The Late Arrival

Ahh, the flu season. When adults are reduced to crying out for their mommas and sales of hand sanitizer skyrocket. There’s nothing like it; and there are definitely distinct types of flu sufferers. Recognize any of these? The Wounded Animal In the opening scene of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Atticus Finch shoots a rabid dog. The dog was perfectly fine before the disease, but once he contracted it, he went mad and terrorized the town, attacking people at will – even those who might have offered help. The Wounded Animal sick person is kind of like this. He/she is a normally upbeat, go-getter puppy-like being. But when sickness hits, look out. The flu won’t make them go mad. It makes them go crabby; and The Wounded Animal snaps, bites and growls at everyone around them. Recognizing The Wounded Animal : They respond to “How are you” with guttural noises, grunts. The asker is often heard saying with a puzzled look “All I did was ask how he/she was doing.” Handling The Wounded Animal

“He/She just can’t see the forest for the trees.” That’s an old saying that means someone’s missing the big picture because they’re too bogged down in the details. Enter Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman. This guy planted a whole bunch of trees in a press release  stating“"Almost no black people today care about Kwanzaa -- just white left-wingers who try to shove this down black people's throats in an effort to divide Americans…" I thought it was stupidly funny; but in the meantime, not everyone shared my sense of humor. There’s been outcry on television, radio, Facebook --furor over his feeble attempt at dismantling Kwanzaa, attacking Black traditions and whether the man is a racist or not. I don’t know if Senator Grothman is a racist, but what I do know is that Kwanzaa sure as heck isn’t going anywhere. The Senator's words are just that. Words. Hurtful to some who cherish the holiday. But just words.  Silly words . So, let’s look past the trees here jus