Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Joe Willie Sousa: "Kurtis The Stockboy"

KURTIS THE STOCK BOY AND BRENDA THE CHECKOUT GIRL

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry out at register 4. Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check-out girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he wasonly 22) and he fell in love.
Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card and punched out, then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out onlyto see her start walking up the road. Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again,outside of work. She simply said it wasn't possible.
He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday. That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The baby-sitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, "Well,let's take the kids with us."
She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with Down Syndrome.
Kurtis asked Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can'tcome with us?" Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities - just like her first husband and father of her children had done. Kurtis was not ordinary - - - he had a different mindset.
That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids, went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him and brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with.
A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children. Since then they have added two more kids.
So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy and Brenda the check-out girl? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona , where he is currently employed as the quarterback of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals and has his Cardinals in the hunt for a possible appearance in the Super Bowl. Is this a surprise ending or could you have guessed that he was not an ordinary person.
Kurtis is also a devout Christian and a leader in many bible study programs with his team mates and other professional football players, and is highly respected in the National Football League
It should be noted that Kurtis Warner also quarterbacked the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. He has also been the NLF's Most Valuable Player twice and the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player.
It comes as no surprise that Kurtis is going to SUPER BOWL XLIII again this time with THE PHOENIX CARDINALS

Friday, January 23, 2009

Joe Willie On The Shrimpbox: In A Perfect World

"In A Perfect World"

A person should feel as good at 50 as he did at 17 and he would actually be as smart at 50 as he thought he was at 17.

Forget-me-nots would stimulate the memory.

Doing what was good for you would be what you enjoyed doing the most.

Pro baseball players would complain about teachers being paid contracts worth millions of dollars.

You would never fumble, but if you did, you would recover the ball yourself.

The mail would always be early, the check would always be in the mail, and it would be written for more than you expected.

Potato chips might have calories, but if you ate them with a dip, the calories would be neutralized.

If the guy from the government said to you,"I'm here to help," not only would he mean it, but also he'd do it.

First impressions wouldn't count for nearly as much as ultimate performance.

Winning might be a nice thing, but that would be about all.

All people could expect to be accepted.

Highway patrolmen would never be around when you're running late, but would always be at your side when a BMW blows past or a Mac truck won't get off your bumper.

The better food tasted, the less calories it would have.

Warranties would be for 13 months and products would fail at 12.

More would be accomplished by governments when they spent more.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Joe Willie On The Shrimpbox: The Window

A friend of mine sent this in:


"The Window"

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood.
The next morning while they were having breakfast,
the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the
wash outside.

"That laundry is not very clean," she said, "She
doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she
needs better laundry soap." Her husband looked
on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang the wash
to dry, the young woman would make the same
comment.

About a month later the woman was surprised to
see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her
husband, “Look, she has learned how to wash
correctly, I wonder who taught her.”

The husband said, “I got up this morning and
washed the windows.”

And so it is with life. What we see when watching
others depends on the purity of the window
through which we look.

Before we give any criticism, it might be a good
idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves
if we are ready to see the good rather than to be
looking for something in the person we are about
to judge.

Monday, January 5, 2009

As we enter the new year, the big thing on our minds is the state of our economy. Have we seen the worst of it? Or is the worst yet to come? I like to think of it as a glass that's half full. Is that a light at the end of the tunnel? Or is it a train headed at us? We should all band together and pray that the worst is indeed past us. We need to look at 2009 being fine! The rest of the world may be in a recession but we, here in Brunswick and The Golden Isles, refuse to participate. My friend Terry Dickson had a nice way of putting it all in perspective in yesterday's Georgia Times Union newspaper.

"Everyone is scared to death. The recession will deepen, more people will lose jobs and businesses will close, we're told.
When things get bad, my mother always says, "I don't know what people are going to do."
None of us does. But we've always done something and we will again.
The safest guy in town is in jail in solitary confinement. But he would trade places in a heartbeat with the man scraping to make a car payment.
It's going to be hard not to get discouraged as the bad news piles up. We can shrug it all off in the daytime when we're busy, but it's like spending the night at Grandma's house as a kid. When you're lying in bed, the old house pops and creaks and the rose bush outside the window becomes a guy with an ax.
When that bad news creeps into your sleep, think of all the good stuff in your life, the kids sleeping across the hall, a dog that loves you or a friend who laughs at your jokes."

Thanks Terry for brightening our day!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Joe Willie On The Shrimpbox: My Wish List for 2009

MY WISH LIST FOR 2009

…that the economy in Coastal Georgia turns around even faster than the rest of the world. Good paying jobs will be plentiful as more industries realize that this is a great place to do business!

…that this downtown jail mess be resolved, one way or another. Wouldn’t be great if the crime rate came down so much that we no longer needed the extra room.

…that the City of Brunswick finally repair the pier at Overlook Park on Hiway 17 that was destroyed by that Tropical Storm. It’s a shame to let tourists see this as they pass thru Brunswick, the gateway to the Golden Isles.

…that Policemen, Firemen and teachers finally get the kind of pay that they really deserve. These folks are the real heroes of our society and they should be rewarded for the commitment and sacrifice that they give.

…that the School Board put less emphasis on tests, and more emphasis on teaching kids what they really need for the life experience. Teach them the basics and they’ll do fine on the tests.

…that our local governments finally realize that we don’t need to put anymore lights on the Sidney Lanier bridge. Instead, let’s just change the burned out lightbulbs on there now. There’s been 7 lights out for more than a year! Give me the bulbs and a lift truck and I’ll take care of it.

…that our local shrimp fleet get some relief. We’ve subsidized the farming industry for so long, can’t we help the shrimpers out, too.

…that our local teams all have championship seasons!

…that Davis Love the Third finally wins the Masters.

…that Kwame Brown finally wake up and have the kind of NBA stats the we know he is truly capable of.

…that Adam Wainright be traded back to the Braves and he ends up helping the Bravos win the World Series.

…that we have a hurricane-free year here on the coast. Would the folks that keep saying.
“We’re bound to have one hit us” just shut the heck up!