Freeman McNeil

It’s been at least 10 years since I laid on this model man and citizen. As I was driving down my street he came to mind this morning. I guess I spoke to him a half dozen times in the course of my career and what struck me instantly was his soft-spoken authenticity. He could have easily been caught up in his celebrity even though his playing days were over. He was constantly being mobbed in person for what people could get from him by way of endorsements or people he held under his influence. There were many professionals that could profit simply by the wave of his hand. It wasn’t that he withheld it from anyone he just wouldn’t lend his name to just any product or service. I never found out why perhaps I never will. 

What also struck me is how much favor Leon Hess held for him when he was alive. The owner of the Jets saw something in his running back as if he was his own son. This I know from my conversations I had with “Free”. Freeman McNeil was a great ball player but an even more exemplary human being.  I wish I could talk to him again being in his presence was a gift.  

P.S.

I'm not even a Jet fan. 

Road Etiquette

Remember when we first learned to drive we were taught etiquette by our parents or our High School shop teacher who took us on Student Driver Education lessons? What were those simple things? Signal your intention for one. If we were going to make a turn we pressed down or up on the indicator light so the guy in back of us knew where in God’s name we were going.  Why don’t people signal? I have tried to figure this out to no avail. At first I thought well they’re just lazy. Lazy? Only a few muscles are involved and after you make the turn the signal light goes off automatically. Really?  Then I thought even worse notions. Like they were just inconsiderate.  That’s a judgment but it was hard to let go of that one. But then I took the high road they were just ignorant because their parents or student driver instructor never told them about driver etiquette 

The second etiquette I thought of was the driver at night on a darkened road using his high beams. Perfectly normal but when you saw the loom of the light of an oncoming car in the opposite direction you switched back to low beams. Wrong! They leave them on to blind you. That still pisses me off. And depending on what kind of a day I had I might put my high beams on in retaliation but even that doesn’t seem to work. Sometimes it does but at other times?  Frustrating to me. The third is a bit more subjective. It’s the 4 way stop sign. Determining who gets to the red sign first is a bedeviling experience almost daily. The problem here is that most people do not come to a full stop as the rules of the road state. They roll (I’ve been guilty) and when I come to a stop even though they came late to the party they’re still moving and that qualifies as a stop in their mind and so they just keep on cruising. Etiquette! It’s simple enough can’t we all just get along? Oh and a big PS: Tailgating. What is it with tailgaters? My driver training told me that I should be at least a car length every 10 mph behind the guy in front of me. So 50 miles an hour translates into 5 car lengths. Not up my ass or in my trunk! Same holds true for those maniacs that cut you off exiting to a ramp or around you because you’re not moving fast enough. No wonder I drive in the right lane so often I hate the pressure that someone is in a hurry to go no place.  Drive safe my friends and remember you’re not the only one on the road.