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I just returned home from Tea Party Express national bus tour VII – picked up mail from the P O box, petted Sammy our greyhound who was excited to see me and enjoyed listening to Mark Levin rant on the radio.
Later, relaxing on the sofa, I reflected back to the tour. Obviously, the highlight was June 5th in Wisconsin when Gov. Scott Walker won the recall.
What I found most charming and symbolic of the grassroots spirit of the tea party was our “whistle stop” in a tiny little town called Englewood, Florida.
A whistle stop is not a full-blown scheduled rally with sound equipment, sound engineers, staging and etc. Whistle stops usually consist of our tour buses arriving at a decided location. Our team, (speakers, singers and entertainers) does a brief meet and greet with the patriots. Then, we get back on the buses and head to the next city on the schedule for our rally.
The crowd of 50 or so flag waving patriots who greeted our buses in Englewood was extremely excited and enthusiastic. When I stepped off the bus, my eyes focused on a woman jumping up and down in the crowd. She was excited to see me. I ran and gave her a big hug. The crowd cheered. It felt like a family homecoming.
Our buses parked in front of a little storefront which was their tea party headquarters. “Take Back America” was printed in big block letters on the picture window.
Our Tea Party Express team hung out quite a while enjoying the fellowship.
Since this was only a whistle stop, the truck hauling our sound equipment did not accompany us to Englewood. Our sound guys were on their way to the next location preparing for the rally.
Sensing the enthusiastic vibe of the crowd, a staff member dug in a storage bay under one of our buses and found a small sound system with a microphone attached. This allowed our team to take turns addressing the fired up grateful crowd.
My brief speech encouraged Englewood patriots to continue doing what they are doing. Gov. Scott Walker taught us a powerful lesson – one bold, truly committed conservative can make a huge difference. Gov. Walker’s victory has embolden governors across America to take on the unions and reign in unsustainable insane spending. Hopefully, I inspired patriots with the knowledge that their books, songs, phone calls, letters to the editor and etc all matter. Keep doing your part and we will defeat the evil, racist and divisive Obama administration in November!
Hanging out with the small town Englewood patriots reminded me what the tea party is all about and why our dedicated Tea Party Express team does what we do.
Oh my gosh, my lawn has grown a foot since I’ve been away. Note to self: Call lawn guy.
Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American
Chairman – www.CampaignToDefeatObama.com
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A new weekly feature from Lloyd Marcus…
Lloyd’s Life Lessons: Shining Up One’s Self Esteem
My 84 year old dad told me a great story over the phone which confirms the powerful effect work, personal achievement and earning one’s own money have on self-esteem.
When he was a little boy, Dad had a job shining shoes; working Saturday night until Sunday morning at the Greyhound bus station in Baltimore, Maryland. His pay was one dollar plus tips.
Dad said, “If you wanted good tips, you had to be a little slick and put on a good show”. Dad worked hard honing his skills, mastering his craft. He twirled his shoe shine brushes, flipping them into the air and catching them. Further dazzling his clients, Dad made a rhythmic popping sound with his shoe shine cloth when putting the finishing touches on well shined shoes.
After the shoe shine, he would brush down the gentleman’s suit with a whisk broom. Dad said he and the other shoe shine boy “always” found a little something on the back of the gentleman’s suit which they had to work a little harder to remove.
On a good Saturday night, come Sunday morning, Dad would go home having earned as much as $5; not bad for a kid in those days.
Upon purchasing a t-shirt and giving some money to his aunt, Dad felt extremely proud. He bragged to his buddies, “I’m buying my own clothes and paying rent now”.
I could hear and feel Dad’s pleasure and pride over the phone as he told me his story. I found it fascinating that despite all of his major achievements over the years; one of a few black pioneers in the 1950s who broke the color barrier into the Baltimore Fire Department, Baltimore Firefighter of the Year two times, pastor of several churches, author and winner of numerous awards — remembering his early boyhood personal achievements still brought Dad great pleasure and pride.
I am convinced Dad’s early embrace of a work ethic; learning responsibility, showing up on time, feeling the pride and reaping the rewards of a job well done laid the foundation for Dad’s extremely successful life.
As the old song says, “Mama may have and Papa may have. But God bless the child who got his own”.
Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American
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