Cars blocking emergency exit
I have recently noticed that people are regularly parking in front of the only emergency exit on the property where I live, placing their fat, toadish SUVs right on top of the red cross-hatching and directly in front of the signs that say NO PARKING - FIRE EXIT.
When I first approached the new apartment manager about this safety issue almost a month ago, she was outside with her dog, which was not on a leash and which was wildly chasing after my little poochon who, though normally quite calm and dog-friendly, was cowering and trying to escape. She said she didn't know who was parking there, but I was later told that several of those cars belonged to
her family and/or friends. Indeed, the very next morning, those same cars were lined up on the OTHER side of the parking lot, this time blocking all of the garages of the residents, giving the distinct impression that she had, indeed, recognized that the cars had been noticed and she had told her family and friends to block the residents' garages instead of the emergency exit.
I tend to be someone who follows the rules and I am civic minded. I won't typically make a big fuss over an issue that is strictly personal to myself, but if the matter is one which affects a class of protected persons, such as the elderly or the disabled, I am more inclined to speak up.
Reporting a problem that impacted the health and safety of all the tenants seemed a natural thing to do. Several weeks went by, however, and the cars continued to park there, night after night.
One morning, I happened to see the owners of one of the vehicles, with husband and children in tow, climbing into one of the little SUVs, and I respectfully asked to speak with her, telling her that it was not legal to park in the fire lane and was dangerous. In a colorful, coarse and loud manner, she told me off and claimed that the office manager had given her permission to park there.
[It is ironic that I recognized her as the daughter of one of our residents who stole from me when she visited my house, despite my having been incredibly generous toward her. That daughter has been sleeping on an expensive day bed and sheets that I gave her mother a couple years ago, and now she was giving me the ugly face, yelling at me like a fishwife. I never have believed in that adage that "what goes around, comes around." Usually, the opposite is true.]
Safety issues have become important to me since becoming disabled. I always need to know that I can GET OUT if I need to do so. Having tried to handle it with the woman directly (and failing), I made a detour to the apartment office to follow up with the manager on our previous conversation.
The first thing I noticed was the manager's sullen expression when I walked into the office and gave her a cheery "good morning," using her name and smiling. I asked her, "Remember a few weeks ago when we discussed the people parking in front of the emergency exit?"
She strongly asserted that we definitely did not have any such conversation. This comment came just a few days after her telling me that an email I sent her asking for a work order was not received. I was beginning to see a pattern of lies from this woman. Not a good sign.
First, I tried to see if I could disarm her obvious hostility by expressing concern. I asked her if the new job was stressing her out. She just got more irate. There was no saving the conversation, which went downhill, with her lobbing sarcastic, demeaning and insulting comments at a very puzzled little hermit. She was talking very fast, interrupting every sentence I tried to get out of my mouth, and acting like an obnoxious teenager on the playground...the kind that used to rat their hair up really high on their head so they could hide knives in it.
Her perspective was that (a), it was none of my business; (b) she didn't think it was any big deal (she called it "petty"); and, (c) there aren't enough parking spaces for the number of cars people own (and therefore it was OK.)
The woman got nastier and nastier, and I could see there was no sense in continuing the interaction. I had run up against someone highly influenced by America's thug culture once again.
Thug culture has a "value structure" that is completely narcissistic and runs counter to Christian values. Thugs will never admit to doing anything wrong and will go to great lengths to cover up any error they may have made. Apologies are simply not in their wheelhouse, and lies are their stock in trade. They use high levels of hostile behavior to mask their own crimes. They are highly prejudice against religious folks. They may tattoo huge pictures of our blessed mother on their bodies or even claim to be Christian, but these are cultural constructs and are not reliable indicators of any faith in the theology of the Christian church. Rather, they employ religious imagery as magical talismans meant to get them what they want out of life. Praying to escape punishment for crime would be typical, not prayer for assistance in
giving up crime. Their God is a vending machine, and prayer is the currency. If they don't get what they want, they'll get mad at God also because even God is supposed to revolve around them, like a satellite. In the more extreme cases, a member of the thug culture will go on the attack against someone who has discovered some wrongdoing of theirs. It is all about them.
How did this culture evolve?
The first thing I think about when the topic of thug culture comes up, aside from nearly everyone having a chip on their shoulder, is the incredible difference in
music from my generation to theirs. The music of my youth was all about peace and love, respect and gentleness, which is a far cry from today's disgusting thug music. It can't even be rightly called music, since the snippets of videos I have seen feature men
talking to a beat while mostly naked women pose and dance in revolting positions meant to simulate sex acts. The words are primitive, violent and offensive. Women are called whores, and enemies are meant to be shot and killed. The imagery is filthy, dark, and depressing.
The "fashions" are the next thing that come to mind. Men who wear their pants below their rump, with their underwear showing, are dressing in a style originally adopted in prisons where it was code for "I am available for anal sex." The women wear clothing that is as tight and revealing as possible. The DO dress like whores, who
likewise are advertising sexual availability like animals do. I can tell you, I am just fed up with having to see mammoth exposed breasts and skin-tight clothing sticking to every roll and crevice whenever I go shopping in one of the local stores. It offends my eyes.
I think back to my childhood and to the months I spent in "charm school" which was the poor woman's version of finishing school. They taught us how to be ladies, how to walk and talk, how to
improve ourselves and aim for the highest standard of carriage and behavior. I even learned to model on a catwalk, as a practice for developing grace of movement.
We did not learn how to twerk, pole dance, or lap dance in the charm schools, finishing schools and cotillions. These dances, that have their origin in the sex trade and strip clubs, are being widely taught these days. Whereas we were encouraged to better ourselves, elevate our minds, and refine our behavior, thug culture directs the mind to the most venial, base and animalistic strata.
Instead of turning out refined, elegant, cultured and intelligent ladies, thug culture turns out grotesque, damaged and empty women. These women, who live on the plane of anger and hostility, have plenty to be angry about. They must compete with other women for who can be the raunchiest, in order to capture the attention of a male and avoid spending the rest of their lives alone. They know that if they do not give sex soon and freely, the men will quickly move on to another woman who will. Even if they DO pony up the sex on demand, the man may still leave them, since thug culture encourages men to put a lot of notches on the bed post.
The dismantling of the structure of moral life that was a natural part of society for thousands of years is, in large part, responsible for the rise of thug culture. When the protestant church abandoned its traditional stance against contraception in 1930, it was the beginning of the destruction of the family, which is the beginning of the destruction of society as a whole. Shortly thereafter, when the birth control pill began to be distributed, all connection between sex, children and the family was severed. This perversion of the intent of sexual activity has resulted in a perverted "culture."
This perversion of the structure of society caused the entire edifice to collapse. The perception of the purpose of one's life shifted from an awareness of one's place in and responsibility to the larger community, to one which encouraged selfishness and the pursuit of sensory pleasures and comforts.
In America's thug culture, everything is backward. The safety and welfare of society at large has taken a back seat to the individuals' personal convenience. It is perfectly OK to cause a dangerous situation that could result in the loss of lives to other people, if blocking the only emergency exit gets you closer to your apartment, or the apartment of your friend or relative. Parking in front of someone else's garage is also perfectly OK because
your needs take precedence over the needs of anyone else. (I can't tell you how many times I have missed a doctor's appointment, missed mass or some other appointment because some idiot has parked their car in front of my garage, around which are multiple, blaring signs that say "NO PARKING" and "RESERVED FOR GARAGE NUMBER 6."
Thug culture has no compassion for anyone else, unless that compassion serves a purpose that benefits the individual. Thug culture is the more mild version of straight up sociopath.
Thousands of people are using their dead grandmother's parking placards so they can take handicap parking, rather than having to use their perfectly good legs and walk, thus causing the legitimately handicapped people to have to go home without getting their shopping done because they CAN'T walk that far. This has happened to me. On the rare occasions when I have caught the culprit in the act, no one has the good sense to be ashamed of themselves. Nope. The thug culture rules, and I am treated to the most disgusting language.
Not long ago, here in Albuquerque, a number of employees of the Department of Transportation were caught on camera by one of Larry Barker's "stings", as they parked in handicapped parking spots in downtown, where parking is very expensive in the lots and very scarce on the streets. Imagine - the agency that is supposed to administer this kind of thing is full of people who flout the law, using phony, stolen or "borrowed" placards. When this intrepid journalist confronted them, they behaved as if HE was doing something wrong.
This attitude of personal entitlement has seeped into every part of our culture. Even the people whose job it is to help others less fortunate actually rob from them on a regular basis. I will never forget taking a car load full of high quality household items, jewelry and clothing into one of the local "charity" thrift stores, only to find out that NONE of it ever made it onto the floor.
When I called them on it, even the administrator refused to do anything about it, defending her employees despite being notified of the theft. In fact, the administrator was nasty toward me. I was the bad person because I had brought it to her attention. Perhaps the administrator was part of it. I can picture her, rifling through the boxes and bags, claiming all the nice things for herself instead of putting it in the shop where customers would notice that good items were stocked and where business would improve as a result. It is practically Dickensian. I am reminded of various scenes in Victorian novels in which the dead are practically stripped naked so that their shoes, their jewelry, their money, and anything else of value can be taken right off the still-warm body.
Without exception, every time I try to report something that is illegal, dangerous, and/or criminal, the persons who SHOULD be saying, "thanks for letting me know. I will take care of that," instead defends the practice and finds fault with me in a hostile and often vulgar way.
Many people will participate in the crimes of others by actively hiding the actions of criminals. In the last apartment building where I lived, one of the women told me she had seen someone bury a handgun in the garden beneath her window and then come back for it a few days later. She didn't call the police, even though this guy could have gotten into the apartment and held us all up or killed us. She told me that to call the police just wasn't done.
In thug culture, you are supposed to protect the criminal. If you follow the rules, respect the police, and report crime, you're a rat, the one who is "wrong" in this scenario. The "wrong guy" is the person with a sense of moral and ethical responsibility. The "wrong guy" cares about the health and safety of other people, including the disabled, the poor, the baby in the womb and the frail elderly. It is just crazy.
In thug culture, there is no moral imperative. No standard. Whatever the thug has to do to "win" in any situation, they will do, without any regard for the condition of their soul. Lie, cheat, steal...whatever.
As far as I can see, thug culture spreads across all socio economic boundaries and is not limited to any ethnic group.
The religious leadership is certainly not free of this dark tendency to sacrifice others at the altar of one's own satisfaction and convenience! Even in the rarified upper echelons of the Catholic hierarchy, I am learning that some bishops and cardinals are living like princes in exclusive, luxurious residences crammed with fine art and jet-setting around the world while scores of parishes are closing for lack of funds. They're living in luxury, thanks to the nickels of the poor being thrown into the collection plate. It is not what Jesus had in mind when he told the young man to sell all he owned, give it to the poor and follow him. He did NOT say, "Call the moving men, have all your possessions packed up, and hire them to follow us all over the Holy Land while I preach...and make sure you've got the wine and cheese in a refrigerated compartment. I may get a bit peckish."
Cardinal Donald Wuerl
In a religion that is, supposedly, a religion of the poor, started by God who came into the world as a poor person with no entitlement, where the
tradition is one of poverty, chastity and obedience, prelates like Cardinal Wuerl who lives in the penthouse of a building on Embassy Row,
the most expensive neighborhood in Washington, D.C., might as well be in one of those rap videos where the gangster is peeling off dollar bills and bragging about how he's "gonna make it rain up in here."
Cardinal Wuerl lives in the 3rd floor penthouse of this
exclusive building that is valued at 43 million dollars
(photo from Churchmilitant.com)
http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/trending/category/14/cdl.-burke
The taxes ALONE for Cardinal Wuerl's residence were more than $67,000 in 2013. My entire yearly income in 2013 was less than $18,000, and I used to fret about not contributing more to my church. I have a different perspective now.
Cardinal Wuerl's previous home, where he lived for nearly 20 years when he reigned over Pittsburgh, was a 39-room Morewood Heights mansion that "was filled with antiques, sacred art, Oriental rugs and elegant furniture from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries." (quote from Church Militant)
39 room Mansion - home to Wuerl for almost 20 years
Thanks to the Vatileaks scandal, we now know that Cardinal Burke's residence is more than 4,000 square feet and Cardinal Turkson's is more than 3,000 square feet.
I am just flabbergasted at these numbers. Americans, who tend to lionize the rich and hate the poor, often have no problem with these religious "executives" living like kings while the peasants scramble for bread. I admit that, when I first heard of the flack about the expensive residences of some bishops and cardinals, I dismissed it, not realizing how extreme is the problem. I live in a 675 square foot apartment, so I imagined that the prelates were being criticized for a 5 bedroom house or something like that. When I learned the extent of the problem, I was more than a little upset. First of all, the damn unfairness of it; to suck the life out of the church while we are going downhill financially and parishes are closing all over the place is just awful. I am quite sure that Jesus is NOT pleased about this situation.
I want to make it clear that I have no problem whatsoever with a beautiful, grand church building. I love them. Churches are accessible to everyone. We can ALL enjoy the beauty of the place, the architecture, the fine paintings and statutes. This is a form of public art that lifts the spirit and sets the mind on the highest plane.
A cardinal's personal residence is another thing entirely. Unlike a church, where I can become a member and sit and enjoy the surroundings during the mass and at other times, none of us will have access to the cardinals private residence. Unlike a church, where I can just walk into it any time I like, I can't walk into the Cardinal's private residence and enjoy his artwork, comfy couches and delicious food.
It is for his personal enjoyment.
So, I have wandered from cars blocking emergency exits, to handicapped parking, to stealing from the poor in small and great ways. What is the unifying factor in all this? I will tell you what. SELFISHNESS. We have enshrined selfishness in our culture and have made graven images of ourselves which we worship daily. From the moment the Christian world gave up the high ground on morality, some time in the early 20th century, Americans have rapidly slid down that slippery slope of virtue, landing at the bottom of the heap, a bunch of malignant narcissists, a mere 85 years after the protestants reversed their position on contraception. It only took one generation to become a pagan nation and hand the whole thing over to Satan.
What is the solution? As for myself, all I can do is write my little blog and pray, but I have an idea as to what is needed, and that is for the church to return to its authentic self. We started this whole mess when we let go of the moral reins and let the whole thing slide into a muddy ditch. I am kind of mad about it, on a personal level, because I was born into this insanity and it took me
years to shake off the self-centered and promiscuous culture and recognize it for what it was. I had been raised by two religion-hating hedonists and then walked out into a world similarly inclined. How was I supposed to learn about Jesus and His church?
We have to go back to where we started. We need to preach and live and believe in the faith that Jesus gave us, which is the OPPOSITE of selfishness.
The very first thing that needs to be done is to de-Protestanize the faith. Something happened somewhere along the line where the Catholic Church began to copy the protestant church for some reason I cannot fathom. Some people blame Vatican II, but I can't render an opinion on that, since I wasn't around when Vatican II came down the pike, and I have not studied it in detail.
All I know is that the churches here in Albuquerque, many of them, look like Baptist meeting halls or empty Protestant churches. Statues, kneelers, and beautiful art and architecture has been replaced with some of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen. Some look like convention centers or theatre in the round. It is appalling. The music is dreadful. The atmosphere lacks reverence. The reserved host has been shuttled away from the altar. I could go on and on.
Most important, however, is that the Catholic Church is chock full of people who do not believe in the faith and, as such, should go elsewhere until and unless they experience a conversion of heart and mind that results in a sincere belief in the Catholic Church and the recognition that Jesus instituted it and gave power and authority to the Apostles to help them bring forth what he taught them and that Jesus, true to his promise, is with us "until the end of time."
Those who will not or cannot believe in the faith should go elsewhere. All those protestants in Catholic clothing, should just get out instead of trying to bend the faith to their sinful desires. Anyone, whether professional religious or lay person, who has decided that they know better than the doctrines of the church, and the Code of Canon Law, should rethink their position with great humility and, if they cannot repent, they should leave the church and go to the church they can believe in. Don't get me wrong. I am staunchly Catholic and I pray EVERY DAY that all people will become converted to Jesus Christ and to His Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, but it does no one any good to ensconce non-believing heretics in the pews or the pulpit, and
especially not in the hierarchy. You're just putting the wolf in the hen house when you do that.
When Pope Benedict was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he predicted that our church would have to become small again. It would have to become poor. I rather agree with him, because having a poor church is the only way to shake off the leeches that have attached themselves to it and are sucking it dry of all earthly resources.
The only salvation for the world is the Catholic church, but we cannot save the world if we do not believe and behave as authentic, faithful Catholics.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict XVI
Cardinal Ratzinger prophesies:
"The church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes...she will lose many of her social privileges...As a small society, [the Church] will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members...
"It will be hard-going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek...The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the even of the French Revolution - when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain...But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as somethign wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret."
"The church will become small." from
Faith and the future (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009).
Please pray for the church and all its members, and remember that the Bible specifically speaks to this situation and tells us many times to warn the wicked:
"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, "You will surely die," and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself." Ezekiel 3:17-19
In 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, we are urged to "Purge the evil person from your midst:"
"I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people, not at all referring to the immoral of this world or the greedy and robbers or idolaters, for you would then have to leave the world. But I now write to you not to associate with anyone named a brother, if he is immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a robber, not even to eat with such a person. for why should I be judging outsiders? Is it not your business to judge those within? God will judge those outside. Purge the evil person from your midst."
It is time for us to get serious about our Catholic faith and realize that it is not our own little personal faith and our own little personal club with lovey-dovey Jesus at the head of a small table. Those of us who actually believe in the faith and who do our best to follow the commandments of Jesus, form the body of Christ. Each of us is not a little island on which our individual interpretations of scripture and tradition rule. This is why it is called the "Catholic" church. It is UNIVERSAL TRUTH.
We must overthrow this thug culture and save the world. We must do some hard things and stick to the definitive teachings of the last 2,000 years, even if the rest of the world hates us. We have let the world sink into this morass of debauchery, lies and selfishness. Now we have to resurrect the moral life of our people and drag them to high ground, if necessary. Take the high road, speak strongly, and don't let the thugs convince you that right is wrong and wrong is right. Resist Satan.
Silver Rose Parnell
(c) 2015 All rights reserved.
UPDATE:
On Friday, the 27th of November, one of the neighbors who lives near the emergency exit and had, apparently heard about the great fence flack, evidently had visitors. They were parked in front of his garage, where he customarily parks, and he decided to block the emergency exit on the other side of the parking lot.
That same evening, at 11:30 p.m., there was an SUV I had not seen before, parked in front of the emergency exit and, I kid you not, it was a FIREFIGHTER'S CAR. New Mexico license plate number 1017. It was too dark to take a photo. Even a firefighter doesn't give a crap about fire safety. This world is ridiculous.
SRP
