Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Wholesome

As I was training a client this morning during a boxing workout we had the local news station on in the background. Unfortunately the stories wouldn't stay in the background. In between rounds we'd glance at the news.

The first visual showed a woman that had been abducted escaping out of the trunk of a speeding vehicle. She then ran into a gas station in search of safety.

"Who could even conceive of kidnapping someone?" My client asked. The question obviously rhetorical, I didn't answer. Next break we saw a brutal hit and run caught on surveillance camera, the break after that showed a shooting during road rage.

At the end of the workout we chatted about the world's current state of 'heading to hell in a hand
Weapons of Peace
basket.'

As I drove away I moved my thoughts to the positive. Recently a neighbor of mine who is a pastor brought his grandson to me for drum lessons. As of late I'd been considering moving on from teaching. Most of my students are Middle schoolers and Highschool kids. But the drum pool has been thinning mostly because D.J.'s are on the rise and much of modern music is built at the computer, not behind the drum set or on the guitar. (This could be an entirely separate blog post b.t.w.)

But I accepted because my neighbor actually approached me over 5 years ago and I promised him I'd be there when he's ready. His grandson is an amazing dude and extremely enthusiastic about the drums. To ask him he'd probably say he's 'stoked.' As a result of his 'stokeage' I too am stoked.

Two weeks into his lessons his mother called and asked if I'd take another student. Turns out a friend of my student heard how much he'd improved in such a short time and wanted to start.

"By all means," I said. "Bring him over."

Fast forward to present day and I've now got 5 students all from the same church. I got them all because each drummer heard the improvement in the other. I take very little credit in how well these boys are doing because they all love drums; practice daily and dig music all around. Did I mention, I'm stoked? I love teaching again! I owe these lads. It's a refreshing sight to see one lad finish his lesson, walk outside and embrace his buddy (and his parents) that's up next. This is what community is all about: drums, family, friendship and huggin' it out.

When I was coming up in the 70's grownups often preached wholesome living. As kids we acted as wholesome as we could but we never admitted to it on the playground because--come on man, being wholesome wasn't cool. Still, we dotted our i's and crossed our t's baby, you best believe that.

If one enters the word Wholesome into the Google machine the second definition reads: conducive to or promoting moral well being. That is the word I'd use to describe these kids. They are all so polite. Some even shake my hand at the beginning and end of each lesson! And these cats are ages 8-16. That's just cool baby, that's just old skool!

Are they wholesome because they attend church? I'd say that's a big part of it. Are they young gentlemen with great manners due to good parenting? You're darn skippy. It's a breath of fresh air in these violent times.

The point of this post if you haven't picked up what I'm putting down is that good old fashioned wholesome living is going on right here on my block and I'm blessed to be part of it.

Finally, if ever you get the urge to shoot a passing vehicle during road rage; flee the scene after you've driven your car into somebody or get a hankering to kidnap someone, give me a call. We'll set up a lesson and I'll show you how to work it out behind the drum set. Or I'll hold the focus pads, you put on the gloves and blow off that steam. Until then, get out there and be kind to someone!