Long Long Long year this has been, & much has taken place as it does with any other year….but I think more so with this year then then the 26.4yrs prior to I’ve grown and experienced more then ever. Not all was shared on here because as much as I enjoy being transparent, there’s a wall that must exist between my personal life offline, and what I share with the rest of the world….although I hope to be more open in 2009.

Learned

• Your attitude changes your reality – Seriously, It does. When you for instance use a positive attitude instead of a negative one you start to see things and viewpoints that weren’t apparent to you before. Not to be mistaken with living in a bubble void of reality, or the realities of the world around you (this can be extremely dangerous and a henderance for personal growth), but being generally positive and always keeping things in the correct perspective. You know the “Night is always Darkest before the Dawn” & “When God closes a door, he opens a window”
• You don’t pay taxes, the government takes taxes – The gospel via Chris Rock
• That I need to try and do this more
• That society is rather quickly losing it’s moral base and that morality is based on accepted norms, and accepted norms are based on morality. Example.
• Black people are the fastest on earth (this of course isn’t new to black folk), even if White’s remain the fastest in the water. Better yet, a black man will be the benchmark by which scientist will evaluate how fast a human being can move
• 80 percent of the value you will receive will come from 20 percent of your activities to take part in
• That I don’t have the reflexes of a jungle cat

Highlights of ‘08

• The restoration of American pride, and sheer domination at what we do best in the olympics
• Google makes a move in the cell phone realm with the Android software, it’s yet to be seen if this will actually be competition for the iPhone given the fact that it’s just the OS and not a “phone” per se
• Bush’s man turned on him…..should pick your people more carefully next time Mr. President Bush. He then publically supports his boy John McCain but months later up and turns on him at the last minute and votes for Obama. Classic.
• God bringing my sister back from the brink of death
• The man beat some of the best in the sport with a broken leg, greatest without question
• The comedic genius of SNL cast members past, thank you Tina Fey
• Comic book movies…..period
• Moving into my very own SPOT!
• Apple iPhone 3G and iPhone App Store – Apple continually releases “cool” technology. They’ve released a new version of their iPhone with enterprise technology built-in including Exchange 2007 (something that the only phone with Android/Google software does not have) ActiveSync support. They also made strong improvements in their iPhone App Store. Apple is going to turn tuning over the phone industry like they did the portable music one. Look for my personal review on the iphone to come shortly
• NY’s Governor smashing out a high-end hooker? No….
• David Cook won American Idol, perhaps there is hope that it’s not just a popularity contest
• Myley Cyrus’ Vanity Fair Photos/Dating an adult – Better yet, the fact that both of these scandals didn’t do squat to derail her career speaks volumes
• The most powerful man on earth is; down-to-earth, trustworthy (so far), committed, intelligent, grounded, young, in better shape then i’ll ever be, and what do you know….black

Crazyness

• You can now get raped over the phone apparently…..who knew
• The 2008 Election. Which for the record started back in 2007
• American and Japanese Car companies are suffering, while the Germans (with the exception of MB) are raking it in
• Russia doing whatever it wants, with whomever it wants. And oh, guess what? We didn’t have the political/diplomatic clout to stop them.
• Earthquake whipes out scores of people in China
• The Air Force doing some really stupid stuff
• Gas prices rose to an all time high, which sparked mass panic and a abandonment of purchasing SUV’s…. 90days later they were at an 5yr low
• The NFL is fixed, just like most other sports
• $700 Billion – enuff said
• Getting bought out by two companies in the past two years
• C.A.F.E - The Government’s answer to the a “problem” that can be easily solved
• SARAH PALIN
• They finally got him, interesting ain’t it?
• Collapse of the global economy [no link needed]

Personal

• Continue to experience racism, but this time on a more personal level. Perhaps it’s because I expect people to act like the have some common since seeing how “minorities” are quickly becoming the “majority.”
• Lost a few meaningful relationships with people that were predominant in my life. People that helped me grow, helped me develop into the man that I am today……Good and Bad. However one relationship in particular that I lost with a friend of mine who was more like a little brother/son then anything else. The bond was beyond that of friendship, and what broke the bond was very marrow of his own success. Life had become such a constant panegyric cycle that he unknowingly had built up this gross narcissistic view in which elevated himself above everyone else…..their opinions, feelings, guidence, input, EVERYTHING — that is unless he deemed it important enough that he would give it a measure of thought or it fell into his realm of importance. I loved him like I would my flesh and blood, and even though i knew his capacity to do this for a long time now (due in part that he’d rarely made a wrong move in the past 10yrs, let alone his entire life) I didn’t want to believe though, believe that he was so callow as to throw away 20+yrs over…..well nothing but his desire to be magniloquent. It showed me (and the others he cast aside) without a shadow of a doubt what that relationship meant to him, even though it’s been a year now it still feels like it was yesterday.

So, that’s my year in a what might be my longest post i’ve made in a while, expect more from me as I will be on this much more then I have the last five months. As always, i look forward to feedback. God bless in 09.

B.Price

First, I’m sorry i’ve been away for so many weeks. Work is heavy, and last week was the holiday so I really didn’t want to touch, or look at my computer. Sleeping in everyday till at least 10 (sometimes as late as 12:30) was glorious and I could use another solid week like that where I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn for some reason or another.

Second, Happy belated Thanksgiving!

I don’t think wishing someone happy thanksgiving can be belated, that is unless thanksgiving is all about the food, the day off of work or the shopping which for me it’s not. It’s spending time with my family, being thankful for what i’ve been blessed with and taking a moment to reflect on the year and just be thankful for the little things…..my family, my health, my employment status just to name a few.

Third, Alert!!!
America…..We have a problem.

And THIS is it

And

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27955316/

NEW YORK – Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday’s video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman.

Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart doors before its 5 a.m. opening at a mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the employee, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.

“This crowd was out of control,” Fleming said. He described the scene as “utter chaos,” and said the store didn’t have enough security.

Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store.

Damour, 34, of Queens, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined.

And

Is this what the holiday season is about now?

Shoppers returned to Toys R Us in Palm Desert on Saturday, a day after two men shot each other dead in front of terrified Black Friday customers.

An armed security guard stood watch outside the store and another was inside. A police car patrolled the parking lot. Many employees came from other Southland stores because some regular clerks were too scared to return, said an employee who asked not to be identified by name.

The dead men were identified by Riverside County sheriff’s officials as Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City. Two handguns were recovered at the scene.

The shooting occurred about 11:30 a.m. Friday after two women got into a fight. After the women began arguing, witnesses said, Meza pulled out a gun. Moreno also pulled out a gun and started chasing and shooting at Meza, witnesses said. Frantic shoppers either dropped to the floor or stormed out of the store.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said no one was arrested, but he would not identify the women. Their dispute was not part of the investigation, Gutierrez said.

Many shoppers Saturday were slightly skittish.

Valerie Criscuolo, 26, of Twentynine Palms went to the store with Marcus Noil and their two sons. It was their elder child’s birthday, and the family planned to go to Chuck E. Cheese and Toys R Us.

After hearing about the shooting, the family almost canceled its plans, but the security guards reassured them, Criscuolo said.

Ryan Tidd, 13, of Sky Valley went to the store with his parents but seemed nervous. As his mother, Michelle, perused video board games, he asked her if the gunmen could return.

“They can’t come back,” she said, although that didn’t seem to reassure the boy.

Tidd said the situation was surreal.

“You gotta be kidding me,” she said. “A shooting at a Toys R Us?”

These two events are sickening reminders that humanity has happily replaced caring and respect with greed and selfishness. This shouldn’t be a holiday/weekend/time for a “deal” but a time for family, out pouring of reflection, joy, compassion, & kindness to your fellow man. Nope. Its about saving a few hundred bucks on a TV.

The Walmart tragedy boils down to scarcity, IMO. Scarcity cuts two ways: scarcity of goods and scarcity of dollars in the pocket. Walmart being the largest and arugably deepest discounter profits BIG TIME from both of these and could probably care less about what happens in thier “parking lot” or “front door”…….now if people had starting running out of the store carrying TV’s and blu ray’s I can promise that the Walmart story would’ve been about people getting shot and arrested for theft by store security….believe it.

Not even going to touch the Toys-R-Us story being that all of the details aren’t known and it we don’t know exactly why it started. Other then it being shameful, and sad.

B.Price

Haven’t had much to say as of recent…..well maybe not so much that I haven’t had anything to say but more so that I haven’t had time to post up what I wanted to say. However I couldn’t let a week go by and not point out the obvious here.

The past seven days have been very big for my city, and in case you’ve been living under a rock the above picture is a illustration of what’s been going on, and arguably one of the most historical and relevant times in our existance as human beings…not just our modern day society, but our existance. I’ll be able to tell my kids one day that I was apart of history, I was there like their grandparents before them during the civil rights movement to see history in the making.

Now grant it, there are some issues/policy changes that have already surfaced that I don’t agree with, but I plan on reserving judgment until this man (who’s checks the same box as I do on official government documents that ask what your “Race” is) is able to get his feet and the ground and get into the Oval office. He’s not the guy I wanted a year ago, but given the choice we had it was a “no-brainer” on who would be president and I will give him a shot to prove himself, and back up what he’s been saying he would do over the past 18months. He’s surely got his work cut out for him.

Below I have posted up some of what I consider the most touching photo’s from the past year that i’ve found and have been sent to me. I hope and pray that this man can begin the process of bringing about a new era in the United States. To whom much is given, much is required President Obama…….

B.Price

Alright folks, so as much as I’ve attempted to avoid this I really just can’t anymore. I’m not drawing a line and picking a candidate yet because…..well frankly the guy that I liked didn’t get in, so right now i’m still riding the fence for eh, the next 30days or so. However, when i see absolute stupidity/incompetency or where I might notice things that literally and utterly confound and perplex me I just can’t sit on and act like they don’t exist.

1st) I’ve been reading over a lot of really interesting blogs lately trying to broaden my perspective on this bailout i’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that this bailout for the most part is garbage. What they (the government) are doing is basically rescuing all of the companies and organizations that made terrible, and risky decisions way back when the housing market was booming. You know what that is? It’s me asking everyone in my building complex (it’s about 1000 of us) to give me $1,000 so I can clear out my debit after i’ve gone out and financed a $150,000 classic car that I was going to restore and turn around to sell for $200k……well I couldn’t sell that car because the market for it dried up and now I cannot afford the note……what do you think those people’s responses would be?

Don’t get me wrong I’m fully aware that this is indeed a bailout of the American economy. And that If banks continue to feel the pressure that that are currently have/do then they will continue to pull back on lending, the economy will become extremely stagnant and the ripple effect from that will be enormous. But it still doesn’t make me feel any better that i’ll be carrying on my back the price tag for their bad decisions.

Michael DeVault said it best

This meltdown has already inflicted its damage. If you have a decent credit score and your 20 percent downpayment, you’ll still get your new mortgage. If you have a good pay history on your credit cards and a job, you’ll still be able to get your ultra-HD Big Screen T.V. on 180-days Same As Cash at your friendly neighborhood Best Buy.

If, however, you’re a meth-addicted crack whore working a minimum wage job at McDonald’s with a 325 credit rating (and let’s face it, if you have a pulse, you score a 300), then guess what: no, sweetheart, you will not be able to buy your $450,000 McMansion in Tuscan Hills Estates.

2nd) That debate tonight……a small child would’ve been able to identify not only who was in control but who got butchered who wasn’t, and who came out the clear victor. Although, why in the heck did this get so much press?? I honestly couldn’t care less about what the vice presidents views are, no matter how powerful that office is it is subordinate to the west wing.

B.Price

31.6MPG by 2015…..

Let’s marinate on that for a second if you will.

Are we good?

Ok then, as some of you that already know me might already be aware of the fact that i’m a bit of a car enthusiast….a “bit” meaning that a gorgeous streamlined automobile can turn my head faster then a gorgeous half dressed woman can. It’s just how i’m wired, and who I am.

So first off….lets get down to what CAFE is.

C.A.F.E stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), it is a law setting minimum average fuel-consumption levels for cars and trucks sold in America. The law has been in effect since 1975, two years after the first U.S. fuel crisis. Since 1985, the law has required that an automaker’s line of cars average 27.5 mpg. The current truck standard of 22.2 mpg was raised 1.5 mpg over the past three years…….Where the problem now lies is in the congressional approval of a bill to raise the CAFE standards to 31.6mpg by 2015.

This is ridiculous and absurd. Newer cars a burning less gas, cleaner, and emitting less pollution then they’ve been in the past 30 years. Cars can up 5-7,000 miles without oil changes, bio-degradable tires, synthetic oils, engines that are lasting 150,000+ miles without any major emission related issues, state and local annual emissions tests/standards and hybrids…..hybrids are everywhere. Not only that, but our government now is going to make what is already an extremely volatile market (all because the government wont take the same stand against the oil cartels like they will for “the environment”) for automakers even more difficult now that they have to scramble to cut models, scrap engines, destroy or cease making legendary brands that we’ve come to love and appreciate.

In addition our government is abolishing the stigmas of what makes us the American automotive consumer….that stigma being the SUV (as well as the pick up truck). No where on God’s green earth are these automobiles more popular then what they are in this great nation of ours. We already are in a recession and the price of gas is now at an all time high, so now somehow congress thinks that forcing the automobile companies to change their entire lineup to make cars burn less gas and ultimately abolish what drives the automotive economic engine in this county will help improve the environment…..Here’s some cold hard facts

• According to Automotive News the big three automakers in Detroit who combined make up more then 2/3’s of SUV’s on the road will pay about $30.6 billion — including $15 billion by General Motors alone — to bring their fleets inline with the new regulations. This on top of the combined 25.4% sales drop from their respective brand last month compared to the numbers from last year. (HUMMER alone dropped 61.7%)

• Honda passed Chrysler in U.S. sales for the first time…..EVER. What’s more, the Honda Civic beat out the Ford F Series pickup to become the nation’s best selling vehicle for the first time on record as well. The Toyota Camry also topped F Series sales in the month. Just to so there’s a clear understanding of how significant these numbers are….the best selling minivan in the history of automobiles in the Dodge Caravan with an astonishing 11 million cars sold The best single-month sales of any car ever goes the Ford F series back in July 2005 of 126,000 units.

High gas prices are not new. They have been creeping steadily higher for a decade. So I don’t want to lose focus and concentrate on that topic, gas isn’t what this post is about. This post is about the government crippling the automotive industry in order to “save the environment”, which is garbage. You know why? Because overseas governments aren’t in the least bit imposing the same crap that congress has and they output an enormous amount of pollution (not to mention gas prices are on average….AVERAGE 25% higher then what they are in the US).

You want to do something? Light a fire under some of these other nations to get in the ball with their pollution issues, do some actual good for a change. Put those billions (of people CHINA) to good use.

Some places that deserve an honorable mention:

1. The People’s Republic of China (Linfen) A superpower that has 16/20 of the most polluted cities on the planet
2. India (Ranipet)
3. Russia (Dzerzinsk, Norilsk, & Rudnaya Pristan)
4. Peru (La Oroya)

Oh and for the record, alternative fuels (at least the ones that are currently out there) aren’t the answer either. The main problem here is that producing alternate fuels and hybrid cars often requires CO2 emissions that offset or cancel the benefits of improve vehicular design. Take ethonal for instance – ethanol is made from corn, more than 75% of its energy value is spent on its production. Filling up one large vehicle fuel tank one time with 100% ethanol uses enough corn to feed one person for a year. So yeah, ethonal = not so good idea.

Electric cars? Ok, If an electric car is recharged with electricity produced by a fossil fuel burning generator, there will be little to no net benefit to the atmosphere. A real solution would reduce air pollution beginning at source materials and would continue through the use cycle of the vehicle.

My solution is biodesiel. Why you might ask? Because a biofuel should provide a net energy gain, have environmental benefits, be economically competitive, and be producible in large quantities without reducing food supplies.Biodisels do just that. Ethanol yields 25% more energy than the energy invested in its production, whereas biodiesel yields 93% more. Compared with ethanol, biodiesel releases just 1.0%, 8.3%, and 13% of the agricultural nitrogen, phosphorus, and pesticide pollutants, respectively, per net energy gain. Your precious greenhouse gas emissions are reduced 12% by the production and combustion of ethanol and 41% by biodiesel. Biodiesel also releases less air pollutants per net energy gain than ethanol. These advantages of biodiesel over ethanol come from lower agricultural inputs and more efficient conversion of feedstocks to fuel.

No solution is better than reduced vehicle use. Congress, get more money into public transportation!!!

So to me it’s a no brainer on what we should be focusing on as a country and as members of planet earth. Sorry for the long post, but I just had to get this stuff off of my chest.

-B.Price

This post is about my disdain for a disturbing and growing trend that will see a resurgence now that the weather is warm….Mandals. If you wear them and get easily offended by the raw and pungent truth then you probably should wait for my next post and skip this one.

First off, WTF. When did we start calling Men’s Sandals Mandals? Who came up with this? And why is it then when I went into DSW last weekend and told the cute sales rep that I was looking for some sandals she tells me “Oh the mandals are over in this section”……excuse me, WHAT? Did I not get the man memo about this new term or something?

Oh and don’t think I haven’t taken notice of my Caucasian (and every other race for that fact) brothern wearing these during the cold months…..Where in what book of man laws ™ or rule of thumb was it ok for us to start wearing these on the regular like it’s apart of everyday life (365 days a year with anything we want)? It’s gotten so bad THAT NOW THERE’S A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION ASSOCIATED WITH WEARING THEM!

Are you Egyptian, do you live in a climate that has more (appropriate) warm days then cold? Perhaps you’re a Spartan or of Roman decent…..No? Okay then it’s not kosher for you to wear these year round guys….it’s not kosher.

I use to rock the “mandals” hard back in the day when they were just called “mens sandals”, by “hard” I mean in the appropriate place and at the fashionably appropriate time.

For example

• WHEN MY FEET DON’T LOOK AS THOUGH I’VE BEEN WALKING ON RAZOR SHARP ROCKS OUT IN THE BUSH SOMEWHERE!
• At the beach
• While washing the car
• When rocking the fresh linen pants & or linen shirt
• Spring time @ a wine festival
• A quick trip down to the mailbox/grocery store/carry out/car (when to lazy to lace up some kicks)
• Summer BBQ’s & or cookouts
• A scorching summer day when shoes/socks just aren’t going to do

But now you can see guys rocking this look year ’round, proudly wearing them with jeans, at the club, nice restaurants, in the winter time, or with mens capris. I’m not saying that wearing man sandals during this time of year is bad, this is the time of year when you should wear them, and when it’s appropriate. Where my problem is are with the people that rock them hard all year, and those people that don’t follow the rules when wearing them around this time of year.

Here are three key rules that the dominate gender should ad hear to.

1. Socks with Sandals – No man should be caught wearing socks with sandals. But again, especially in the black community this has become acceptable. If you wearing sandals leave the socks at home please.

2. Flip-Flops – Honestly there really isn’t a necessity for a man to wear these type of sandals when there’s such a vast collection to choose from now days….But for those that do follow this rule: If not at the beach, then there is no reason for any man to be wearing flip-flops. Ever.

3. Pedicure – If you don’t know what that is or perhaps think this is for women please stop reading, go get your mandals and throw them in the trash. It’s a requirement, not an option. Look at it like this; would you go outside with your hands ashy and crusty? with your fingernails long and yellow??? NO! So don’t let your feet be in that condition. GET A PEDICURE!

/rant

Long day at work today…..it’s one of those rainy dreary days outside that you should be spending inside your own dwelling not in an office on the first day following the weekend……on my way home with mild to light traffic, unseasonably cold and just all around dreary and gloomy day. Leave the parking garage (break out) after giving the man my 9+hrs, blow thru a few traffic lights to get onto the main road to take me home….while at the same time browse the local stations stored in the presents on my radio and what to I find? Garbage, straight up garbage.

Am I soothed, moved, motivated and liberated by the hypnotic sounds of instruments, melodies and smooth vocals?….Nope, my ears are assaulted by Mariah Carey belting about someone touching her body, Flo Rider talking about jeans and some girl’s boots, a drug addict going on and on about a lollipop, and User whining about getting some in a club? Seriously…..is this what we are calling music now? Disgruntled, and disappointed I cut the radio off, (didn’t even bother to look for a cd) and resumed the ride home.

I arrive at my destination tired, disappointed, and sapped of energy due in part because of the climate but mostly because one of the very art forms that i’ve come to love and appreciate above all others was utterly butchered and has at that moment failed me. I take it to heart just because of what it invokes in me, what I gleam from it….. the melody, dynamics, texture, structure of this art form just does something to me, especially on days like this.

Drop my bag, kick off the shoes, prep/begin dinner. Stop and take a second just as i’m about to turn on the tv, go for the Zune instead and put on some Marvin Gaye (1976; I Want You). This was 100% without question an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental and vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner. As I suspended the rest of my evening to absorb the mellotic tones of one of the greatest artists of our time one song inparticular comes on.

Track 1 (the device is set to shuffle, Track 4 ended up starting first) I Want You. The title track for the album, this is where my night stays….for the past four maybe five hours i’ve been absorbing art in it’s raw form from the soulful sound and equally romantic and erotic lyrics of this great song. I’m aware that not everyone loves this genre of music that I do, neither can the same song that impacts me in this very moment do the same to someone who might share my same love for this art form…but If you love, and know of what real music is then there’s no denying the greatness in this…Real Music, from this truly great artist.

I Want You (Vocal)

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-266196747943131850&hl=en]

I Want You (accapella)

As I dive deeper into the blogging thing I want to begin intelligent discussion about various “Questions of the Week” that I have for my small but growing base of readers.

This week it’s in a form of one of my favorite songs by the Neo Soul/R&B artist Musiq. Give a listen and leave a comment about what you’d do if it were you in the situation. I personally haven’t been in that situation but if I was i’m not sure how i’d respond if I was put in this exact situation that he was given the fact that it was just the one time…..

The core part of the song is as follows for those that might be too lazy to actually listen to the entire song

So what would you do?

Guys: if a girl came to you saying what she says in the opening conversation

Ladies: if this was you, and the part of the lyrics were said to you by the guy you were involved with. Plus how would you tell him?

-B.Price

Alright so i’m going to have to make a slight confession here…..I on occasion watch American Idol. Normally I only stick around long enough to see the carnage that takes place during the auditions, and like most of Americans get a big kick/laugh out of it. But it’s perhaps something about the contestants this year or maybe the utter lack of quality programming on TV due to the writers strike motivated me to watch….and watch like it’s season 2 I have.

So last night the contestant (already a star) David Cook did a cover of one of my favorite song by Michael Jackson called ‘Billie Jean‘, but decided to do Chris Cornell’s version of this legendary track. It was pure gospel, music in it’s raw form, this kid can blow. Not only did he own a song that isn’t really “his own” and was made legend by the King of Pop, but performed it for an audience of a lost generation of listeners that don’t have a clue what good music is and they loved it.

Hands down it was the performance of the season so far, and the best rendition out of many others. Even though he wasn’t the first to perform it, I think he took absolute creative control (unlike some of the other contestants) over his performance a made it his own.

…and your nudity at the gym….

So i’ve been hitting the gym for the past four months or so, not like I should but whatever, i have a membership and i’m there so that’s what’s important. In starting at this new gym, the first week (day really) I get there I notice that most of if not all of the patrons there are caucasion. Not that there’s a problem with this, i work with them, call them friends, even break bread with them.

But I’m coming from an all black gym for the most part in my native PG county where the music, the tv stations, and the people are different. It’s this last thing: the people being different, that i’m going to touch on. I don’t know if it’s a pre-programmed rule of thumb from birth, the particular gym I was going to, a respect thing or what but BLACK MEN (at the local gym) DON’T WALK AROUND IN THE LOCKER ROOM (with the exception to ball players) BUTT NAKED! I’m sorry, we don’t.

Now grant it, i’m not saying that during the course of your time between the shower, and your locker that you wont “be naked” but we don’t walk out of the shower, bare feat (i’m going to get to this too) air drying, strolling back to our lockers with the towel not where it should be, i’m sorry we don’t. This isn’t a movie with Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, we aren’t teammates playing professional sports getting showered and ready to get back on the bus to head home, and it sure ’nuff isn’t an exhibition of some sort to show off to fellow members (no phun intended) of your gender.

It never fails that when i’m in there it’s usally me and one (literally, one) other brother who see the white guys proudly walking out of the showers naked, and bare in route to their lockers. We turn to eachother and shake our heads in non-verbal unison, noone wants to see that! Seriously, and if you are proud of what you’ve got, great for you but i’m a hetrorosexual man and I don’t enjoy seeing your junk, or pale ass as i’m getting ready for my workout, or ready to leave. Mom didn’t teach you to cover up? You aren’t at home buddy, you are in a public place, act like it.

What gets me more is that I can almost guarantee that if a female were to walk thru that locker room ALL of them would be covering up, making a big stink. Where as if I did shower at the gym (my house is <25min from the gym, i’ll be alright until then) that’s when i’d be the most comfortable with my nudity. So my point is, I’m not interested in seeing your parts swinging around the room, there’s nothing special going on down there, in fact why would you assume anyone will want to look at it? Please cover that ish up! I don’t want you standing/bending/walking next to me while i’m lacing up my shoe and then I look up and see *you*, and for the love of God don’t stop getting dressed in order to sit there and carry a conversation with me while you are naked.

PUT YOUR TOWEL ON!!!!

Signed 

-blprice a.k.a frustrated black man