I drove to LA this afternoon to stay the night so I can catch my 8:30 flight to Hawaii in the morning. I stopped at the gas station close to the hotel to fill up the rental car and some little old guy came up to me with this story.
My care broke down and now my wife and I are trying to get home. We called a tow truck (shows me a towing company business card and his driver’s license) but we are $16 short (shows me $62 he already has for the tow truck).
In he back of my mind I am thinking “he is probably scamming me.” Though, at the same time I was thinking “if it were me or one of my friends broken down with little money on them, I would hope someone would help out.” I went ahead and gave the guy $20 just in case he really did need it. He thanked me and took off walking towards where his car supposedly was.
After getting gas, I went down the street to a Taco Bell to grab some quick food. On the way from Taco Bell to the hotel, I passed the same gas station. “Poor little old man with a broken down car” was walking back across to the same gas station to hit up the next unsuspecting person for money. I had the urge to role down my window and yell at him about it or even pull into the gas station and confront him about it. My tiredness and hunger from driving all afternoon made me go ahead and go to the hotel instead.
This is actually the 3rd time this year I was hit up by “someone in a desperate situation and they have no money to get home” and each of the 3 times I have helped them out at least a little. The other 2 times were probably scams too, but I still think it’s worth it just for those few times when you end up helping someone who actually needs it. One of these days though, I may just say “screw it” because of the number of people running scams as opposed to actual people in need.
I’d like to hear your thoughts or stories about this whole subject.
I was out on my hotel balcony enjoying the nice weather this morning. However, when I decided to come back inside I found that my sliding-glass door was locked. It took about 20 minutes to flag down someone from the hotel and have them call for someone to come let me in. I am still a little unhappy about it, but after I get a shower I may still go drive around Kaua’i.
I was recently flying out of the Lihue airport on Kaua’i, Hawai’i when I saw this poster (shown below) next to the TSA security station. It was signed by what I assume is a majority, if not all, of the TSA employees working at the airport.
I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear a true faith allegiance to the same;
that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;
and that I will continue to well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I have already entered;
So help me God
I have one huge problem with this poster. How many of the TSA employees actually know the contents of the Constitution? How are they supposed to “support and defend” something when they have no idea what it actually says?
Before I continue, I do have to make a confession; I have worked for the federal government in the past and signed one of these oaths before I studied the Constitution and knew exactly what it said or meant. Also, many of the people I worked with had also signed the Oath of Office without really knowing much about it. It wasn’t until about a year into my employment before I started thinking “I signed this oath, I should really study what the Constitution actually contains.”
I honestly wish that the federal government would make someone prove that they know the contents of the Constitution via some type of questioning before they allow the person to sign the Oath of Office. If nothing else, make it like every DMV I’ve been to by giving the new employee a preparation book and then a 20 or 30 question test.
I am really interesting in knowing what others think of this issue. Please leave a comment with your thoughts.
