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Sept. 6, 2004 I apologize for not writing an article last week but as you know I write screenplays, and an agent requested that I send him three of my scripts. So I took a couple of days and made sure that all the scripts were formatted correctly and the spelling and grammar were up to speed and sent them off on Saturday. Whew, what a project. All total I had to look through over 350 pages of script. But I was kind of jazzes that he requested these scripts because all of them were from different genres. At the bottom of the article is a place were I can advertise myself to you the reading public and I do. So when you have a chance drop by the site at the bottom of this page and check it out. You’ll be able to see that I write in different genres both for film and television. My writing is not chaotic rambling of a sick mind, although it does help, but rather those ideas or moods that attract my attention at the time. Enough about me, I could go all day long talking about why I write this or why I write that but…see I’m digressing again. Anyway I was driving in town the other day and was stuck dumb by a few sights that, I’m sure, I see all the time but for some reason they stood out more that day. I was at a signal light and walking in the crosswalk were two ladies, I’d say in their mid- fifties and they were dragging along two carts full of possessions. By the looks of their clothing they had been carting those possession for a while. After they walked by I saw another homeless person across the street waiting for another light to change so he could continue his journey. All of a sudden the realization that I was not in a third world country or a war savaged land where people were fleeing to stay alive but in California in the United States. A country that by all standards is the epitome of human civilization so far in the history of human development. And if California were to split from this union and become it’s own country would be the fourth richest nation in the world. All these facts came rushing into my mind as I watched these street people going about their business as I went about mine. And I thought to myself, wow have we missed the boat. I grew up in the sixties when the kids of my generation were sick and tried of the status quo and decided to change things around a little. I guess we did for a while and then nothing. But those ideals and standards I still have deep down inside. I guess I’ve buried them like everyone else of my generation under a torrent of how to stay afloat in this maelstrom we call life. Gone is the attitude of helping our fellow man. And in its place is the watch out for #1 rule in this high strung, fasted-paced rat race that our world has developed into. In the sixties the flower children were not about themselves but about mankind in general. They wanted peace, prosperity and love for everybody. Not just one class or one society but for all of us. We all live on planet Earth and we are all brothers and sisters, are we not? Does it matter what color of skin one has? Does it matter what God one worships? Does it really matter if you drive a BMW and I a bicycle? I don’t think so, and, I believe it’s because of something that I taught my kids from the very beginning….The mind knows no color. Therefore the mind doesn’t know materialism or religion or politics or a number of other things that plague us. It thrives on input and, as a world; we thrive because of the mind. Can you see the connection? Throughout history changes have come about because of every race, creed and class thinking outside the box and just doing it. We are all where we are right now because of something someone did before us to get us here. We need to look at the bigger picture and start asking ourselves again, can we continue to proper while leaving others behind in our dust? I believe the brain is set up that, sure we gain satisfaction from a job well done, but don’t we get a little more of a thrill when we help someone succeed? I know I do and I don’t think I’m any different from anybody else. There was a movie that came out a few years ago called “Pass it On”. I liked the premise of the movie, although I haven’t seen it, but the premise was solid. If you receive a kindness, say thank you and pass it on. It would be nice if that caught on and maybe one day when I’m driving I won’t be looking at countless homeless individuals that deserve more in their last years then an endless, empty road ahead of them. Because I know deep down that I could be there with them too and so could you if a few breaks wouldn’t have come our way. That’s the big picture. So I admonish you every time you walk or drive by a flower shop to think on these things and maybe just one bit of kindness towards another could be that break that person needs. Next week we’ll figure out why Republicans have taken away more personal liberties from us all and then say they are out to help us. Until then stop and smell the roses…. ------------ About the author: Richard Anthony is a screenplay writer and has eight screenplays to his credit. He started writing in 1990, after the birth of his first son. Prior to beginning his writing career, he spent twelve years working at two different radio stations in Sacramento, California. He was an on- air personality for the morning show program at both stations. At his final place of employment, Mr. Anthony worked as an Assistant Operations Manager and Sport Director. After radio, he formed Pyramid Productions. A film/video company dealing with video and audio commercial production. In 1998 and 1999 Mr. Anthony’s poem “What is Winning All About?” was selected by the International Library of Poetry to be placed in their anthology book of American poets for 1998. They contacted him again the following year to seek his permission for “Winning” to be included in their Millennium anthology collection. He, of course, gladly gave it. You can access his webpage at
www.tandemproductions.biz
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