It Was Somthing About a Girl Dressed in Fatigues

It's Valentines Day and I have a very special someone.

Here's the beginning:

I met this special girl during my junior year at Otterbein College while I was living in my fraternity house. It was winter quarter (January 19th to be exact) and we were rushing for new potential members. I had been at work and returned that evening to man a costume-themed event sponsored at our house.

Upon walking in, I noticed her sitting in the chapter room, dressed in urban blue fatigues, face painted painted to match. As I passed heading towards the stairs (my room was on the second floor), I couldn't take my eyes off of the soldier girl.

She had come with her friend, who I had met before. I knew Amy Dean through her older brother John. He was one year my senior and happened to be my classmate in communications. As the evening moved on and the party grew thick, soldier girl and I went our separate ways. We finally found ourselves in the basement of the house where the dance floor was conveniently located.

I was the house DJ at the time and was busy mixing the music. Noticing that soldier girl had made her way to my spot, I left my post to attempt starting what would turn out to be a horribly awkward conversation. (I've never had much skill in talking to the opposite sex, especially with the ones I had interest in - go figure?)

After a few bumbled comments, soldier girl's friend, Amy Dean, decided to help me by taking matters into her own hands. With one swift push on each of our backs, soldier girl and I were dancing.

As you may have guessed, soldier girl - who's name is also Amy, is now my wonderful and beautiful wife. She's also my teacher, an amazing mother, my biggest supporter, and my most honest critic.

Amy - I cherish you and all that we have together. You are my moonbeam and my best friend. I love you with all of my heart. For the rest of our days, it will always be you and I, against the world...

There's so much more to the story of Amy and I, but that's for later...

Happy Valentines Day!

Three Reasons to Start a Blog

Have you ever considered starting a blog? For me, it was curiosity and the need to learn how blogs impact communications on the web that first peaked my interest.

Recently though, I've struggled with finding inspiration for my content on Chasing Change. With that in mind, I figured I would retrace my steps and really dig into why I feel compelled to blog at all.

After some meditation and a few conversations with other bloggers who have inspired me, here are my top three reasons to start a blog:

1. The Freedom to Have a Voice
I remember reading an article in 2005 about how professional journalists felt threatened by the blogosphere. Their frustration is understandable. They paid good money and spent their time going to school to be journalists. Why should some chump with a laptop (like me for instance) have the ability to publish their thoughts to thousands, even millions of readers? That's just not fair! (As I quietly chuckle.)

Web technology makes it so easy to publish our thoughts with a simple mouse click. There are a large number of blog services that are provided at no cost, so why not take advantage of the opportunity? What do you have to loose?

2. Writing an Ethical Will
My friend, teacher (and employer), Artie Isaac, blogs at Net Cotton Content. I enjoy reading his posts daily, and so the other day, I asked him: "Why do you blog?"

This was one of his answers: "In the Jewish tradition, there's the concept of an ethical will. A father leaves an ethical will as was a way to pass on his morals and wisdom to his children."

Having a 17 month-old son myself, I really like this idea. In a sense, a blog can be an electronic way to pass on more than just your possessions to the next generations. It's a medium to capture your path through life, so that you and your beliefs will be remembered by those next in line.

3. Gaining Credibility Through Visibility
Being in business development, it's my job to build relationships for my company. Hopefully those relationships, if nurtured honestly, will eventually translate into revenue for Young Isaac.

Over the past six years I've learned that the most critical piece of this formula is finding ways to establish a level of trust among your network. The challenge? How can you expect people to trust you when they only know you as a part of your company?

Heres my solution: with every business card and every email will come the URL of Chasing Change. Here it is folks. Here's what I'm about. I blog to lay my cards on the table for all to see. By reading, you can watch as I change both personally and professionally.

And by sharing my experiences - the good with the bad - maybe someday I'll even earn your trust...

What If?

My wife and I are bargain shoppers. Today, after a call from her father, we headed to Schottenstein's Department Store on the Hilltop, armed with a tip that men's suits we on clearance.

After about thirty minutes, I found a great deal and a new suit. and so we headed to the check out. While paying, I happened to eves drop on a heated conversation between our clerk and her manager:

Clerk: "What is she doing? I don't know what the hell her problem is."

Manager: "She was saying that she gave the little girl forty dollars and she lost it. Who gives a little girl $40 to hold on to in the first place? She didn't deserve being screamed at like that."

As the conversation finished, I looked up to notice an agitated women in her late 40's approaching the line of shoppers. Her rapid movements made it seem as if something was terribly wrong.

A blond little girl was following the women. She must have been no more than nine or ten years old, and I'll never forget the expression of fear and embarrassment radiating from her face.

The angry women approached.

"I need four quarters" she shouted in desperation while waving a dollar bill. "Do you have four quarters? Do you have two quarters? Here, I'll even give ya a dollar for two quarters."

It was then that I noticed her her pupils. They were empty pin holes rolling around in her head. Her teeth were rotten, skin pale and he clothes were tattered and unkempt. It suddenly dawned on me that I had seen people like this before. Like them, this lady was in the clutches of a meth-amphetamine binge.

We had paid with a debit card and so I had no cash on my pocket to give. When she realized I couldn't help, the women again turned to the girl and began to call her names, blaming her for my lack of pocket change. The bystanders at the check out stood silent in shock, all of us looking to each other for an answer. For an action.

Should we do something? Is it our place to do something? What can we do?

After a moment, a small group of patrons and I approached the store manager to suggest that it might be time to call the police. He shook his head in agreement. Then he stood still.

As we exited and walked to the car, I couldn't keep my head from turning and looking back to for the girl. Should I have done more? Would it have made a difference for this poor child, or only made her situation worse? What else could I have done to protect her from a person consumed by a drug, who was supposed to be her care taker.

The ride home was uncomfortably silent.

Standing up together
What if I had intervened and tried to change the situation? What if everyone standing in line would have come to the little girl's rescue? What if the mob of shoppers had stopped, and cried out:

"That's wrong! You have no right to put a child through that! Is her confidence and self-esteem worth your next fix?"

Would that have changed anything?