Later when attending Delgado Jr College, I
worked with local artist and sculptor Lyn Emery as a helper/laborer at
her studio downtown. After graduation from Delgado with a degree in Fine
Arts, I worked at Sears as a display man at the Veterans Hwy store in
Metairie and the Barrone St. store in downtown New Orleans near Canal
St. as a return clerk and customer service employee.
I joined the Navy in 1969 and while aboard
the USS Oriskany I traveled to Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan, and Hong
Kong (while it was still under British rule). Also Calif.:San Francisco,
San Diego, Oakland, Treasure Island and Los Angeles. As a Yeoman(Clerk) I
was assigned to the Captain's staff and also temporary duty on the
Admiral's staff. I served as a Chaplain's assistant and as the ship's
librarian. Just before I got out of the Navy I had planned on changing
rates to cook and applying to do a 6 month tour at the Navy station in
the Antarctic. You can save a lot of money. It's just you and the
penguins. I also wanted to see Christ's Church New Zealand. When we were
in port I drove a Navy van on the base which served as a taxi. The fare
was only 25 cents a trip, but all the money I made I was allowed to
keep (gas was provided by the Navy). Often times on a Friday or Saturday
night when the enlisted men's bars/lounges were full, I made pretty good
money at closing time. An eight passenger van can hold 3 times that
much when you squeeze 'em in. And the price was usually higher on
weekends considering the alternative to being picked by the Military
Police for being drunk and disorderly--- if you walked back to the
ship. So 75 cents to a dollar was a good deal and no one ever
complained. Officers always paid more, they were big tippers. There was
no public transit on the base. Of course, there were other sailors
driving similar "taxis" and on Friday and Saturday nights there were 3
to 4 vans lined up out side the clubs. Our ship, an aircraft carrier, had
3,500 sailors and other ships i.e. destroyers, submarines,etc. had
smaller complements --so business was brisk even if most sailors went on
leave in town because they still had to get back to the ship from the
main gate. I was married at the time and sent 95% of my Navy salary
home to my wife--so I could use the extra money. A sailor's income with
the Navy wasn't a lot back then. I also worked extra duty details. For
example whenever we pulled into a port (anywhere) someone was assigned
duty to watch/guard the aircraft carrier. I have no idea why--like
someone was gonna steal the ship.(Although we had 2 Filipinos stow
away on the ship. They some how got Navy work clothes (blue jeans shirt
and pants) and while we were taking on supplies in PI (Subic Bay Navy
Base) they just walked on board. They were discovered when we got to
Hawaii, taken off the ship and sent back to the Philippines. We, the
ship, had to be quarantined and no one could go ashore until everybody
was cleared just in case the stowaways had some virus or disease.They
also had to search the entire ship to make sure no one else was hiding
somewhere. They spoke English and knew all about America. They were 17
and 18 yrs old. They had black American fathers who apparently were in
the Navy and Philippine mothers.The fathers left when the ship left
Anyway, as a guard you had to walk up and down the dock and act like a
security guard. All they gave you was a night stick and an arm band to
identify you as a guard. Lots of guys didn't want to do it because it
was an extra duty assignment usually when you had a leave pass to go
ashore/into town. Everybody was suppose to take a turn. The Officer in
charge didn't care who did it as long as it got done--so I would stand
their duty and they would pay me for taking their place. (when I wasn't
driving the van). The USS Oriskany CVA 34 is now a reef off the coast of
Florida. When it was originally commissioned it went into service for
WWII,but was decommissioned because it was almost the end of the war.
Then it was recommissioned for Korea, later decommissioned,but
recommissioned for Viet Nam. The Oriskany received a Presidential citation
for an attempt to save some POWs. John McCain was a pilot aboard the
Oriskany when he got shot down and captured. The ship was also used in
the filming of two movies--one is the "Fighting Lady" The other is
"Bridges over Tokorea" PBS also has a special named the sinking of a
carrier about the Oriskany.
After my discharge from the U.S. Navy, I
returned to Sears at Oakwood Mall on the West Bank as a display man for
about a year and a half then returned to college at Southeastern
Univ. in Hammond. During the summer months, I worked as a deck hand on a
tug boat (3 level push boat) for King's Marine out of Harvey, La. We
worked the Mississippi River, the Inter coastal, the Gulf and as far away
as Pascagoula, Ms. We moved barges loaded with grain and other
materials up and down the river.
After transferring from Southeastern to
USL in Lafayette , I again went to work for Sears as a display man and a
sign maker. Later while in school during the day Mon-Fri, I worked as a
Night Manager/Supervisor of Environmental Quality in the dish return
area or some such stupid title. I was a dishwasher at Picadilly Cafeteria at
night. I worked as a security guard at night for Hub Security. I worked
as a supervisor and warehouseman at night at Magnolia Liquor. I was the
only white guy in the entire warehouse located in the seedy part of
Lafayette near the railroad tracks. I worked from 6:00 pm until 6:00 am
then went to class at 9:00 am. I worked as a night supervisor at Pizza
Hut. I was 27 and most of the workers were teenagers 17, 18 , and
19 years old. I worked weekends at the Holiday Inn as a bus
boy, dishwasher, room service, short order cook, waiter and cash register
clerk. During a break from school for a semester including the summer
months to make some more money, I worked as an animal control warden (a
dog catcher) for the City of Lafayette. While attending school I always
tried to find a job that paid more money than the previous job and move
up the ladder rather than just minimum wage. Marcy and I only had one
car so I walked everywhere if it was during the day. She had a job in
Opelousas 35 to 45 minutes north of Lafayette and got home around
5:00 PM. So if the job was at night I could use the car or if it was
close I just walked to work.
After graduation from USL with a BA in
Secondary Ed ( I couldn't find a teaching job in Lafayette), I went to
work for REAMCO an oil field service related business as a yard pipe
worker, a tool handler and then later as a night clerk in the office
handling overseas accounts.
In 1979 I joined the Louisiana State
Police. While in the State Police, I served in a number of capacities: a
road Trooper in patrol, the Towing and Recovery section as an
inspector/investigator, auto theft division, Haz-Mat, in the
Transportation and Environmental Safety Section (inspecting 18 wheelers)
the Suitability Section of the Gaming Division as an
inspector/investigator/agent. I also served as a guest instructor at the
Louisiana State Police Academy at head quarters and as an instructor
at numerous other Sheriff and City Police training academies in Law
Enforcement across the state. I worked in or traveled to almost all 64
parishes in the state. I was also in school at USL at the time and
graduated with a BS degree in Criminal Justice.
After retirement, I worked as a safety
officer and training officer for a local trucking and towing company
with offices in Lafayette,Baton Rouge, Opelousas, and Lake Charles. I
was responsible for all the OSHA regulations as well as all state and
federal commercial vehicle requirements for commercial trucks and
drivers. I was also responsible for training some 80 personnel and
employees.
After leaving there,I went to work for the
Southwestern University Police Dept as a Police Officer. It was suppose
to be a temporary job, until the new multimillion dollar university
museum opened up. I was initially hired to be the new Chief of Security
over the museum; however after a year when the grant funding disappeared
for that position at the museum and the job was no longer available, I
continued as a police officer until I quit.
I then went to work in 2005 at the new
state of the art multimillion dollar Tourist Welcome Center at Butte La
Rose off I -10 at MP 115. It was the first to have a movie theatre and
animatronics (animated moving and talking swamp animals i.e. raccoon and
turtle. As a Tourist Counselor I greeted and spoke with people from all
over the world--from Iceland to New Zealand from China to South America
and from every other country on the globe. I also traveled to various
parts of the state to attend tourism seminars and various cultural
functions concerning the tourism industry. Besides counselor I served as
Safety Officer for the Center and worked with the Louisiana Office of
Risk Management.
I was there for 4 years until I was offered
a position with the newly elected Sheriff of Iberia Parish as the Head
Custodian of their Criminal Evidence Dept. The Sheriff was my former
Commander with State Police and his Chief Deputy was also a good friend
who had retired from State Police. I quit the Welcome Center and went to
work in New Iberia, but unfortunately the Sheriff made me a lot of
promises he didn't keep. He borrowed 4 1/2 million dollars to operate
the Sheriff's Office and apparently had made numerous promises to other
people he didn't keep. Before I left, several other people quit also due
to differences over promised salary,benefits and operating procedures.
Two of them were also retired State Police officers. One was the Chief
Deputy and the other the head of the Narcotics Division. It was a hard
lesson to learn,but sometimes you really can't go home again. My heart
was in the Law Enforcement community,but when God closes one door He
always opens another.
After returning to school (both on line
and at the extension campus here in Lafayette) and getting certified in
Christian Counseling , I'm now doing premarital counseling at our
church for couples who are planning on getting married and I also assist
in other areas of counseling. I serve as an usher, an altar worker (which
means when people go up to the altar for prayer as an altar worker you
go up and pray with them). As a volunteer, I assist at special functions
i.e. Harvest Fest (we don't do Halloween--All Hallows Eve) the church
has a fair, food, rides and games for all the kids, to give them an
alternative to participating in a pagan holiday honoring witches,
spirits/ghosts and evil monsters. No costumes are allowed! Once a year
the church has a Wild Game Cook Out for men only. About 40 volunteers,
guys, who like to cook set up on the church grounds and cook all kinds
of food: wild pig, all kinds of fowl---duck, quail pigeon), nutria,
alligator, rabbit, squirrel, all kinds of fish--shark, red
snapper, trout, etc and deer meat. We have had ostrich, Emu and kangaroo.
Of course we have a dessert section too with various pies, cakes etc and
all kinds of soda drinks--coke, water, 7-up.etc. I work with the guys
who cook the rice--we usually use about 125 lbs of rice. They have a lot
of rice dishes. Last year we had 1,200 men attend. The cost is $5.00 a
person for all you can eat and they also have a give away with all kinds
of prizes. (guns, bows, hunting stuff,grills,etc) I attend a men's group
once a month where we discuss scripture,pray and drink coffee at 6:00
am. Marcy and I attend a group called the Ya Ya's (anyone over 50). They
get together as a social group, eat out at different places or have get-togethers at church. We attend seminars and telecasts at church on
various topics--from improving your marriage to history of Israel (we had
a rabbi from Jerusalem come to Lafayette and speak on Israel). I have
also worked as a parking valet/attendant at church (helping people to
park their cars) and I have served as a men's leader at the men's
retreats. Our retreats are held at a place in north Louisiana in the
woods. It has both cabin style rooms and hotel style rooms with a large
meeting area/hall as well as a lake, a swimming pool, basketball courts
and a large eating facility for several hundred men. It starts on
Friday at 6:00 PM and ends on Sunday at 1:00 PM. It covers all kinds of
topics related to men. The sessions on Saturday start at 8:00 am--prayer
is at 6:00 am, breakfast at 7:00 am. Lunch is at 12:00 noon and dinner
is at 6:00 PM. We have large group meetings in the assembly hall and
then small group discussions in private smaller rooms and prayer during
the day. Saturday the sessions go until 9:00 PM. I usually assist in
the small groups and act a facilitator. Our church has a Family Fun Day
once a year and Marcy and I usually help wrap sandwiches or help set up.
It is usually from noon until 5:00 PM.The church provides all kind of
games, activities, food; hot dogs hamburgers, drinks for small kids and
teenagers. They have rock climbing walls, blow up slides, basketball and a
variety of booths and games. We also have what is called Life Groups
where couples usually meet at someone's house and have Bible
study,snacks and fellowship. Marcy and I have done that for a number of
years either as leaders or members. I have also served as a leader on
the Intercessory Prayer Team. During the church service a number of
people who volunteer go upstairs and pray for all the prayer requests
and the church service itself. There is a prayer request box in the
lobby of church and people can write down requests for healing, for sick
relatives, for jobs, for their marriage or whatever and drop them in the
box. Sometimes we have 10 people praying, sometimes 3 or 4 depending on
vacations and family things in their lives. We each take a turn praying
for one of the requests and just keep going until they are all prayed
for. When we pray for the service we pray for the pastor and everyone in
the service.
There are several different teams that take
turns on Sunday to pray so no one gets burdened or feels overwhelmed
with all the requests.
Besides travel over seas, I have been to Mexico, Nevada, New Mexico, Missouri, Alabama, Florida, Texas, California, Arkansas, Mississippi,
and Utah. I mention travel in the United States because of
the diversity of cultures, heritage, foods, and races that populate the
states; Asian ,Native American, Vietnamese, Japanese, Philippine,
Hispanic, Italian, French, Irish, British, German, Swedish, Belgian,
Australian, Cuban, Spanish, etc. Of course a lot of those same
nationalities are here in Louisiana.
I explain all of this because from all those
experiences I have learned a lot about people and their behavior. Look
at what has happened in cities here and abroad after football
games, baseball games, soccer games with the riots and mob violence.
Remember what happened during and after Katrina when mobs of
citizens (thugs) robbed, looted and pillaged businesses and private
homes. Remember in Los Angeles when mobs burned down stores, overturned
and burned vehicles and mugged and assaulted citizens. When left to
their own ideas of justice, right and wrong, and how to treat your
neighbor---they will wreck havoc, destroy property, steal, kill, murder and
commit all kinds of crimes and violence. The mob attitude just gives
them another excuse to do what they want ,rationalize why they do it and
feel justified when they do it. When given the chance they will always
blame someone else for what they do.
There is a growing sub culture in this
country that believes they deserve what you have, that there is nothing
wrong with taking it away from you--if you can't defend yourself that's
your problem--not theirs. It isn't their responsibility to help you or
anyone else.
They believe the country owes them, that it is
their right to receive welfare, to have a new home, a new car, or
whatever. They should not be forced to go to school, support a child they
made or marry the child's mother. They are not responsible.
Marriage has become a thing of the
past, a piece of paper doesn't make you married --so most live
together--until one of them doesn't like it anymore and then they go
live with someone else (used to be called shacking up). Look at the day
time soap operas, Hollywood stars, athletes, politicians, TV
personalities, day time talk shows,etc.---they all have a few things in
common--adultery, divorce, fornication, children born out of wed
lock, domestic violence, child abuse-- to name a few. Young girls or a
woman who slept around used to be called slut or whore--now it is
socially accepted and young girls have phone sex clubs and have sex with
any number of boys (in Jr high and high school). A young girl who was
pregnant and not married was shamed and considered an outcast. Now they
proudly announce they are pregnant and not married. Schools provide day
care for the babies. Parents have baby showers for the unwed mothers and
send out announcements of the birth.
How have we come so far to come to a point
in our history that we are no different than the Roman Empire--a pagan
nation, believing in our own intelligence to save us and the ability of
money to provide everything we need. Whether it was
Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Mussolini or any dictator, they were able to come to
power because people (the average guy in the street) were selfish, they
were more concerned about what they wanted, what could be done for them,
or what they would get--- than if it was right or wrong, if it hurt
someone else, took someone else's rights away, their property away or even
killed someone else. It was all about-- the "me".
That's where we are now as a nation.
Moral concepts, God, the Golden Rule, have gone by the way side.
Materialism, money, wealth, and what that money can buy is all important.
People tell themselves they are good because they don't see themselves
as bad. They say they aren't as bad as the drug dealer or the rapist or
bank robber, but they will drive drunk, look at pornography, and take stuff
home from the office that doesn't belong to them or call in sick to
just have a day off because they earned it. They lie, cheat,
steal (borrow without returning) anything that doesn't belong to them,
disobey traffic signals, run through stop signs,speed 90 MPH in a 50 MPH
zone,curse out a fellow motorists, tell x-rated jokes, use prescription
drugs like candy, shoplift, etc, but they don't think of themselves as
anything except a nice average guy (when they compare themselves to the
really bad people).
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the
bible, Lot and his family lived in Sodom. Lot was an elected official, an
elder, in the city government, yet he did nothing to prevent what was
going on or apparently even speak against how the people were living. He
lived in the midst of all the sin,corruption and violence,but did
nothing. Even when the angels sent to save him from the pending
destruction warned him and tried to get him to leave immediately---he
hesitated. According to the bible, Sodom's greatest sin was not the
sexual immorality, but the fact that as a people who prospered they did
nothing to help their fellow citizens who were in need of food or
shelter.They were selfish and only concerned with their own pleasures.
Americans have lost the capacity to blush
because just like the man who works in sewage all day long he can't
smell the difference between waste and clean air any more. It all smells
bad. Americans have become accustom to living in the sewage and no
longer remember what it was like to breathe clean air so they just accept
the way things are.
People, as the bible says "have eyes, but do
not see, they have ears, but do not hear" They go through their daily
existence like zombies, the walking dead. They would rather watch Monday
night football and drink a beer than help a neighbor, than talk to
their kids about the Bible or God,than go visit an elderly relative who
needs someone to talk to or to bring them food, than do something that
makes a difference in another person's life---or do something good that
someone will remember when you're dead.
People are not basically good and if
given the opportunity they will choose to serve their own desires and
their own wants--rather than obey the laws of God or man. It doesn't
make any difference where they live in the world, what language they
speak, or what race they are when it comes to being selfish, making
excuses for their behavior, or in their ability to do wrong.
Nighttime seems to be more preferable to
daytime when it comes to committing acts of violence, but people are not
limited to any special time of the day or night when it comes to
breaking the law. Most people go to night
clubs, bars, lounges, etc at night to party and get drunk. Even if you go
to a bar in the day most of them have dim lighting or turn the lights
down low so it appears to be night. Most career criminals commit house
burglaries, break-ins, thefts at night. People prefer the cover of
darkness to do their deeds. Why? The same reason they wear masks--so no
one will know who they are. When people wear masks--like during Mardi
Gras they feel like they can do anything, act crazy, and get away with any
kind of behavior. At nighttime, they assume that because it's dark, no
one will notice or it will be harder to identify them.
What is it that makes people slow down at
an accident scene to look at the damage, the injured or the dead? Why do
they watch when people are trapped in a burning building?
Why do they watch as people leap to their death?
What do they enjoy about seeing tragedy, about watching television shows
or movies with all the guts and gore and carnage?
The same reason the Romans watched the
Gladiators in the coliseum, or the burning and torture of Christians.
People watch wrestling on TV to see the contestants get hurt, they watch
hockey to see guys get hit and fight, they watch mixed marial arts cage
fighting to see the fighters get hurt, they watch boxing to see someone
get knocked out, they watch pro football to see the hits and the
tackles, they watch the cop shows on tv to see the car crashes and the
shoot outs. Why? Because it is in their nature, it is part of them.
We make choices everyday, but can we choose
not to be like our nature? Are we different than the beasts of the
jungle, different from the animals that can't deny their nature or must
we act according to who we are? Some people who deny God, His word--the
Bible, and His son--Jesus would have you believe that you are no
different than the monkey you evolved from. And they use that excuse to
allow people to do "what comes natural" Paul in Romans 7:15-25 said "I do
not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not, but what I
hate to do." Both before and after this chapter Paul discusses man's
nature. He notes that as hard as he tries even when he tries to do good, he still does the wrong that is in him. He says that man has a nature
within him that causes him to sin, the sin nature--- his flesh, doesn't
allow him to do the right, the good that he wants to do. He states that
the only way to be free of this sin nature is through Jesus Christ. Paul
says that it is only through our acceptance and complete surrender to
Jesus that man is able to do the good that he wants to do and not sin. It
is only with Jesus "in me" that I am able to overcome the evil, the
sinful desires and corrupt nature that is part of me. There is a
constant battle between the sin nature, the flesh, and the spirit of God
every day. One man put it this way--- there are 2 dogs that live in you
one is good and the other bad---they fight every day to be the dominant
dog---- the one that wins the battle is the one that you feed the most.
The question is which one do you feed the most? Look at the world
around you--- which one is the world feeding? The flesh or the spirit?
There are 2 things in life that are more important than any other. They are time and people.You
can't buy more time or get it back once it's gone. There is never
enough time to just stop and enjoy life. Before you know it, time has
flown by and all the things you wanted to do or dreamed of doing when
you were young have disappeared. You can't stop time. You can't change
the past and you can't worry about the future because all your worrying
won't affect it. The only thing you can do is to live one day at a
time.To truly live each moment in the moment. To accept the trials and
tribulations along with the blessings and the good times and carry on.
No one said it would be easy.
The other thing is people. Life is all about
people-- that is relationships with people. Your relationship with your
parents, your brothers or sisters, your husband or wife, your in-laws, your chlidren, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, your
spouse's family, your grand children, your teachers when you were in
school or professors in college, your employer and co-workers, etc, etc.
It is how you live your life in relation to those around you. How you
act or react. No man is an island. You can't have a friend unless you
are one. You can't give what you don't have. We will all die one day and
the only thing that will truly have mattered in how we lived is the
most important relationship--- of you and Jesus. Our relationship with
father God and His son Jesus is the one that counts the most. Because if
we are living for Him and He is in us then every person we have a
relationship with will see The Jesus in us--how we treat people even if
they mistreat us, how we honor our parents, love our spouse, raise our
children, forgive others, help our neighbor,etc. We will be remembered by
the people we have come in contact with in how we treated them, how we
related to them, how much of ourselves did we invest in them, or how did
we let them know that they mattered to us. Life is too short to spend it
making enemies. Occasionally, through no fault of our own that still
happens--people perceive a wrong or a hurt when we didn't even know they
were effected by something we did or didn't do. But the right thing to
do, if we find out about it, is to apologize to them--even though we
didn't know about the hurt at the time. By asking forgiveness of them, we
no longer live under the burden or in bondage to whatever it was and we
are freed and released from any hold it may have on us. It is all about
people. The world doesn't see it that way. They see it as "it is all
about me", "what's in it for me", "what do they owe me", "how can I get
more" or something similar. The greatest commandment " to love God with
all you heart, all your strength and all your mind" The second is "to
love your neighbor as your self." If the world did that--we wouldn't have
any of the problems we have created for ourselves.
