As noted in the blog entry below this one, there is much to be thankful for on this end during this unique American holiday.  Not the least of those things is the kindness and compassion of those who posted in the comments section. The lad in question is out of the hospital and on the long road back to recovery from his life-threatening stab wounds, and I’m told the arrest of the perpetrator may be imminent. Your compassion is much appreciated – by the victim, by his family, and of course, by me.

Take time tomorrow to remember your Thanksgivings past, and to think about the ones of the future. (I’d say “count your blessings,” but I’ve probably already used up my cliché allotment for this month.)

Let’s not forget that the originators of this holiday were celebrating not only the good fortune of themselves and theirs, but having made the valuable acquaintance of new and unexpected friends who helped them and theirs greatly. That element of the original holiday has been reinforced for me by recent experiences, too.

It saddens me that the Christmas trees were up long before Thanksgiving day, and that many will see it as only “Turkey Day” and the precursor to the mad shopping extravaganza that has become “Black Friday.”  I’ll be sitting the latter out: tried it a couple of years ago, and it was like being in a zombie movie. (There’s a reason so many zombie flicks have shopping mall scenes.)

Oh…and if you fly during the holiday, and participate in the “National Opt Out Day” movement at TSA security at an airport equipped with the new scanners, please tell us how that worked out for you. It’s a topic we’ve been overdue to discuss on this page.

Bless you all, and may you all have a safe, meaningful, and renewing Thanksgiving.

1 COMMENT

  2. Back at you Mas. Everything I read from you just keeps me thinking that, even though I’ve never met you, you are my friend. God bless and keep you and yours safe and happy.

  3. Mas,

    Glad that the injuries are healing and that the bad guy may be brought to justice.

    Regarding TSA and screens (Fourth Amendment and sexual violations included)….

    I don’t see the attitude of the TSA as being much different than that of most people when we discuss personal protection and concealed carry — guilty until proven innocent. To get on an airplane, we have to prove we are not terrorists. To carry a gun — heck, to even buy a gun — we have to prove that we are not criminals.

    Just part of the inverted thinking that has developed.

  4. I am thankful that he is doing better. Yesterday my father in law was assaulted at a gas station in Oklahoma City. He was approached by a young man who asked him for directions (common M.0. in assault cases). He has several facial fractures from what was called a gang initiation. It could have been much worse and it truly does remind me of what Thanksgiving is all about. It’s also a reminder that crime does not take a vacation during the Holidays and it’s so important to always be prepared to defend against the criminal element.

  5. Thanks to you Mas, from a 30+ year LEO, for your dedication to firearms training and police work. When I started in LE in 1980 (right of the USAF), combat firearms training for cops was in its infancy and in some circles, not only frowned upon, but severely resisted. Thanks to to pioneers like Mas and others, an entirely new way of training LEO’s has evolved. I attended my first “Street Survival” seminar in 1981. (I am not at home and do not have the book to give proper citation to the author’s.) We thought this was really radical stuff!! These were the tactics I had been taught in the military, being used in civilian street LE work. Over the years, many of the LEO’s that I worked with, immersed ourselves in books and training videos, trying to simulate “combat” training at our shooting range. Thanks to good people like Mas, there are many more well trained cops today, and many more good cops alive today.

  7. Glad to hear the lad is improving! Hope you and the Evil Princess [your words] have a great and safe Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for!

  8. Kindness is much appreciated. Thanks!

    Brent, my consolation to you and your family, and my best wishes for your father-in-law’s swift recovery from the beating.

    — Mas

  9. I am very thankful to hear that he is improving. Life is precious and tenuous. A scare like this one on reinforces that fact. This Christmas will be a joyful one for the family of that man, that is for sure.

    Rich

  10. “Let’s not forget that the originators of this holiday were celebrating not only the good fortune of themselves and theirs, but having made the valuable acquaintance of new and unexpected friends who helped them and theirs greatly. ”

    I see you’re going with the history of Thanksgiving that has been, and still is, taught to schoolchildren, because the real history of Thanksgiving is far too savage and malicious to teach to youngsters.

    Read up on the wholesale slaughter of the Wampanoag indians, how George Washington suggested a “day of thanks set aside for each and every massacre [of the Natives]”, and how Lincoln officially declared the holiday we now know as Thanksgiving in honor of a march of troops against a tribe of starving Sioux Indians.

    Sources:
    http://goo.gl/2iyUV
    http://goo.gl/dqnpR

  11. It saddens me, too, that Thanksgiving Day has become nothing more than a minor speed bump between Halloween and Christmas, an opportunity to stuff ourselves and overload on football. Little wonder that we are in decline as a society when we have forgotten from whence all our blessings come and ignore the Giver of all good things. I despise the term “Turkey Day” (as if we are celebrating turkeys!). One must wonder if we are, indeed, becoming a nation of soulless zombies.

  12. Glad your Lady’s son is improving. That the assailant may be “brought to justice” is a poor second to putting him on the trailer (means out of the race, not necessarily lethal action) before the harm is done. It makes me uncomfortable to go to and from work unarmed – can’t afford to lose my job when I will have 20 yrs in next March. All one can do is avoid Condition White.

  13. Bob: Regardless of what the day is called or the amount of food consumed, the fact is that it’s a day for people to get together with good friends and family and celebrate our blessings. I could care less what the day is called as long as the focus of the day remains the same. Sharing a feast and watching football are just some of the ways that many celebrate the day. Personally, I don’t see Thanksgiving as an indicator of how low society has sunk, but rather as a beacon for how good we can be.

    James: We’re all aware of just how inaccurate our history texts were/are regarding the Indians. There is no way to turn back the clock on the atrocities committed so long ago. The best we can do is to teach our children the truth. With that in mind, relax a little and simply enjoy the day for what it’s supposed to be, a celebration of thanks.

  15. Dear Mas, I’m really sorry this tragedy happened to this young man, and it makes me embarrassed yet again for Chicago. A comparable thing happened to my nephew a few years ago–beaten over the head by four gang guys with hammers, and he was found without a pulse by the paramedics. The perps have still, to my knowledge, not been found.

    I’ve wondered many times if the corruption of our public officials doesn’t in some way filter down and energize these punks.

    I took LFI 1 in August 2007 and earned the coveted $5 bill from yourself, something that still means a lot to me insofar as I’ve been an avid fan of yours for decades (having read a lot of what you’ve written).

    If you need a place to crash the next time you’re in town, my wife and I could put you up–we’re in Wicker Park, not too far from Il.Masonic.

    Chris Lemons

  16. Mas, from what I’ve heard, the TSA “handled” National Opt Out Day by turning off the scanners for the day, then declaring with a poker face “No-one opted out.”

  17. Mas,
    I have met you and Gail at LFI I twice in Live Oak. Being such a kind soul I can’tagine the pain Gail has felt from her son’s attack. I am so sorry she has had to endure this as a mother. God Bless you both.

    Mike McLoughlin