The Scouts Have Been As Bad As The Priests

It's been several years since I posted an article [HERE] that I found via Google. The writer rhapsodized about a former boy scout leader in my home town. I found it interesting that I knew people who wouldn't agree with the article, because, like victims of pedophile priests, they didn't think he was such a wonderful person. So I hoped posting the article on my blog would generate some interest and reaction, particularly from people who felt this person was a criminal.

And it did -- on both sides. The comments revealed he had a staunch defender. But statutes of limitations and other issues have kept anything from moving forward in any meaningful way.

Now, since the publication of two decades of boy scout pedophile files, one of this scout leader's victims has decided to do something about his experiences with this man, who permanently affected his life from childhood. 

I believe I am correct in saying that the files that have been released by the scouts are about people who were accused, along with cases that were brought forward, between 1965 and 1985. Followed by what the scouts did to keep these predators out of scouting. The scout leader from my home town was active for 50 years. He has victims from the fifties. And, except for years of rumors, he has never been charged. 

I received this email, anonymously, yesterday from someone who read the article I had posted on my blog several years ago:

Dear Mrs. Linklater,

I was sexually abused by Bill Bricker many decades ago. This has preyed on me for a long time and I have finally decided to do something about it.  I would appreciate your contacting Chicago attorney Marc J. Pearlman of Kerns, Frost & Pearlman at his private direct line of 312-261-4554 or via email at mpearlman@kfplegal.com and sharing with him what you may know about Bill Bricker and his victims.  After speaking with him, it might be helpful if you could let other victims know about this and suggest to them that they might want to contact him.  Their identities would be known only to him. If you know of circumstances, dates, or places of instances, it will be helpful. This is the website of the law firm: http://www.kfplegal.com/  Thank you very much.

I talked with the attorney, sent him an email about what I knew, and posted the anonymous email on facebook. I am also posting the information here on the chance that anyone who survived the abuse -- since some boys who had been in his troop later committed suicide -- might read my blog and want the name of an attorney to contact. 

Call 1-800-WALGREENS and Ask For Riding Carts For Disabled and Elderly Shoppers

Walgreen's annoys me -- let me count a couple of ways. 

They make millions off the prescriptions of the elderly population in this country. But!

1. They refuse to provide riding carts for people with disabilities or the elderly. WHY do they do this? Because there is no law that says they have to provide carts. More evidence that corporate America cannot be expected to do the right thing without legislation to make them do it. 

Their excuse to me each time I have called 800-WALGREENS at their corporate headquarters is that the aisles are too narrow. CVS has the same policy by the way.
          This is however, not the case in any new stores I have been in. And frankly, many of their old stores have wide enough aisles. 

The aisles are wide enough to accommodate full-sized carts, 

so they can accommodate riding carts, too.

          I am reminded of the Whole Foods' store located at the base of Whole Foods' multi-storied corporate headquarters building in Austin, Texas. Like most grocery stores around the country, they provide riding carts for those who can't walk around easily while shopping. They do this, despite the fact there are places that are barely wide enough to let a cart get through. Somehow they figure the person on the cart will manage. Worked for me when I was on crutches.

2. Walgreen's has the most confusing promotional offers. 

Lately, they've been touting their new rewards system -- the Balance Card -- based on points for products you buy. But, as usual, they make it confusing. For instance, from the posted signage, it would seem that you get 750 points for purchasing a single can of soup. But in print the size of protozoa, right above the 750 points, it says you have to buy 4 cans. Not only that, but the cash register doesn't have a designation for 50 points. Go figure. So I got 800 points, when all was said and done. I think after 250,000 points you get a free tube of toothpaste.

And I can't say enough bad things about Walgreen's new house brand, NICE. 

Starting with the name. Yep, you can now purchase Nice nuts, 

Nice soups, Nice popcorn. How nice is that? Not so much. 

I've tasted the popcorn and it's anything but nice.

They're Not McMansions, They're Starter Castles

I recently received notice that work would begin in my neighborhood to dig up the road and put in huge holding bins or catch basins, whatever you call those giant tanks that hold rain water. This is supposed to alleviate the street flooding. We'll see. Twenty years ago, we paid for curbs to be installed on our street. This was supposed to alleviate the street flooding. It didn't. Why? They forgot to put in more grates for the excess water to go through. Duh. 

So, here's the letter I wrote to the engineer type who is now in charge of this project. His reply follows my letter.

Dear [VILLAGE ENGINEER IN CHARGE OF FIXING THE FLOODING ON MY STREET]

We exchanged voicemails recently regarding the upcoming project on [MY STREET] which is supposed to alleviate flooding problems.

One request -- put extra grates where the terrain is lowest, since it doesn't matter how big the tanks are below ground, if the water can't get into them. It's hard to put a tsunami through the eye of a needle. Or stuff a 500-pound gorilla through a five-pound bag.

I have already learned this lesson the hard way. 

Before the village added curbs on [MY STREET], we had a lot of flooding. Then curbs were added at a cost of $1000+ for each resident on my block. "This should help the flooding," said a resident, who was on the planning commission. It didn't. He was smart. He moved. 

So the street flooding on [MY STREET] has continued unabated for another twenty years. 

Recently, since the village has permitted McMansions with excessive footprints without adequate drainage infrastructure, the floods have been getting worse. With the worst street flood in my 32 years here being last year in July, when the water from the two hour microburst reached the window wells next to the front of my house. In fact, water actually went into a front yard window well, when a car created a huge wave trying to navigate the flooded street. Needless to say, I may be more sensitive to this flooding, since I'm at the lowest point in the road.

This time, please remember to provide plenty of escape routes for the ever increasing amounts of flood water which accumulate on the street after heavy rains. 

So my house doesn't become the holding tank. 

I have already had massive flooding twice via the window wells in back, losing two furnaces and hot water heaters, since the village allowed a 46% footprint, not counting the huge driveways and cement patios, for two McMansions behind me. They were also allowed to raise the grade, which was already at two feet, to four feet, while reducing the length of the backyards by 50%, effectively doubling, perhaps even quadrupling, the angle of the pitch, with only two 18-inch catch basins per yard for the runoff. Not to mention the sump pumps.

So, with all due respect, try not to screw up this one, please. 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Linklater

Hi, Mrs. Linklater, 

Your suggestion to add extra grates (inlet capacity) is a correct assessment and already part of the current conceptual plan and will remain a key design element as the project moves forward.

I will also pass along your concerns regarding the “McMansions,” which are also referred to as “starter castles” to the site plan reviewers.

Thank you again for your comments and we hope this helps, 

[VILLAGE ENGINEER IN CHARGE OF FIXING THE FLOODING ON MY STREET]

Good Thing We're Not Strippers

We're in the final countdown of rehearsals before our BIG SHOW on October 21st [I'll save you a seat]. The name of our group is The North Shore Harmonizers. Or, as I like to say, the Ladies Who Wear Sequins & Polyester & Sing. I think it's easier to remember. We have a website. And you can "LIKE" us on facebook. But there's MORE!!! This year is the 60th anniversary of the group, so it's possible that we may be the oldest women's barbershop chorus in the U.S. In more ways than one. 
           Given the age of our group and the ages of our members, the show has a certain -- how do you say -- je ne sais quoi. For a demographic that can bring down the house, literally, just by walking and chewing gum, the act of singing, while standing on risers or stairs presents even more challenges. Add choreography to the mix, on top of trying to remember the words, and the thrill factor begins to ratchet up exponentially. Two words: hip implants. Two more words: knee replacements. 747s have better moves. However, we have more spectacular landings.
          Take DO WAH DIDDY for instance. It starts out with a hitchhiker maneuver to our left, then right, followed immediately by some hand-jive action that gets out of hand before you know it. Which leads immediately into a finger snapping elbow motion that rarely gets off on the right foot, as it were. Then, before anyone can recover, we're doing the hand-jive thing once again, most of us anyway. A couple of electric slides and a rosy rock or two later and things start to wind down. But disaster is always imminent. Especially since this tune ends the first half of the show and we have to be-bop off the stage repeating DO WAH DIDDY as we make our way through the audience. Did I mention we're wearing very dark neon shades? And we can't see anything? 

Some of the many pairs of sunglasses which will appear, as if by magic, 

from beneath our sparkly outfits, when we sing Do Wah Diddy

          Believe it or not, we save the scariest [for us] moments for the la-la section of Hernando's Hideaway. Not only do we have choreography throughout the whole song, but some of us also use castanets while others are banging rhythm sticks together three times in a row at important intervals. I did not volunteer for either of these job opportunities. 
          The la-la section goes something like: la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! Only different, because the la-las are syncopated and I can't do syncopated here. Or anywhere, for that matter. 
          Anyhoo, during the la-la section of Hernando's, the first and third rows lean to the right and then to the left, while the second and fourth rows are leaning to the left and then the right. And then we reverse it. But here's the hard part -- at the end of the la-las, the rows that go right, then left, put their hands on their hips and turn left, while, simultaneously, the rows that are going left, then right, put their hands on their hips and go right. Once is discombobulating enough. We have to do the la-las four different times. Don't try this at home. 
          Unfortunately, we haven't managed to sync the la-la moves together on the first try, yet. Second try, we're good. But there are no second chances in show bidness, so we have less than two weeks to figure out how we're going to do it right the first time. 
          Our opening number may set the tone, since it not only has choreography, but there are top hats!! Fortunately, only the first row has to worry about messing up the hat moves. But there are lots of left, right, and over the top jazz hands for the rest of us to screw up on this one. Not to mention that there are a bunch more tunes to go before the Dixieland Band comes out to play their set. And we've got even MORE songs to sing when they're done. WIth a really big finish.
          Plus I haven't even shown you our sparkly wardrobe yet!!!     
    

Shameless promotion of just one of the lovely be-jeweled items donated by Chicago's New York Jewelry Company, which one lucky audience member could win in our raffle.

An actual ticket which you could purchase for the low, low price of $15.00