Page 4A - THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD -Thursday, May 16, 1996
JIM
HEFFNER
Columnist
What ever happened to fox tails?
Can anybody tell me why people attach all kinds of
signs, bumper stickers and other pieces of junk to their
automobiles these days?
It seems to me the whole thing started a few years ago
when somebody invented that stupid little yellow trian-
gular sign that reads “Baby on Board.”
In the first place, if the car has a baby as a passenger, * N
the sign should read “Baby Inside.” Baby on board sug-
gests a train doesn’t it?
The latest of those little yellow signs is “Presby Baby
on Board.” I wonder how they know the baby is a Pres-
byterian, or even a protestant. Have they asked the kid?
My reaction is always the same. I don’t give a hoot if
there is a baby on board, nor do I care about its religious
affiliation.
One takeoff on the baby on Board sign was “My hus-
band is in the trunk.” Now what’s that all about? How
silly can you get?
How about all those golf hats in the back window?
Some people insist on placing golf hats, or baseball caps
in the back window, one on each side of the car. They
must be matching hats. What is the significance of that?
I guess about the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen is that
stupid looking little stuffed animal in'a Charlotte Hor-
nets uniform clinging to a side window. All of them re-
mind me of the two midgets employed by the Hornets;
George Shinn and Tyrone Bogues.
The most ridiculous item I’ve seen in an automobile is
that crown so many people carry on the dashboard. I
haven’t figured that one out yet. What is the crown sup-
posed to signify? All it tells me is that the driver is a
royal goof ball.
Bumper stickers and personalized tags are getting out
of hand, too. Check them out the next time you go for a
drive. In quick succession you're likely to see: “My Son
is an Honor Roll Student,” followed by “My Son Beat
Up Your Honor Roll Student.” The obvious progression
is, “My Husband Kicked the Stuffing out of your Hus-
band for Allowing your Son to Beat Up our Honor Roll
Student.” And on, and on and on.
A bumper sticker that gets under my skin is, “Don’t
Blame Me, I Voted for Bush.” Don’t blame him for what?
The first one of those I saw was after Tricky Dick beat
George McGovern in 1972. I knew a guy from Massa-
chusetts who had a Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for
McGovern sticker. Since this guy was a mental midget
anyway, I didn’t blame him for whatever it was I wasn’t
supposed to blame him for.
“My other car is a Rolls Royce.” Now that one is hi-
larious. You always see it on the bumper of a beat up old
clunker. I put that sticker right up there with, “Don’t laugh,
. it’s paid for.”
- Some bumper stickers, I'll ‘admit, ‘do make me smile.
My favorite is, “How’s My Driving? Call 1-800-Who
Cares.” Believe me when I tell you I cleaned that one up.
Then there’s “I'd rather be Driving a Titleist,” “This Ve-
hicle Protected by Smith and Wesson,” and “Die Yuppie
Scum.”
I’ve come up with a dandy bumper sticker, and I'm
selling them for $5 each. The sticker reads, “I live in a
leper colony.” That ought to keep the tailgaters off your
bumper. Fi
If people would just remove all the junk from their cars,
they’d get much better gas mileage.
* I wonder what ever happened to fox tails and white
mud flaps?
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Seniors. and all, need to discover
the 'soul' and 'what for?’ of life
May is graduation month for many high school and
college students in Kings Mountain. I join the families,
educators, and community leaders in congratulating all
of our graduates. For each, it represents some level of
achievement and sacrifice that hopefully has prepared
them for their future plans.
One of the questions that we inevitably ask a gradu-
ate is, "What are you going to do?" That seems appro-
priate to us, since graduation marks the end of one
stage of life and the beginning of another. Our ques-
tion implies that it is time for the graduate to do some-
thing. It is sometimes an embarrassing question for the
graduate because they honestly don't know what they
are going to do. Perhaps that is because none of their
plans have worked out as yet. Maybe it is because they
really don't know what to do. It is nice for those who
have plans worked out and a clear sense of direction as
to what they want to accomplish, but graduation is not
necessarily a signal that all of that has been worked
out for every graduate. Indeed, there are many who
graduated long years ago that are still wrestling with
the question, "What are you going to do?"
Another question that comes to mind that is not of-
ten asked is this: "What for?" Maybe the answer to that
question seems obvious at first: to earn a living, to bet-
ter one's self, to have opportunity to travel or advance +
or whatever. I have to admit those, things wereidmpér-“% year fight with cancer. He was 48 years old and left
tant to me when I was a student years ago. My father
only had a tenth grade education, which was enough
for his generation. But he wanted me to get more edu-
cation so that I might have an opportunity for a better
quality of life than he had. There is nothing wrong
with that.
Since then, I have taken that question to another lev-
el of thinking. I have met the goals that my father had
for me and found that they aren't as fulfilling as one
might be led to think. There is a greater 'what for' that
everyone needs to consider as they seek to live out
their dreams. Jesus of Nazareth talked about it with his
disciples by posing this question: "What does it profit
REFLECTIONS ON
RELIGION AND LIFE
Rev. Harold Schwantes
Pastor
Central United Methodist Church
KINGS MOUNTAIN , NC
someone if they gain the whole world, but lose their
soul?" Somehow each senior (and the rest of us as
well) need to discover the 'soul,’ the 'what for' of life, if
there is to be a lasting fulfillment, or any sense of
fulfillment at all.
Many of us are wrestling with these truths as we
watch the salvage teams work through the wreckage of
the airliner that crashed May 11. We agonize over the
tragedy and the lives cut short of many unfulfilled
hopes and dreams. But such a tragedy forces us to deal
with the truth that we have no guarantees on the
amount of time given us to live on this earth. Such a
truth raises the importance of settling the question,
"What for?” ee
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine died after a five-
behind a beautiful family. During his long battle with
cancer, he told his pastor, "I have never heard of a dy-
ing man saying, 'I wish I would have spent more time
at the office." " In his brief years, my friend had a clear
sense of 'what for' such that he lived a full life with
family and friends as well as fulfilling his responsibili-
ties to his employers, his community, and his church.
My wish for the seniors of 1996 is that they will
quickly grasp a clear sense of the answer to the ques-
tion "What for?" as they continue in their quests of
life. I truly believe that when they have answered that
question, all the others that may be asked at graduation
will be answered as well.
Your Right To Say It Say It
Let's recognize police officers for a job well done
To the Editor:
Cleveland County Lodge 18 Fraternal Order of
Police Auxiliary needs your help in recognizing and
thanking our law enforcement officers for a job well
done. Our officers have given up many hours from
their own families, and for little pay, to make
Cleveland County a safer place for all of us, our chil-
dren and our grandchildren to live and play in.
National Police Officers Week is May 11-18 and
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May 15 was recognized as National Police Officer's
Memorial Day.
On Wednesday thousands of law enforcement offi-
cers gathered in Washington, DC to honor their fellow
law enforcement officers who gave the supreme sacri-
fice while protecting us, the citizens. The slain officers
names will be engraved on the Law Enforcement
Memorial and will never be forgotten by their families
and fellow law enforcement officers.
Should we wait for our officers to be killed before
we recognize him or her for the work they are doing? 1
don't think so. Let's all take part in National Police
Week and do something special for our officers. Take
time to say "thank you" to the officers, write a note and
mail it to the Police Department, Sheriff's Department
and the Highway Patrol. Churches could recognize our
officers through special prayer Sunday.
Never let them walk alone!
Renee Byars
SIDEWALK SURVEY
BOB McRAE
Superintendent
Kings Mountain School
If his answers were not quite correct. , |
Let's try to be excellent
In this my last column for the school year I want to
say thank you to The Herald for being so generous in
allowing me this space. The folks at the paper have
done this each year I have been superintendent and al-
so did it while I was high school principal. I count the
opportunity a privilege. My sincere gratitude goes out
to them. Thanks also to those of you who have been
kind enough to mention your appreciation for the
columns.
This will be a shorter summer than usual in regards
to vacation. Teachers will report back to work the first
of August, and students will be in school on August
12. I think we have an excellent calendar in place and
look forward to the focus it places on instruction.
In today's column I want to do two things. First of
all, I congratulate the class of 1996. We wish you well
and want you to know that we will miss your presence
here. Thanks for all the good things you have done. Be
proud of what you have accomplished and soar to even
greater things. God bless.
Secondly, I want to use a poem to issue us a chal-
lenge for next year. Some of you may have heard me °
share it previously. If we really want to be excellent,
the message of the poem should tell us a great deal
about what we must believe. I hope the message will
stay in our minds as we prepare for and go through the
1996-97 school year.
There once was a pretty good student
Who sat in a pretty good class
And was taught by a pretty good teacher,
Who always let pretty good pass.
He wasn't terrific at reading,
He wasn't a whiz-bang at math;
But for him education was leading
Straight down a pretty good path.
He didn't find school too exciting,
But he wanted to do pretty well,
And he did have some trouble with writing,
and nobody had taught him to spell.
When doing arithmetic problems,
Pretty good was regarded as fine;
Five and five needn't always add up to be ten,
A pretty good answer was nine.
The pretty good student was happy
With the standards that were in effect,
And nobody thought it was sappy
UO |
The pretty good class that he sat in
Was part of a pretty good school,
And the student was not an exception;
On the contrary, he was the rule.
The pretty good school that he went to
Was right there in a pretty good town.
And nobody there ever noticed
He could not tell a verb from a noun.
The pretty good student, in fact, was
A part of a pretty good mob,
And the first time he knew what he lacked was
When he looked for a pretty good job.
It was then, when he sought a position;
He discovered that life can be tough,
And he soon had a sneaky suspicion
Pretty good might not be good enough.
The pretty good town in our story
Was part of a pretty good state
Which had pretty good aspiration
And prayed for a pretty good fate.
There once was a pretty good nation,
Pretty proud of the greatness it had,
But which learned much too late,
If you want to be great,
Pretty good is, in fact, pretty bad.
-Osgood
Let's try to be very good; in fact, excellent!
* By Lib Stewart
TABATHA CARMAN
11th grader
I’m going to hang out
with my friends and look
forward to being a soon-
to-be senior in high
school.
TASHA ADAMS
12th grader
I’m going to Atlanta,
Ga. for a vacation and
then visit some college
.campuses and start
looking for a job.
What are your plans for Summer?
} 4 i
i
STEPHANIE BRITTIAN
12th grader
My graduation present
is a Cruise to the
Caribbean and then I plan
to work with my mother
at First Choice Mortgage
Co. in Gastonia and
attend Cleveland
Community College in
the fall.
12th grader
GINGER PARKER
I’m going to the beach
and then to work at
Piedmont Labs in Shelby.
STACY BROWN
12th grader
I plan a trip to the
beach after graduation,
then it’s to work and to
college this fall at
Isothermal Community
College.