it's something I thought you might want to think about before you called Pizza Hut (or any delivery service)  for dinner tonight.   Instead you might consider taking your business to a Independent and locally owned restaurant as opposed to a national chain restaurant.   Because if you do have a problem with  a locally owned establishment....they're small enough to care!

I did something last week that I have done many times without giving it a second thought.  Except this time it didn't go very well and it made me realize an unexpected danger that goes with this activity.    What scary thing did I do?     I ORDERED A LARGE THIN CRUST PIZZA FROM PIZZA HUT.

The pizza arrived over 30 minutes late, it was completely cold and the box was soaked with grease.   I spoke with a manager from the local store while the driver was still there.  He took $5 off the pizza because the delivery was late but informed me that all he could do with it being cold was to have the driver bring it back & they would make me another.  Other than that option I would have to call an 800 number to complain.  It was late, so I took the pizza & called the 800 number.   They told me that a Regional Manager would contact me within 72 hours concerning my complaint.    After three days had passed with no call, I called back and was informed that 72 hours really meant 3 business days.   I explained to the customer service rep. that I was really very angry and that it centered more on the complete lack of customer service from the local store & the call center than anything else.  If anyone had been proactive & offered me coupons (or really anything other than an 800 number) it would have settled the issue.    I was called back by the same customer service  rep. who said she would send me a certificate for two free pizzas and report to the local store manager how his employee had handled the situation.

So far, this was all just annoyance, nothing too serious.   But four hours later, I received 5 calls  from a private number.   I was screamed at, cursed at, threatened and asked if I wanted to suck various anatomical parts of the caller (who sounded like a teenage male).   They also wanted to know if I liked pizza.   Now I'm not saying that it was a Pizza Hut employee who called; but I don't believe in coincidences either.

This was a MAJOR ANNOYANCE.  But upon reflection I realized that it was more than that.    Any time you call anyone to make a delivery to your home you open yourself up to danger.    The hourly, minimum-wage employee on the other end of the phone has access to your name, your home phone number, your home address and even possibly your credit card number.   The possibilities and the inherent danger of this had never occurred to me until I received harassing calls in the middle of the night.   

The quality of the pizza or the slow delivery is really not an issue.   But the fact that someone now has personal information on myself & my family gives me pause.    I gave a lot of thought to all of the ways that information could be used and didn't like the length of the list I came up with.  I've since been told that Pizza Hut (and other companies) sell this information to search engines.  Those search engines then are used by insurance agencies, government departments, creditors, debt collectors and anyone else willing to pay a fee to track you down.  It made me think a lot about the number of times I carelessly give personal information out.   It a mistake I make frequently and hope to correct in the future.

And in case your wondering, yes I did call Pizza Hut to report the harrassing calls.....and guess what?    The mythical Regional Manager of Store #726245 (who never called me concerning the original complaint) will get back to me about the threatening phone calls within three business days.   TALK ABOUT QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE!  It's made me very happy to go pick up my own food in the future.   But it's something I thought you might want to think about before you called Pizza Hut (or any delivery service)  for dinner tonight.   Instead you might consider taking your business to a Independent and locally owned restaurant as opposed to a national chain restaurant.   Because if you do have a problem with  a locally owned establishment....they're small enough to care!