Just recently in New York, a man, who was quite angry about homelessness, the condition of the subways and just generally how shitty society was, spoke almost like a scene from Squid Game, of how much the general public does not give a shit about each other. This man took action and opened fire on a bunch of poor and unsuspecting souls on the afternoon train. Lucky for them (and him too, since he basically turned himself in) no one was seriously hurt. No deaths.
Two things I wanted to talk about regarding Frank James. He is a 62 year old man, looks like every other dude that you would see, but with one difference. He’s probably not a lunatic. If he really wanted to make a statement, he would have killed. He didn’t aim to kill. He aimed to maim. This says that he wanted to get someone’s attention but wasn’t violent. He probably didn’t plan on killing people, he wanted some authority figure to notice him. If he stood on a street corner in New York, people would just walk by and think that he was just another nutcase on the street. He took the time to drive a van from another State and then did his thing. Common sense tells me that this is an angry man that is trying to get noticed.
The other thing is an idea. I may have stolen this idea from a comedy, but I think it would work (in theory). However, it would only work if a few rules were followed. I’ll get to those after I describe my idea.
Remember the ‘Festivus’ episode from Seinfeld? George Constanza’s father, Frank Costanza, installs a pole in his house. He says that he needs to walk up to the pole, state his grievances for everyone to hear. He wants everyone to know what is pissing HIM off. Most of it was to do with George of course. George Costanza is the most self-destructive, self-loathing and arrogant character ever. That is what makes him funny. However, Frank does not find him funny at all.
So, my idea is this. Set up a Festivus Pole in each of the Boroughs of New York. Make NYC a pilot/test project. This Festivus Pole would be in a public place, but you can only record one message per month. This would be controlled by a card issued to you by the City. This card would also give you a free public transit ride, round trip from your home to the Festivus Pole. The Festivus Pole would have the ability to record your video message, which would be seen by someone who works for the City. If it is a general concern that is valid (dirty subways, too many homeless people, too much garbage in your hood) then the City would address your concern the best way that they know how. Perhaps put this out to the public for ideas. Some concerns, perhaps cannot be solved easily (depression, anger at authority, can’t stand your neighbor). However, if you have a concern and someone says to you “..I feel your pain and I wish I could help…”, that will sometimes make a difference. Perhaps someone who is angry, when they know that someone listened to him/her, then they may realize that they are not alone.
So, now for some simple rules:
Every concern must be acknowledged - the Boroughs can hire a few people to watch/listen to these and get back to everyone. Even if it is just an email/text saying we hear you.
Please, no violent threats. That is just going to create more animosity. We are all adults, let us act like adults. If you want to curse and swear, that may make you feel better. If it is about a person, and you despise them, so be it. But - no threats. Violence begets violence. Two wrongs do not make a right.
If you have an idea or a solution, please share it. In the days of old, where there were town meetings, we all spoke to each other. Perhaps that is what we need again. I know that if someone hears my concern and just validates what I said, that makes a huge difference. We all want to feel like we matter.
I wonder - if we would have had these Festivus Poles years ago, could we have avoided many violent acts of past days? Rodney King? George Floyd? I’m sure that even the cops are pissed off. I’m not condoning what they do or did. I am saying that there has to be a better way than violence to get your point across.
