Decision 2053: Girl Power

This just in.

My six-year old daughter is running for President of the United States of America.

In 2053.

She made the stunning announcement last night while we were watching the Padres face the Dodgers.

“Are they the New York Dodgers?,” she asked.

My 11-year old son, shocked if not offended that a member of his family would ask such a question, said “no, they are the Los Angeles Dodgers.”

“I thought they were from New York,” she replied.

Instantly I realized that my six-year old was not only adorable, but she was paying attention.

So I jumped in and said that they used to play in Brooklyn, which is in New York.

“That’s the team that Jackie Robinson played for,” she added.

Yes it is.

So I asked if she knew what Jackie Robinson was famous for.

“He wore the number that my brother wears.”

True.

Actually, HE wears the number that Jackie wore.

My son did a report on Jackie in second grade and was so impressed by the story that he started wearing #42.

A number he wears with pride to this day, four years later.

I then informed my daughter that Jackie broke the color barrier, becoming the first black player in Major League history.

“That’s not nice,” she said.  “They didn’t let people play because of their skin color?”

“White people should’ve imagined what it would’ve been like if they couldn’t play or if they were slaves.”

This is probably a good time to remind you that SHE IS SIX-YEARS OLD.

As the conversation continued, I realized that not only do I have an amazing daughter, actually two plus an amazing son, but if I can keep the dialogue going, I also have the makings of an amazing blog as well.

So I started writing down quotes like I was having lunch with Bob Dylan.

“The white people thought they were better than the blacks,” she said.  “They made the blacks do all the chores.  Wash the clothes in the river, because they didn’t have washing machines.”

“All the white people only thought about themselves and they should’ve thought about how the blacks were being treated.”

“Why would you make someone a slave?  Treat someone how you would like to be treated.”

“It doesn’t matter what their skin color is, it matters what is in your heart.”

“If you want to be a bad person, you can be a bad person, but nobody wants to be your friend.”

She then notified me that she wanted to be the President of the United States, sometime between the age of 43 and 60.

She said that if she were the Prez, she too would’ve freed the slaves like Lincoln.

“I’d like to be the President.  To do stuff, yes.” 

“To make people do stuff for you and be your slave?  No.”

With her actual campaign still a few years away, there is time to make adjustments, but for now, her platform is very clear:

• No smoking, because that’s not good for you
• No texting while driving
• No putting on lip gloss while you are driving

This girl has clearly been watching too much Oprah.

But the fact that she has campaign promises, 43 years before the actual campaign, is quite impressive.

As we completed our interview, I mean our conversation, I asked if she knew why there has never been a female President.

“Because a girl hasn’t been elected,” she said.

Of course.

“And some people don’t want a girl to be President.”

That too.

I think I’ve finally found a candidate that I can really trust.

One Degree of Separation

"Kevin Bacon saved my life."

Those were the words of Ramone, the 60-year old Dominican who drove me to the airport for my trip home.

Before meeting up with him, I had a little free time, so I wanted to visit Ground Zero.

I wasn't sure what there was to see, but I knew I wanted to see it.

So I got up early, grabbed the southbound W train, pumped Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" into my iPod and made my way to the site of one of our biggest tragedies.

As I made it to the corner of Church and Vesey, where more than 3,000 lives ended and millions more were forever damaged, my personal soundtrack changed to a song called Empty Sky, from Bruce Springsteen's 9/11 tribute album, The Rising.

The combination of what my ears were hearing, what my eyes were seeing and what my brain was thinking, I almost couldn't take it.

There was nothing on the street or in the air that reminded me of what happened exactly there nearly nine years earlier, but you couldn't avoid feeling your beating heart.

I don't remember hearing anybody speak.

Before leaving, I made a stop at the 9/11 Preview Site to push my emotions to a level they'd never reached.

My experience was one I will never forget, but it was nothing compared to Ramone's story.

He's been a professional driver in New York City for 36 years, usually working 12-15 hours a day.

Every Monday he gets paid.

Every Tuesday he cashes his check.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, before Ramone went to the bank, he had an early-morning assignment of dropping a client off at Newark Airport.

His client was on United Airlines Flight 93, the same United Airlines Flight 93 which would be hijacked about 90 minutes later and eventually crash into a Pennsylvania field.

From the airport, Ramone drove through the Holland Tunnel, where he planned on stopping at his bank, located right next to the World Trade Center.

However, when he got through the tunnel, his dispatcher said that actor Kevin Bacon needed to be picked up immediately.

So instead of making a right turn, Ramone made a left and headed uptown.

Instead of making a right, he made a left.

Instead of making a right, he made a left.

Instead of going to the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, he drove uptown.

One simple change with one significant result.

On his way uptown, he heard the breaking news on the radio.

Everything stopped.

“You could have crossed 5th Avenue, blindfolded and you wouldn’t have been hit.”

He said the only day that compared to 9/11 for him was the day his father died.

"I saw the towers grow, the construction, floor by floor. Every week we saw them get higher and higher. To see them come down, it was sad, very sad."

"But it changed people's attitude in New York. In New York, we thought we were better than anyone. We thought we were the best. After 9/11, the attitude changed. We became more humble, more sociable, more appreciative of other people."

When Ramone got to Kevin Bacon's location, the actor didn't come outside.

At least not right away.

But it really didn't matter.

By that point, he had already played the biggest supporting role of his life.

Apple of My Eyes

I think I'm in love.

I know I am married, but with my wife more than 1,500 miles away, I just met someone very special.

Her name is New York, as in New York City.

I've visited her many times before, actually MANY times before, but I've never seen her look so beautiful.

Maybe it was the possibility of getting a job there. Maybe it was my hotel in the heart of the city. Maybe it was the two-plus days of less-than-miserable winter weather, but whatever it was, she was perfect.

As Joan Jett once said, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."

• I love walking around Times Square at 10:00am AND 10:00pm.

• I love eating a slice of pizza at midnight.

• I love buying chestnuts, which were really roasted on an open fire, from a street vendor.

• I love riding the subway.

• I love the accents -- and nobody loves a New York accent, not even New Yorkers.

• I love the many options for your morning paper, and I bought them all.

• I love the 2-for-1 ticket booth for Broadway plays, where just the service charge is more than a movie ticket at home.

• I love that my friend's 400 square foot apartment on the Upper East Side is $2,000 a month.

• I love seeing EVERY street with at least ten different restaurants.

• I love seeing Hall, or was it Oates, sitting across from me at the Carnegie Deli.

• I love barely making it through half of my $25 corned beef and chopped liver on toasted rye sandwich at the Carnegie Deli.

• I didn't love that they were a cash only restaurant. No credit cards!

• I love the traffic, probably because I was walking everywhere.

• I love walking everywhere.

I guess the shirt was right...