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Health & Fitness

The Men in the Background (of Malibu)......

It's 8:10 on a saturday morning at Pt. Dume......it's overcast .

The plaza is starting to get busy.  People are rushing to get their latte's.  Yoga classes are underway upstairs and the latecomers are running, wearing dark sunglasses, outfitted with Lululemon and carrying rolled up Yoga mats.  The line at Lily's to get Breakfast burritos is starting to stack.    This is a very familiar site on Pt. Dume, on any day.  In the background, away from the "bustle", is another very familiar site......Latin American men; the identity of these latino men change from day to day...but they are always here, on the steps of the Bank of America building.  They are almost like part of the landscaping, like palm trees, a juniper, or a fountain.

I see them every single day...rain or shine.  I think about them often....though not often enough.  It is so easy to pass by them without knowing their stories....they all have a story...and it's not very glamorous.  They don't come to Malibu to surf, or to play beach volleyball, or to shop.  They get up early in the morning and get on a bus...they travel long distances, maybe for an hour or more...there are NO guarantees.  They are hoping to find some work, anything, but there are NO guarantees.  They might get back on the bus at the end of the day with nothing in their pockets.  Unlike most people living in Malibu, they are the envy of no one.

We can all have opinions as to whether they are legal, or illegal, or whether they should be permitted to solicit business on the street.  That is a different discussion entirely.  One for another day.

Today I am talking about men; men trying to live and support families; men willing to carry rocks up the side of a hill all day long.  You can be certain that they know they are not like those who live in and visit Malibu.  Their potential "tickets" into the lives of Malibuites is based on their ability to use a shovel, a weed whacker, or their ability to work in the hot sun.  They have little in common with those who frequent the Plaza, except, the most basic and important thing....  they are our fellow "man".  Many, like you and me, have little girls and boys at home who are wondering where their fathers are on this, or any Saturday.

One thing I have always seen from these men on the corner, desperate for work, is that they have smiles on their faces.  I don't see resentment, or jealousy.  Who among us would be content to get on a bus and travel for an hour for no uncertain outcome.  How fun would we be to talk with after another day of waiting for a (chance) to work (in someone's backyard).  Heck, I, for one, would not be fun to be around if that was my fate day after day.  I don't think I would have the strength to not be resentful as I watched all the wealth roll in on four wheels;  As the people got out of their cars and didn't even make eye contact with me. 

I am no better than anyone else.  I, too, often see myself as detached, separate.  I have places to go...surf to find, "Brazilian Bowls" to purchase. "Has anyone seen my brown boardshorts.  I need those?"

Sometime, when you have nothing else to do...maybe think of these men, collectively, as God.  They (He) are sitting on the corner, witnessing....seeing how we live our lives...how and if we see the "biggest picture".  There is a famous book that says that the "meek shall inherit the earth".  I don't know who or if anyone will "inherit" it, but, if it has to be anyone, I think "the meek" are as good a choice as any....in my book.

I didn't give it much thought as I was listening to this song as I wrote this...then, it just seemed to compliment what I was trying to say.  I played it over and over again...the melody, or even some of the quotes by JFK...it just seemed to (strangley) be the soundtrack for this humble blog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a6hu6Z7Pkg

Food for thought......



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