Raves, rants and reality

I have a really interesting RANT this week.

I actually had another rant all prepared in my head and then a little mouse told me that a certain city official was out at the dump, going thru trash, taking pictures and complaining about how a local family had not separated their trash correctly and mentioned huge fines. Now, this was not your normal dump deposit, this was a local farming family that was devastated by a tornado. Yes, a tornado. Their lives were turned literally upside-down.

Now, there are a lot of truly good and compassionate people in our town like Michael Ferguson who will risk his own life to save a neighbors’ pasture from fire. Michael, your heart and sense of duty are spot on and I applaud you.

Then there are those in our city who seem, at least by their actions, to be... let’s just say less than compassionate towards their fellow neighbors. Maybe I’m being too nice here, this person wasn’t just lacking compassion, they were literally picking through a family in crisis. Just because someone has a government job doesn’t mean they have to be cruel.

The REALITY of life is that everything changes; nothing truly stays the same. I want you to think about that. Do you agree? Then answer me this: why is Kimball so stuck in the belief that just because somebody did something in the past and it didn’t work, just because it was done and people quit doing it, just because something failed ten years ago does not mean that it’s going to fail again today, does not mean that the people who are here now won’t do what they wouldn’t do ten years ago.

Personally, ten years ago, the thought of playing BINGO would never have crossed my mind, today I would love to. Ten years ago I never would have considered writing for a newspaper, today I’m loving this job. Ten years ago there is now way you would have caught me speaking up at the City Council meeting or even giving a damn at the meeting like I did last week, and I gotta say, that night I was one of the most vocal people there, whether anyone appreciated or liked it or not.

PEOPLE CHANGE. Just because something didn’t work a year, five years or ten years ago does NOT mean it’s not going to work today. Just because someone didn’t do something at one point, sometime ago, doesn’t mean that that’s not going to work today.

TRY THINGS!

I know… there is that definition of insanity of doing the same thing over and over with the same result is insanity. However, we need to take into consideration that time moves forward, people change, times change, minds, emotions and needs change. We are truly not a stagnant community.

The reason, in my opinion, that Kimball is floundering is that people have simply stopped caring and have given up. What is this defeatist attitude?!

NEVER GIVE UP!

Do you want to give up? Fine, let’s all leave now, like so many young people who have been leaving our fair town in droves for decades. Let’s give up and not have a place for our young kids and Kimball will continue to die.

I want to RAVE about people like Kim Baliman, Larissa Binod, Heather Entingh, James Schnell, Tom O’Brien and Keith Prunty, these people just don’t give up and I applaud them, I really, really do. You guys tough it out and I’m truly grateful to, and in awe of, you all.

Let’s all stop giving up, in fact, let’s just do the opposite. Let’s encourage the people who have given up to start caring again. The next time you see a friend who doesn’t support the community, let’s not bad mouth them, let’s not harass them... let’s encourage them, passionately and compassionately, to get involved and to care about their community.

This week I challenge every single one of you to ENCOURAGE at least one person. I’d like to ask for more, but let’s just start with one person who is not involved TO GET INVOLVED.

Let’s pull our collective heads out of the sand people. Let’s save our community for ourselves and the future.