Fade to Gray: What a year

I wanted to start this week’s column with a story about a man who played the bagpipes. When you play the bagpipes there’s not a huge demand for your services, save for one thing: funerals. People find it comforting to hear bagpipes at a funeral.

Well, one day a man who played the bagpipes was asked to play at a funeral at a cemetery out in the country. He checked the distance and saw it would take 37 minutes to drive there. On the morning of the burial he left an hour early but along the way got a flat fire. He had a spare but the wrench to take the lug nuts off the rim was missing so he sat on the side of the road for quite some time. Eventually a nice guy drove by, saw him stuck and pulled over to offer assistance. Luckily, he had a wrench and they quickly changed the tire and our bagpiper was on his way.

By the time he got to the cemetery he was not an hour late. He didn’t know exactly where the grave was, so he drove around looking for a gathering of people. It turned out they had already left. He was about to go himself, when he spotted four men in work clothes, with shovels next to them, having an early lunch by a pick-up truck. Next to them he saw a big hole in the ground and the bagpiper realized they hadn’t filled the grave yet, so he stopped.

Uncertain what to do, the bagpiper got out, walked over near the hole and out of an abundance of respect and duty, started to play “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes. One by one the workers put down their sandwiches, took off their hats in reverence and came over to stand and listen to the somber music. When the song was over the bagpiper did the sign of the cross, got back in his car and drove away. The eldest of the workers turned to the others and said, “Remember this day gentleman because that was special. I’ve never seen such a beautiful sight and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for 30 years.”

I wanted to share that story because I figured you could use a laugh right about now. Between the coronavirus, the shutdown, the economy in the toilet, the murder hornets and now the actual murder of an innocent man and the riots that followed, it has been one terrible year.

Listen, I’m pretty good with words but there’s no slight of hand with my prose that will make you feel better about life right now. In my 57 years on this big blue marble, I’ve learned there are some years that just stink from top to bottom and we are waist deep in one right now.

When I was a boy and played a lot of chess I remember that moment at the end of a match that you’re about to lose and how you look at the five pieces you have left on the board and think, “Any move I make is bad.” At that point you either make a move and take your punishment or you just topple the king, look at your opponent and say, “Good game.”

Right now, at this moment, that’s how the board looks for me when it comes to racial tension, the murder of a defenseless man in Minnesota and people setting the world on fire. Anything I say will be taken the wrong way. Conversely if you stay silent right now that invites rebuke from people who say you are complicit with your silence.

So, what’s a boy from South Troy to do?

Let me just say this. More than one thing can be true at the same time and more than one thing can be wrong at the same time. The murder of George Floyd was wrong and should be punished severely. The burning and looting of innocent business owner’s property is wrong and should be punished severely.

The mayor and police chief of Minneapolis invited this mayhem when they took four days to do the right thing and arrest the officer. They were weak and their weakness incited anger. Conversely, they should not have let rioters take over and burn their police station. They were weak and their weakness encouraged more aggression. And not just there but all over the country.

The media always wants to show you the “worst” but just for a moment could I point out the “most”?

As in, most cops aren’t bad. Most protestors have a legitimate beef and need to be heard. Most police departments should review their arrest procedures, so this never happens again. Most people don’t hate each other because of the color of someone’s skin. Most people are decent.

That said, people who look like me should stop telling black people how they should feel. We don’t know how someone lives until we are literally in their skin. I’d no sooner write a column about astrophysics (which I know nothing about) than to lecture others on their own life experiences. You don’t know, what you don’t know.

So, my friends, I’m afraid I don’t have any solutions for you today. I would only add this. About 2,000 years ago a smart man said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That seems like a good place to start.