Saturday, October 07, 2006

Those Who Will Make a Difference

This is the story of Wayne the carpenter. An average man, living an average life. Proud of his kids, dedicated to his work, a friendly man who is prepared to like the people he meets.

When the contractor Wayne works for runs into a sticky situation, he sends Wayne the Peacemaker to calm the customer and arrange compromises that leave company and customer satisfied.

This man is good at what he does. I can testify to that because I was quite annoyed with the details of a contract I’d signed with his company to do some work repairing our leaky roof. Not only did it cost more than agreed upon, but the contractor had failed to use the materials that appeared (to me) to be in the agreement we signed. I felt cheated and jerked around, to put it mildly.

So out to the house comes Wayne, a smile on his face, an apology on his lips, and a compromise in his hand. We agreed that his company and I would split the difference, and Wayne explained to me why the materials would not only suffice, but would leave our roof waterproof and safe until such time as we could afford a new one. He also gave us some extra materials, gratis.

Yep, Wayne is indeed an expert at mollification.
- - - - - - - - - -
As he was leaving, Wayne noticed our American flag hanging from the porch. He mentioned in passing that he had both an American flag and a state flag (hanging lower — and smaller — of course, he said). He and his dad had erected a tall flagstaff in a bricked-in flower bed. In addition, they had installed a floodlight that illuminated the flags at night. Thus he could leave his flag up instead of having to take it down after dark. However, he said, he was a stickler for the rules and when it rained, the flags always came down. “Sometimes,” he said, “the rules matter.”

Wayne hails from Appomattox. Red House is not far from there, so we asked him if he was familiar with the compound. His smile faded and his face darkened. “I sure do know about those guys. I ran into some of them once. It was Thanksgiving Day, come to think of it, just a few months after 9/11. We went down to Red House to a friend’s house for dinner that afternoon. He had a flag on display, too, and when night began to come on, I offered to help him lower the flag.”

Wayne and his friend went outside to do the job and as they began hauling on the rope, three men passing in the road yelled out to them that they’d better take that “thing” down. Wayne says they yelled some other remarks he wouldn’t repeat.

From the way they were dressed, Wayne knew they were from the Jamaat ul Fuqra compound - only he referred to it as “that place.” He told them to shut up and they sneered at him, saying they were on the road, on public property and could say whatever they wanted. So Wayne walked over to the road, stepped onto the asphalt, and repeated his command: they could either shut up or take the consequences.

In true Scots-American style, Wayne offered to take the three of them on. It was Thanksgiving Day and it seemed to him he had a lot to be thankful for. If they didn’t feel the same way, well… he could take care of that. None of them - nor all three of them as a group - was willing to take him up on his offer. They became silent and backed off. In fact, they turned around and began to walk away quickly.

Floodlit flagWayne returned to his friend’s yard and told him, “Put that flag back up.” His friend reminded him that it was almost dark. Wayne had an idea. Finding out that his friend had a floodlight in his workshop, he asked him if they could temporarily rig it up so that it would shine on the flag - thus allowing the Stars and Stripes to remain flying all night. The friend readily agreed and in no time they had the floodlight in place.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Wayne wanted to explain “where I’m coming from.” He said that immediately after 9/11 he’d asked for leave from his company and had tried to go to Ground Zero to volunteer. However, no matter where he called, they were already full up. His services weren’t needed. It “sorely disappointed me,” he said. “I couldn’t get into the Navy because of my knee and now this. I wanted to serve my country some way or other.”

There are many who would make fun of Wayne, with his patriotism, and his flag, and his rubrics of respect for what it represents. They would jeer at his direct and angry confrontation of the ugly remarks directed at him and his flag.

I am not one of those people. Wayne gives me hope. His direct approach is the very thing that will save us, and if Jamaat ul Fuqra ever hits the road, Wayne and his ilk will be ready. They plan to keep their children safe.

Thank God for Wayne.

22 comments:

KG said...

There are a lot of Waynes out there, often derided for their straightforward ("unsophisticated") views, just getting on with their lives and behaving like ordinary decent human beings.
God help islamists if push ever comes to shove. Because they'll discover the steel below the surface of the West.

X said...

Ahh, if I were an american, I'd want to be like this Wayne fellow. He sounds like a good guy to be around.

Simon de Montfort said...

I hate to be the Wet Blanket here after a well-told story of simple and decent civic virtue, but the Waynes of America unfortunately don't make decisions about the course of government and society.

The Waynes greatly outnumber the elites who DO make decisions about what America does and does not do, but those elites increasingly do not have to worry too much about what the Waynes think.

For the past four decades our elites have richer and more powerful than any class in any nation in history, but to do so they have sold Wayne--and most other Americans--out

Pastorius said...

Janos doesn't seem to understand what America is about. The people are more powerful than the government, and, we are the government. If the government doesn't get the message, then the American people will dumb the government workers into a harbor and the people will take care of matters themselves.

Pastorius said...

By the way, Janos is probably a well-meaning person, and i would imagine Janos is on our side, being that he/she reads Gates of Vienna.

However, I have to say, I am getting awfully tired of this defeatist attitude I hear. In the past week, I have heard repeatedly from people (in person and on my blog) that we are losing, and/or that we are going to lose.

This is not true. If you don't understand that, then think about the history of Europe. Think about how violent and brutal the history of Europe is. Remember Americans are mostly European. Understand that human nature is not a fad. It does not change quickly. I'm telling you that we will fight with torches, pitchforks and knives if we have to. We will separate meat from bone.

Enough of this defeatism. It is not grounded in reality.

X said...

Thank you Pastorius, I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees it that way.

Simon de Montfort said...

Ja, Pastorius, Janos is on your side. I am not a defeatist but a pessimist, and ( unfortunately ) what I believe IS "grounded in reality".

I am 'thinking about the history of Europe': that's why I read, and post here. Ich denke auch an der Zukunft: I also think about the future of Europe and America--the West--and I don't want that future to include Europeans fighting against the Eurabian Caliphate armies with pitchforks and torches ( you've been watching Frankenstein movies )

You know in your heart, Pastorius--all of you reading this know--that things are getting worse, not better. I am pessimistic but not a defeatist ( one who believes that defeat is inevitable ).

Victory--the preservation of Western Civilization in Europe and North America--is possible, but the chances of this victory fade a little more each day.

bordergal said...

Victory--the preservation of Western Civilization in Europe and North America--is possible, but the chances of this victory fade a little more each day.


What do you base your assessment on?

When it comes to looking at the balance sheet, we have the upper hand both in population within western countries and in military ability/weaponry, plus our police forces.

KG said...

We will win. Things will have to get much worse before the people take things into their own hands, but things will get worse and people WILL eventually say "enough!"
Those at the forefront of the revolt will make decent people cringe, because the first to snap will be far-rightists and neo-nazis, but they'll be doing a soft and decadent society's work for them.
It isn't going to be pretty. But the courts and the media and the universities--leftists, in other words--have only themselves to blame for that.
An ugly scenario, but very likely imho.

Pastorius said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Pastorius said...

Janos,

Stop being a pessimist and start planning how you and your friends are going to act.

Don't think about how others are going to take care of your problems for you. That is not American, and it is not adult, and it is not individualist, and ultimately, it is not Western.

Pastorius said...

Let me point something out, for all the defeatists and pessimists. The enemy we are facing is just a bunch of medieval idiots who are planning our demise as a bunch of individuals. Except for Iran, there are no state actors actively trying to destroy us.

You want to tell me we can't fight back against idiots?

You want to tell me that if they aquire a nuke and have a terrorist use it on us, we can't do the same?

C'mon guys.

Simon de Montfort said...

to bordergal, et al

I base my admittedly grim assesment on several factors, including a steady migration of Muslims into Europe and an apparent total inability of governing authorities and the media to stop this Looming Demographic Nightmare--or to even admit that a serious problem exists

Read the contributions to this blog; look at the TITLE OF THE BLOG.

Pastorius, you are making hopeful predictions, and I hope you are right ( as much as I hope I am wrong ). If 'worse comes to worst', I will be there beside you, at the Gates of Vienna or wherever we're needed, pitchfork in one hand and torch in the other....

"Hunter" said...

Some food for thought. I have only recently realized the grave threat that is upon the western world. During these 3 months I have been exposed to the cold shower of reality. However from this I have seen the brilliance of the truth and have become fully aware of the problems in front of us. I came out of it with a depressed pessimistic view of the world. That view faded to anger and then I became resolute in stopping and pushing back this threat. I am 26 and I have a small army of friends that will be getting my subtle hints of our threat. Do not mistake it the truth is powerful. It will take awhile for a consensus to build here as it did for WW II, 1932 to 1941. When it does God help the Muslims. This new world war will need us to be collectively strong with little second guessing. Consensus needs to be built and that takes awhile. Each time the Muslims expose their hand like the cartoons, french riots, pope bashing, etc more and more newbies like me will see the "truth". We will prevail over this threat I have little doubt.

Pastorius said...

Janos,
If you have a gun, it might be better than a pitchfork, but if not, the pitchfork will do just fine.

Hunter is the man.

X said...

As I have pointed out previously, things are already changing around here. The "events" in Windsor and Preston are the most violent and visible examples of what goes virtually unreported; that people are already actively fighting against Islamist attempts to oppress them. Governments are already starting to react as the reality of the situation sinks in. Pessimism isn't grounded in reality at all, because things are changing and, as I've heard said elsewhere, events have a habit of outstripping our current predictions.

The demographics are extrapolated from current trends and say that we are doomed 50 years hence, but that isn't a realistic assesment. Change can happen in a single year, and it can be so profund as to be shocking. Change happened in a single day, five years ago and altered history forever. People area already acting to preserve their cultures, at the lowest level possible: at the leve of their streets, and their homes, and at the level of their own sphere of influence. We don't need to wait for the government to react, and as the peoples of europe learn this they are starting to drop their misplaced trust in the state and act on their own. On top of that, extrapolating tresnds from current data is unreliable at best. The UK, specifically, is already crowded. There are approximately 200 people per square kilomtre according to official figures (I can't find the figures in real money, so these will have to do). That's a lot of people. Immigration will be curtailed by necessity of space, sooner or later, and that coupled with the already increasing rejection of a certain "peaceful" religion by the general population means that the demographic projections are bogus.

You might say you can't see it, and I'm not surprised. The media in europe is so parochial that it rarely reports events outside its own country, except wheni t can be used to reinforce lefty sterotypes. Those "riots" I mentioned in Windsor have been on and off for over three days now, as people attempt to fight off islamic thugs who tried to intimidate them. It isn't pretty. Our immediate future will be a very messy affair, and in some countries it will be a protected one, but that doesn't mean it's hopeless. I would submit that, by being so pessimistic all the time, you are being defeatist, as you always assume the worst possible outcome in any given situation.

Do not base your predictions on the media. As you point out, they are unreliable reporters of what is happening. The consequence of this is that they are unreliable reporters of how people react to what is happeningm, therefore they are untrustworthy for basing opinions upon.

Epaminondas said...

True believers ...not even a whit cheesy.
Fabulous stuff

Simon de Montfort said...

Okay, it's very late here and being 'defeatist' and Not Grounded in Reality ( and carrying this pitchfork around ) has tired me out.

We'll see what Her Majesty's Govt. does in reponse to that Scots boy being set alight and murdered, and four Guardsmen being forced out of a house near Her palace. Some of you believe that the increasing boldness and arrogance of Real ( non-moderate ) Muslims will lead to their downfall.....somehow.

Will you all continue your optimism if America elects a Democratic majority in their House and Senate next month? The Dhimmicrats probably have more Foley B.S. ready, one a week probably, with the MSM slobbering along..... you know the drill....

Simon de Montfort said...

...epaminondas, is that George in your photo?

Looks like him.....

X said...

We'll see what Her Majesty's Govt. does

It doesnt matter what they do anymore. People have lost trust in the government to protect them and they're reverting to the idea that they need to protect themselves, slowly, ever so slowly, but it's progress, and that's why I remain optimistic.

Thanos said...

It might seem like a big deal in the news, and there are probably more scandals and things the dems will crack out of the mud twixt now and election time, but it's all just spin and most folks know it. Every election for the past six the polls have somehow favored the democrats, but then the election happens. It will be much the same this time.
I wrote a post on this, but instead of referring to that, instead I will point you to a post I wrote after driving Tulsa to KC back in September. What people forget is that no matter how much noise the left makes, the country is composed mostly of Waynes.

http://noblesseoblige.org/wordpress/?p=518

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.