GorillaOffTopic, Everything But Gorilla Trades

With all of the violence in the world these days, it is hard to feel safe anywhere. It was always believed that schools were safe for our children, but we now know that is not true. Now we must wonder how safe it really is to even go to our local mall to shop, without the prospect of someone opening fire on us. But, a church is one place that many people feel they can always go to find peace and sanctuary; until now, that is. No place is immune to the violence in the world and now, that includes churches.

In Colorado yesterday, a gunman open fired on two separate church facilities, leaving a total of five people dead. The first shooting occurred at 12:30 A.M, when a 20-year-old white male entered the building and asked to spend the night at the Youth With A Mission missionary center in Colorado Springs. When he was refused, he open fired killing two people ages 26 and 24. Just 12 hours later, at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, a gunman entered the church’s main foyer and open fired, killing another two people before a security guard, who worked for the church, killed him. Authorities, are trying to determine whether or not the two shootings are connected. In the wake of the deadly Omaha mall shootings, certainly no one expected this.

The Gorilla can’t help but wonder what is going on with our youth today? It is not as though these kinds of crimes are committed exclusively by young people, but certainly it is more prevalent among them. The irony in this case is that the gunman went to a youth oriented center, where perhaps he thought he could get help from his peers, and was refused. Could this tragedy have been avoided, or was this man looking for a reason to take lives due to his own very real pain? Psychologists have linked the behaviors of the gunman in several school shootings including the infamous Columbine High School shootings, as well as the recent Virginia Tech shootings, and now the Omaha Mall shootings. They concluded that the gunmen all had several things in common; each felt as if they were ”outcasts” of society and claimed that they were ridiculed by their peers, and each one made statements to others that they felt  ”rejected” when they reached out for help. How then, can we do  reach out to these members of society? How can we prevent these very real tragedies from occurring and save lives?

The Gorilla feels that this is an important issue that needs our attention. What if the schools were to incorporate youth programs, which encourage kids to gather together and simply talk about their insecurities and fear of rejection. Perhaps a program, which gathers together, those who would otherwise feel excluded to give them a forum in which they could voice their anger or frustration to other kids about how they feel excluded, and include a program that teaches those kids how to reach out to other who are “different” from them? Well, it’s just an idea, but certainly something must be done to help these types of kids. The Gorilla feels strongly that the government should allow for funding for these types of programs in our schools - after all- human life is at stake!

Ah! The holiday season. For most, it is an exciting time of year that brings feelings of warmth and comfort. It is meant to be a time to enjoy a vacation from work, and a time to enjoy seeing family members. It is mostly a time though, to ponder the things in life for which we are grateful for and hey, admit it, it’s a time to anticipate getting gifts, having a little good cheer, and smiling for the first time all year! Well, at least for some. For others, it is a time to complain, a time to worry about not having enough money to buy gifts, a time to stress out because of the increasingly high traffic volume, and understandably, a time to be a great big scrooge!

Hey, the Gorilla remembers those days too! There was a time when the holidays represented stress for him as well. For many Americans, and citizens all over the world for that matter, the holidays have become so commercialized, so material, and yes, even political (holiday lawsuit, anyone?). But it was never meant to be like that. We the people, have actually made them that way. No one ever said that we have to buy ten gifts for our kids, a gift for every neighbor, a gift for our boss, and a gift for our kids’ teachers. No one ever said that we MUST send out those expensive holiday cards, or throw that expensive holiday party. For the most part, WE choose those things all by ourselves. No one is putting a gun to our head!  WE put the stress in the holidays all by our own doing, and then have the nerve to complain about it!

The Gorilla wants to remind everyone to enjoy the holidays! Right now, it is Hanukkah and soon it will be Christmas. It is a time to reflect and remember to be thankful. Pay attention to your children, your spouse, your family, your friends. Don’t get carried away with the holiday “to do list”-  after all, the thing your loved ones want the most (barring teens between the ages of 13-18- they DO want the goods!) is to spend time with you!

The Gorilla was in the elevator the other day just listening to the gripes of the holidays by several grouchy people. They were complaining about everything from the absence of the Christmas tree in the lobby, (not politically correct these days apparently), to what a pain it is to have to mail gifts and wait in line at the post office, and even how spoiled their kids were due to their high expectations (hey, you made em’ that way!). One woman even griped about her sickly mother-in-law having to come for a visit and how she “dreaded” it. Now, look, the Gorilla isn’t perfect and we all have problems, but really people, where’s the compassion your mother taught you to have? Where is the gratefulness for your family and friends? Happy holidays, and c’mon people, don’t forget to remember what all this “hoopla” is for! Sponsor a family in need, attend a charity event, volunteer at your local soup kitchen! THAT, my friends, is what the season is really all about!

How hard do you work? Really think about it. Are you like one of the millions of people worldwide, who carries a blackberry or a cell phone? Chances are, even when you are having that happy hour drink, after you have “clocked out” or left your office, you are still taking that client phone call or talking to the office about work even though you are socializing and off the clock. What about the weekend you promised your spouse you would be “all theirs?” Were you really, or did you take your laptop just so you could get a little work done so you could ”get ahead?” And the Gorilla will bet that there was that holiday recital at your child’s school, for which you had to excuse yourself for just one minute or two, so you could make a few calls to a client, or your assistant, or your boss! If you are like the Gorilla, you probably spend much more time working than you do playing or resting; (a sad fact). And if you are one of the many people who responded (most likely out loud) that you work ”too hard”, then you should pay attention to this story. 

The dollar bill. It is something that we use daily, want more of, and rarely look at, but we know what words are written on it, or at least most of us do:  ”In God We Trust.” This motto has been on U.S. currency since 1865, but soon, if one very persistent man gets his way, you may no longer see these words on the dollar bill. Why? Well because a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, made a plea to a federal appeals court Tuesday to have the words, “Under God,” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, and “In God We Trust” removed from the dollar bill.

The man, who is atheist, says he wants to be “treated equally” and goes on to say, ”They want to have their religious views espoused by the government.” Before you scoff at the likeliness of it happening, consider this; The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals once ruled in this man’s (Newdow) favor in a similar case involving his daughter, in which he claimed that the school district was forcing her to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. (It was decided later that he had no standing to sue since he did not have custody of his daughter.) But then in 2005, a Sacramento judge, trying to uphold the precedent set by the Supreme Court,again ruled in favor of Newdow’s clients for the very same thing, in a case he brought on behalf of some parents of children, who claimed the same thing. Now in these two appeals cases, Newdow says, “he wants equal respect for atheists, who’ve long been disenfranchised.” And he goes on to say, ”They can’t use the machinery of the state to get that (religious) message across.”

The age of information has reached out to us in so many different ways, but no one is affected by it as much as teenagers. With access to the Internet, they have a plethora of choices for which they can communicate that, we ourselves, could never have imagined at that age. The problem with the many options is that, unlike the real-life offline (and in very ”real time”) bullies we dealt with as kids, there are “cyber-bullies” out there waiting to prey on these kids from every angle possible; from MySpace, to FaceBook, to Instant messaging and “texting,” there are more opportunities for your kids to become victims of bullying than ever before.

So why is bullying so much more prevalent via these methods than the old-fashioned face-to-face “meet me on the playground” method used in the good ole’ days? The answer is simple, really. You see, psychologists say that kids are simply much less afraid to say something mean to another via text. Add to that the fact that many of these kids who are doing the bullying say it’s just faster and simpler to hurt someone through a MySpace page or by “texting” them. Not to mention, in many cases, the bully will never have to face the one they’ve harmed since much of the content is forwarded, thus making it difficult to trace the source and allowing the bully to get away with ever having to face the consequences of their actions.

Meanwhile, the words are harsh. Very harsh. If you need an example, just check out bullyonline.org to see for yourself. The Gorilla was shocked at some of the very real examples of the incredibly cruel things kids posted about other kids they don’t like- for lots of other kids to see. It is humiliating beyond words for these kids being harassed and often they have very little recourse for their suffering. Many kids reported feeling depressed after being victimized in this way and psychologists say that often these kids suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. One case in Missouri involved a thirteen-year-old girl, who committed suicide after receiving  a series of harassing My Space messages, which suggested that none of her friends really liked her and that the world would “be a better place” if she weren’t in it! That incident led the city of Dardenne Prairie, Missouri to unanimously pass a measure making online harassment a crime, punishable by a up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail. The Gorilla feels strongly that we must watch and be aware of what our kids are doing, and more importantly, what they are saying (you would be surprised) and what is being said about them. For more examples and information on how to teach your kids “online responsibility” go to McGruff.org and check out the “Shrink The Bully” section to learn how. You may also go to bullyonline.org for more information and help.

Sex, sells. We are all aware of this fact, like it or not. Studies have shown that time and time again, the pretty girl turns heads; on the street AND in advertising. Shallow? Perhaps, but it is a fact of life that most people are much more apt to notice an advertisement if there is an attractive person in it.  Apparently, Spirit Airlines agrees, and that is why they have decided to “go that route” along with everyone else these days. 

It’s comical really- and when the Gorilla first read this story, he must admit, he didn’t know whether to giggle or get mad at it. (He chose to giggle.) So, what exactly is Spirit doing that is so controversial? Well, nothing that hasn’t been done before time. The airline, based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is selling their new low fares via a web-based ad they are calling the “MILF” sale. “MILF” is short for “Many Islands, Low Fares” and is being used to tout extremely low fares (between $69 - $89) to one of the airline’s many Caribbean destinations.

Innocent enough at first glance, wouldn’t you agree? Well, not according to some very skeptical online bloggers, who have a very different opinion. They have pointed out that the term “MILF” is an “obscene” term used to describe an “attractive mom” and have suggested that perhaps Spirit was somehow “unaware” of the term when they chose it for the ads. Many others feel that Spirit was well aware of the term and produced the ads this way quite intentionally. (Hard to believe, but when you see it, it certainly grabs your attention!) The Gorilla is leaning toward the opinion as well. After all, it would be extremely difficult to believe that a bunch of advertising executives got together to brain-storm this new campaign and not one person- man or woman- knew what this term meant! Regardless, you have to ask, is this just an innocent ad or is this the case of a “dirty-minded” society? The Gorilla should mention that the ads feature one of the islands reconfigured to look like a woman lounging.  Hmm! Take a look at the ads on SpiritAir.com and YOU be the judge!