Why I Wanna Be Like Mike

Men today need role models to help set our sites on success. Sometimes these role models are found in unusual places and circumstances. In the world today we will take any and all we can find.

Remember the commercials featuring brown-haired Mikey, where he liked his LIFE cereal. The “Mikey Likes It” commercials if shown today would probably go ‘viral’.

Then there were the commercials featuring Michael Jordan. “I wanna be like Mike” became one of the biggest slogans of all time. Everyone wanted to be like Mike. If this were the case today. Well we would all be running around in tag-less tighty-whiteys and t-shirts.

With all the political and civil unrest lately. The violence in our communities around the country that has brought Lady Liberty to her knees. We search for answers and a need for understanding.

The Michael Brown tragedy has become a pinnacle of civil unrest around the country. The racial divide has become a chasm in a matter of weeks. We have had looting and rioters in our streets. This tragedy among others recently has brought about anger and animosity.

Anyone looking in from the outside could assume we are a country destined for self-destruction. We look to our leadership for guidance and yet instead they take sides. Rather than dealing with the core problems we face our own genocide.

A country built on the backbone of faith needs to rebuild upon its foundation.

Few words of wisdom that I came across that may provide some answers. “Dirty Jobs” mogul and now star in “Somebody’s Got to do it” , Mike Rowe is known for telling it like it is. Recently he has taken questions on his Facebook page to task.

One of his latest responses was to a fan, who like many is searching for answers and understanding. Her question to Mike is as follows…

Mikes brilliant response in part..

“Off The Wall

Hello Mr. Mike Rowe. I’m a big fan and also happen to work in the lower Haight as well as live in Alameda. I have to ask with everything that is going on in Ferguson, how do you feel about the protests in SF as well as the looting/rioting in downtown Oakland?

Hi Meghan

Last week, those very protests blocked off one of the major arteries, and as a result, I was 90 minutes late to a holiday dinner in Alameda. I apologized for my tardiness, and was told by my hostess not to give it a second thought. “It’s a small price to pay,” she said, “given all that’s at stake.” Another guest, already well into the eggnog, wondered aloud if a heart attack victim waiting for an ambulance stuck in traffic might hold a different view?

Within moments, everyone was talking about Garner and Brown, and the conversation got very political very quickly. A liberal guest said, “Look, I wasn’t there, but it seems pretty clear that both men would still be alive had they been white.” A conservative guest replied, “I wasn’t there either, but it seems pretty clear that both men would still be alive if they hadn’t resisted arrest.”

This annoyed the liberal, who asked the conservative why Republicans wanted a “police state.” This annoyed the conservative, who asked the liberal why Democrats wanted “total anarchy.” Things continued to escalate, and within moments, fingers were pointing, veins were bulging, and logical fallacies were filling the air. Ho! ho! ho! ..” click here to read the rest

So as I said..I want to be like Mike.. dirty jobs Mike that is. A man who is willing to get his hands dirty. One that is able to speak his mind no matter the cost. One that honors his country and stands for values that are right even when not popular.

It is not always easy to go against the grain. Sometimes we need to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Stop blaming others for our mistakes. Own our decisions and beliefs. We  need more men and women that want to be like Mike.

As always I welcome your comments. Due to the sensitive nature of this subject I ask that you be courteous in your discourse. What ways did the things that Mike Rowe said resonate with you? What steps can we take to ease the tensions in our own neighborhoods?