Not everything I write about is Greek-related. And I’ve decided to start commenting and commentating on my blog page about more than Greek-related things. I hope you don’t mind.
So for my first installment of “Random Thursday Thoughts:
(1) Make America Great (again)?
I just returned from Florida where I spent a few days visiting friends and speaking at an AHEPA convention.
While driving through some very wealthy neighborhoods in and around Tampa and Clearwater, with multi-million dollar houses, BMWs, Ferraris and Lamborghinis parked in driveways.
I couldn’t help but notice the over-abundance of “TRUMP: Make America Great Again” lawn signs in these neighborhoods.
I wanted to stop at a few of the houses and ring their doorbells and ask… What exactly about America isn’t “great” that you want Donald Trump to “make great again” that enables you to live in this house, in the wealthiest neighborhood in Tampa and Clearwater and drive fancy schmancy (Italian) sports cars?
(2) I’ve heard so many people defend semi-automatic machine guns as a means of self-defense and justifying their existence. Several politicians and National Rifle Association talking heads even said that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
So my question is– why hasn’t a good guy with a gun ever stopped a massacre from taking place?
(3) Excuse me sir, your hookah bar is named after a terrorist organization
I returned to my old neighborhood of Astoria so my boy Duke could get his puppy passport for his first trip to Greece this summer. And right next door there was a hookah lounge called– you guessed it… ISIS.
“Excuse me sir, but this place is named after a terrorist organization,” said a man who walked by to another man sitting outside in a chair who appeared to be the owner or manager.
“It’s named after an Egyptian goddess,” the manager responded, adding that “she was named ISIS before the terrorists were.”
The passerby responded… “Well maybe she should change her name.”
I shook my head and kept walking.