Dedicated to Someone Special

The Exotic Pink Key

By

Anthony Labson

I saw a pink key and couldn't look away.

When my eyes gazed upon it for the first time

I became speechless, and that’s saying a lot.

My mouth dropped and my head became so light

that if I got poked with a needle, my head would explode.

I had never seen such an exotic design before,

the one responsible must’ve had divine influence

or was simple the best artist that ever lived.

This was a key that can’t be duplicated, not even

a picture of it does it justice.

I had to ask myself one important question and

that was to what lock must it be for I wondered?

Like any master key, it could unlock any door

no matter how many locks it had or how complicated

it seemed to appear, it would’ve been easy.

But that is also its handicap, it shouldn’t be easy

to find the right door it was made for.

This key will have to open multiple doors

before it will find the one that is worthy to belong

to this exotic pink key.

To that door meant for this pink key I will say this.

Be grateful, because never had I’ve seen something so

Majestic.

To the exotic pink key,

thank you for gracing me with

the moments I was in your presence.                            

My Struggle With Weight Loss

Submission or Pride? I Can’t Decide

Children can be so cruel to one another,

and I became a victim of that cruelty first hand.

I wondered why it was considered not ok to pick on someone

based on race, religion or gender but it was ok

to pick on somebody because of weight.

Years of pity soon turned into periods of

rage, hatred, and even violence.

Jokes that would take a lifetime to tell and

words that will forever taint my soul.

So, I left a few scars of my own.

The only difference is that mine would show. 

Cowards are strong with tongues, not fists.

That's when the picking stopped.

When the voices knew I would cross the line

and take things where they were too scared to go.

I found strength in their weakness and in their resentment.

I found joy once the picking stopped after years of trying to break

iron skin with hollow words responsible for the transformation.

Later, for my soul's sake, I lowered my guard but never

gave in to the resentment that follows me to this day.

But now things have changed.

When I was younger,

if someone had told me that I would die

in 12 months if I didn't lose the weight,

I would have said give me 11 months and

3 weeks

to think about it.

But now I am older and

I have friends who truly care about me

who want to see my outside match my inside.

Is that why I started? No.

My job requires lots of physical activity

that I can't keep up with because of my

lack of physical ability.

Is this why I've started? No.

Physical attraction sure sounds like enough

of a motive but is that why...

I'll save time by answering hell no!

Any woman that would just be with me

cause of the six pack can take six steps

back.

I look at my two cousins

who I've seen grow into two beautiful girls, and

I want to be alive to see them grow,

graduate and get married. Then

I also look at my nephew who was just born.

I want to be a part of his life and see him grow,

maybe into a football star, or just see him

become a great man like his father or

maybe his loving uncle.

Is this why I've started? Mostly.

It's the little part which I'm not sure about.

As I lose weight, I start to think back about those time

and all the anger comes back.

This is supposed to make me feel better about myself

and fill my soul with pride, but sometimes it feels like

submission to those words that have tainted me

like a scarlet letter. 

I do notice the difference,

and I feel a new source of energy.

But feelings still remain.

I've always taken pride in myself

and my abilities because that's the way

I was brought up.

But am I feeling pride in what I'm doing,

or am I submitting to those voices?

I just can't figure out which one.

Ray Rice

Ray Rice is a star football player for the Baltimore Ravens, positioned as their running back. I’m sorry, he was. That’s because he’s been indefinitely suspended by the National Football League and his contract with the Ravens has been terminated after the release of a video revealing his assault on his fiancé at the time, now his wife. The video shows the couple arguing in an elevator and over what it’s not clear yet. The climax is when Rice’s fiancé apparently comes forward and Rice punches her in the face which results in her falling and smacking her head on the railing of the elevator. Then Rice would kick her side to see if she was knocked out.

Like her being motionless on the floor isn’t enough of a clue. Just when you thought you see the worst of it, when the door opens, he proceeds to pick her up and drag her outside. He then drops her on the floor like a bag of trash and that’s what led us here. The only thing that was more disgusting than the assault itself was the response by the NFL whom acted under the belief that Rice was defending himself, believing that the woman was charging and Rice acted under self-defense. Since Rice is well over 200 pounds and is solid muscle, they believed he could’ve done other things to prevent the incident so he only got a 2 game suspension but when the video was released, everything changed.

Being embarrassed by the way the NFL handled the situation, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell altered the ruling and modified the NFL’s policy on domestic abuse. While some people still stand by Rice, everyone shouldn’t doubt that the NFL punched themselves in the face with the way they handled the situation. With people asking how they could condone this kind of abuse and allow people like Ray Rice to make millions of dollars and be a role model to children, the NFL backed themselves into a corner. It’s been reported that the NFL did request all surveillance and statements from the incident but when the video was released, their response was basically, “Where did this come from?”

To be real honest, I’m not surprise because this directly impacts two key components to the NFL’s success. The first being Ray Rice is a superstar and he brings in revenue to a League that generates billions of dollars every year so it’s only logical they would try to protect that revenue. The second component is the image that the NFL shares, that they hire constant professionals and everyone is in fact, a role model for children to look up to. The big boys on top aren’t protecting Ray Rice, they’re protecting their image and that’s what this is all about and understandable. To them they’re probably thinking, “Why should we care what goes on in players private lives?”

A lot goes on inside the locker room that the public doesn’t know about and the NFL sweeps under the rug because “it’s none of their business” as long as it keeps sales rolling in. Last year there was a controversy with the Miami Dolphins involving two players of different races when Richie Incognito dropped the N-bomb on fellow player Jonathon Martin. When investigated, the general response is that the “N” word is thrown around a lot but in a joking sense. When Jonathon Martin didn’t take it as a joke, he had to leak it out to the press and that’s when the NFL had to take action or lose their image. Same situation here with Ray Rice, the video is out so now the NFL must act in order to keep the revenue coming and the imaged saved.

Some people believe the NFL is doing everything they can and they just messed up but others believe that they didn’t really care about the situation and tried to sweep it under the rug. It doesn’t matter at this point because the damage is already done. When you say you investigated a situation and gave a penalty that doesn’t fit the crime and then come out saying that you didn’t see a vital piece of information, you throw yourself under the bus. Ray Rice’s future is uncertain and some people think that he made a mistake but I’ve got to throw in my two cents right here. I was raised never to hit anyone, not just a woman, but anyone weaker than me because that makes me a coward. I don’t care what caused that altercation in the elevator, she’s just an average person and he’s a professional athlete. He should’ve known better.