The following story didn’t make the cut for our memoirs: Tequila and Chocolate, The Adventures of the Morning Star and Soulmate:
One definition of suspicious behavior is “causing one to have the idea or impression that something or someone is of questionable, dishonest, or dangerous character or condition.” Seems like an apt description for Trump and cronies.
And in my wildest imagination, I never thought that one day, it would apply to me.
Fear is pure separation while love is pure unity. One of the consequences of a dualistic consciousness and thought process is pure and simple, fear. But our fear is not just in our mind. It’s in our body and affects our immune system as it does our other thought processes. The mind and body are not separate but blended.
It is important to understand that fear is normal. It may increase our “juices flowing” from the adrenals; but on the other hand, it may freeze us in non-action or to embrace a state of compliance. This fear-based behavior of “falling in line” may be used to control an individual or a group or even a population of people.
Another insidious effect, of needing to feel safe and secure within a fear-based consciousness, is the lack of trust of others and something so seemly simple in life—joy.
Before the events of 9/11, I was intrigued by a ninety year-old Bermudian—Johnny Barnes. For over thirty years he had devoted a few hours a day greeting commuters at Crow Lane Circle in the capital city of Hamilton. He cheered and wished commuters – “Good Morning!”, “I love you!”, “God bless you” … In his own way, he continued to spread joy and goodwill to all till ten in the morning—every day. And to the commuters, a day’s hard work had begun with an exchange of love and blessings. With his words still ringing within their mind, a stressful day may have turned out to be—not so stressful.
Johnny’s spirit and love leads us back to my title: Good Morning – How are You… Suspicious Behavior on the Streets of New York.
September the 11th, 2001 is still surreal and a tragedy etched within my mind. The morning of 9/11, I was watching the news when the first plane hit the tower. A daily morning activity as I was recovering from my first hip replacement.
It’s hard to explain the emotions of that day.
Ironically, one month later Sherry and I were in Lower Manhattan. We were presenting at a conference and our hotel was a few blocks from “ground zero.” As a joy of life, I enjoy the blissful feelings of early morning, especially with a perfect cup of coffee. Even though I could feel the heaviness within the air and people’s fear and anxiety, “waiting for the other shoe to drop,” I decided to spread some joy and love. My method: with coffee in hand, I stood on the nearest street corner to our hotel and attempted to look people in the eyes as they passed by me while smiling and saying: “good morning – how are you…”
Well, it was like I had the plague and was a leper. No eye contact; but how could they with their down-casted eyes. No response from anyone. I did notice people crossing against traffic to get to the other side of the street to avoid and get away from the “crazy man”—who was definitely demonstrating suspicious behavior.
A few more minutes passed and then… I felt him before I saw him. As I turned to face the other street corner, there he was walking in my direction. Johnny Law, with his hand near his gun, he hesitated then cautiously approached me. With a non-smiling stern face, now with hand on gun, he said:
“We’ve had reports of a person acting suspiciously… And that person is you! People are scared.”
“I’m sorry,” I replied, now concerned that I might be arrested, I made sure my hands were in clear sight, holding only a coffee cup. Continuing I said, “I was just smiling and saying, ‘good morning to people as they passed by me.’”
Still no smile, he replied, “under normal circumstances that’s suspicious behavior here in New York. More so now with 9/11.”
With a severe look, he declared, “I can’t legally order you to move and stop…”
Before he could continue, I interrupted his speech, “Not a problem, I’ll leave. I was only attempting to help people not scare them…”
As has been said, “The best–laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.” (Robert Burns)