From my favorite blogger:
The Heartless Bureaucrat Meets Martin Luther King: A Love Supreme
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"So, anyway," the heartless bureaucrat grumbled into his phone, "Monday, we have off so I'll probably just hang around the house and chill a bit...maybe play X-Box or clean the garage if it's warm."
A voice warbled on the reciever for a moment and he then continued, "So stop by for a beer or something, ok?" He hung up the phone, his office was dark and empty, when a peal of thunder cut through the silence. A moment passed and he heard a sound from the waiting room.
"Hello, we're closed!" no response.
"Hello?!?" he stood up again and saw an african american man hunched over the magazine stand in his lobby.
"Y'need new magazines." the man's voice was quiet but clear and seemed to move the air in his office like a wave.
"I'm sorry sir....they're donated."
The man turned and an electric chill coarsed through the Heartless Bureaucrat's body as he recognized the man. He watched in stone silence as Dr. King straightened and walked into his office and took a seat. "Tell me, Boy. What's this about you takin' off on Monday."
"Well, sir..." he stammered, "It's a holiday..."
Dr. King interrupted, "For me. Not for you." His voice held the Hapless Bureaucrat like a vice. He exhaled and could not inhale. "Holiday's are for people who's work is finished and yours is not." The Bureaucrat nodded. "I didn't take off for golf at Montgomery...I didn't go hang out for beer and video games at Selma...so why should you get to put your feet up now?"
The heartless bureaucrat, for once in his long life, was silent.
"Valentines Day is for Chocolate and lacy things, Mothers Day is for your mama and Christmas is for....well, who knows anymore. But Martin Luther King day is not a day to sit around and do nothing."
"Well, what would you suggest?" he gasped taking his first breath in almost 45 seconds.
"Do what you normally do. Get your butt in this office and help people the best you can."
"Ok...easy enough." he finally felt at ease.
"And make sure those kids of yours know why they're home from school." Dr. King commanded.
"Yes sir."
"And get those bags of clothes out from underneath the walkway and don't forget to turn the lights off and check the thermostats when you leave!" he pointed at the Heartless Bureaucrat as he stood. As he rose, he grew beyond the boundaries of a normal man and his frame seemed to fill the room. "I like what you do son, but you give yourself too much credit sometimes. If you get to thinking you're the only one out there saving the world, your head will get big and that leads to problems....trust me, I know. Right Malcom?"
"Yes sir!" barked Malcom "X" Little, peering out the office window.
"So try a bit of humility." Dr. King smiled and offered his hand to shake. In contrast, the Heartless Bureaucrat's hand looked as small as a childs. When their hands embraced, the The Heartless Bureaucrat's head was filled with music, the sound of revving truck engines and marching feet...an epiphany on the mountain...and with a rifle shot, he was gone.
The heartless bureaucrat stood alone in his office, his hand outstreched holding a trifold pamphlet. It read the following:
Things you Can Do On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Instead of Loafing.
- Attend a seminar on the African American Experience
- Teach your children about any African American Leader using books, the internet or your own experience.
- Attend a religious ceremony.
- Help a neighbor.
- If you own a coffee shop, Make a Martin Luther King Mocha and give a ten percent discount for people who can accurately name a Prominant African American Leader. (you know who you are.)
- If you work somewhere that has a radio or television, tune into programming on African American History. Try History Channel, Biography, NPR...
- Don't forget that if you live here, you're an immigrant. So for every Mick, Limey, Polack, Kraut, Wap, Heeb and Garden Variety Mix-Breed Cracker, if no one in your family was ever lynched, whipped, sold, beaten, dragged, torched or maimed for their ethnicity, then be thankful.
- Most importantly, if you're a White Person, remember, these are not "our" seats on the bus, kindness is not charity but an expectation and we are expected to work for everyone's freedom all year long.
Make a joyful noise,
Luther
