I Fought the Oink and I Won.....

I fought the H1N1 and I came out victorious but I came to grips to the fact that I am a "fragile" being.

After a follow-up with the doctor today, I am H1N1 free. My lungs look good so the pneumonia didn't get worse. I am still sporting a bacterial bronchial infection which is a medical way of saying I still got some phlegm to get rid of to be at my peak performance. They gave me another damn shot in my ass. Personally I think that the nurses wanted to check out my butt. LOL.

Through all of this, I am slowly figuring out that my body is changing and I am not the young guy I see myself to be. I have lived a life of relatively good health. I may not eat right all the time but I try not to over-indulge in the "bad" stuff. I am holding a few extra "L B's" so I think I am going to have to make some changes in that as well. Mom is harping that I am not as young as I used to be. Blah! Blah! Blah!

I wasn't extremely concerned with the fact that I had the H1N1 virus, even though everyone made it seem like the Second Plague. I have had bronchitis before so that wasn't a big deal. It was the pneumonia that I truly feared. I feared it so much that the first two nights after my diagnosis I didn't sleep well at all. I know nothing about pneumonia and the fact that people die from this as a complication from something else put a real scarein me. I think I stressed about it so much that the medicine I was taking wasn't even doing any real good because I couldn't truly relax. Thankfully I was able to overcome it all.

I will be 40 years old in about two weeks (YEAH!) and didn't plan on looking at this day as anything special or some sort of benchmark. But with this "health scare", I am having to re-evaluate my path in regards to my health. Changes are forthcoming.

Oh I Will Never Get It....Well I Guess I am Oinking Now

Well what I thought was my bi-annual cold (winter to spring and fall to winter) turns out to be the H1N1 virus (Swine Flu). Of course when I get sick, which is rare n itself, I do it big time. I have also got two added complications - lower right lung lobe pneumonia and a severe case of bronchitis.

Being the trooper that I am and knowing that the "show" has to go on, I was trying to tough it out until my "normal" off days of Sunday and Monday where I would be able to relax and recoup. Well I guess my body finally had enough me trying to be some sort of Superman when I couldn't breathe yesterday.

I was talking to my father last night and we are both cut from the same mold in some aspects in the thinking that "oh I will never get it". We both do not get sick often but when we do - we get sick and THEN some. I never get a flu shot because I felt it was a waste of time and money because I had the mentality that "oh I will never get it".

On Day Two of my diagnosis, I am feeling better with the aid of prescription drugs and some needed rest. Last night's sleep was a little rough with a fever but I am feeling good at the writing of this entry. My doctor's orders to rest and relax are going to "kill" me since I try to keep myself occupied most of the time but I do not plan on aggravating this illness and end up in the hospital for an extended period of time. (Should have taken that short term disability this year - LOL).

Thanks for the well wishes from friends and family. Will keep ya posted on my progress. I got my meds, remote. phone, and laptop so I am good to go for now.

Basically She Called Me an Uncle Tom...

I knew that there would be something that would fire me up to write something and something last night did it. I consider myself a people person. I love to talk to others and hear their stories and see what they have experienced in life. Sometimes I even take their life lessons and apply them to myself.

My job puts me in contact with ALL types of people - young and old; rich, financially stable, or living paycheck to paycheck; black, white, yellow, red, tan, olive (hope nobody takes offense, just trying to prove a point); male or female or someone that is "has a little of both". Nevertheless, I mostly enjoy the contact. Regardless of your ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, or religion, we are all connected and have encountered the SAME problems and adversities on a common level.

Last night, I had to deal with an issue at the job that required several different interactions with my team and myself. The point was not being driven home enough that it required the ejection of some people from the property. I do not expect anyone to take news like that happily but for the greater good it had to be done. To break it down - if you have 30 people and only 1 person is the problem, you don't cater to the 1 person that is a problem and inconvenience the other 29. Upon their ejection, one female in the group, who also happened to be black (and due to her attitude - a little ghetto fabulous), had a lot to say regarding her "treatment".

She basically said that we were not treating her group fairly. For those who truly know me, I have got to be one of the most fair minded people around. Race has never been thrown into most decisions that I make especially work. She said that I was picking on the black man and wasn't doing it to "the other man". Well for her information, "the other man" was not the problem. When "the other man" has been the cause of the exact same problem, "the other man" was dealt in the same fashion as she was last night. She also said in so many words that they had to send the "the black face" of the organization to deal with her and her party. Whoa! Hold up! Wait a minute! I am not any one's "token black". Everything I achieved is due to hard work and integrity. That is what broke the camel's back with me. And to correct her, I WAS IN CHARGE of the property, nobody had to send me anywhere.

Then the "N" word got dropped several times describing me. She was talking to other members of her party and NOT directly to me when she said it which showed me how much of a cowardly individual she was. She hates dealing with "niggas". Really!?! Do you now? Gave you three chances to straighten up and you can't comply - that all of a sudden makes me a "nigga"? I felt bad for my white team members who were witness to her rantings. I am sure it is the same across the board but when one person in your race does something stupid, then all the other people in the race are embarrassed by it.

Well, I put on my best "token black" face and even thanked them for choosing us when they were walking out of the door. I am no better than anyone else and don't claim to be. But I find myself thinking of how she was "raised" to label me, a black man that wears a suit to work everyday and has quite of bit of responsibility (and authority) at work, an Uncle Tom type. What is sad is that until she opened her mouth, she WAS an visually attractive woman. What do you think?

Oh, did I mention that the gentlemen were saggin' (which I don't do) and drinking alcohol at a children's function? Maybe that will give you more insight into her thought process.