Sergeant Tony's Blog

The men in my family and the guys in my neighborhood weren’t weak. They were men’s men. (None of them would have made a “Middle-aged Cracker Rapper” video.)

Mostly veterans of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, these men wouldn’t suffer a fool. You would be met with ridicule, name calling, and insults if you showed pain, whined, or complained around these guys. One of my favorite male family members liked to say, “I don’t see no blood or no bones sticking out of yew, so shut yur mouth!” Not good grammar, but it made a pretty good point when I was 8 years old!

“You want sympathy?” I was told, “you’ll find it in the fricken dictionary between ’sh*t’ and ’syphilis’!” And I didn’t even know what that second word meant!

Quiet endurance and persistence in the face of adversity or hardship was expected and required.

It’s been almost 5 weeks since the surgery on my right knee to repair the torn quad tendon and meniscus. So far, five weeks on crutches. Five weeks to be the object of stranger’s pity. Complete strangers looking at me with that “sucks to be you, dude!” look … thankful that THEY aren’t me.

Yuck.

I had a hard time accepting the fact that I was now “one of those guys.” You know. Someone to feel sorry for. Someone to pity. ewwwww

That really bothered me. Totally against everything I’d been raised to be. A lifetime spent working to be good to go, “mission capable” … now, not so much.

Once I got over myself, got over the machismo macho-Marine mindset that I’d been raised with and which had been ingrained in me over a lifetime, I had a bit of a revelation.

I reread the script.

I reinterpreted the sympathy and the pity and saw something else instead.

I discovered the kindness strangers.

Those crutches and this big black brace covering my whole right leg make it impossible for me to just blend into a situation. I can’t quietly or anonymously slip into a restaurant, or a grocery store, or a crack house (just kidding, wanted to see if you were paying attention). I can’t “sneak” into anywhere. The click, clack, click, clack of my crutches announces my arrival wherever I go.

What have I learned? I’ve discovered that most people are really nice. Even when perfect strangers see me hobbling around on my crutches they get the door for me … or they help me with my tray … or they carry my coffee … or they do whatever they can to be nice to me through some act of kindness.

All because people can see the crutches. They see the crutches and they extend themselves to me in some act of kindness. And it’s not some “random act of kindness.” It’s quite deliberate.

In the past week, two Boot Campers have lost family members. Margaret Caffey’s mom passed away on Tuesday and Kelli Smith lost her father last week. And I want to express my condolences to them both. And even though they and their families have suffered a great loss, strangers wouldn’t know it. Their hurt isn’t obvious. You can’t see their need. You can’t see their crutches.

I’ve encouraged you to be kind to others, especially those whose burden is unseen. I’ve made this a frequent topic in the past. We encounter the inconvenience of strangers almost everyday. People in front of us don’t move fast enough. People don’t show us the kind of respect and courtesy that we think that we deserve. The “hired help” doesn’t seem very fast, reliable, respectful, sensitive, whatever. We become impatient and intolerant. We often assign the worst things to strangers who aren’t performing appropriately, in our judgment.

Wouldn’t it be a different world if we could see everyone’s “crutch.” Wouldn’t we treat others with more patience and understanding if everyone wore a black t-shirt with white lettering that told you what their burden was: “My Father died today.” “I just lost my job.” “I just had a fight with my boyfriend.” “I just found out I’ve got cancer.”

See what I mean?

If you could see that, if you could see the “crutch,” if you could see the writing on their t-shirt, if you knew what kind of burden they bore, you’d be kind, you’d be patient, you’d be tolerant, you’d be long suffering, you’d be helpful … you’d be exactly what you want others to be … to you.

Consider everyone you see as being on crutches … wearing a black t-shirt.

And isn’t that the distilled teaching of every major religion and every humanistic philosophy in the world … “be ye kind, one to another.”

Start with you.

Be kind to yourself.

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GOALS!

I have invited you to join me in setting goals for January 1, 2010! Lots of you guys have written them down and sent them to me! GREAT!

How are you doing so far?

One of my goals is to be jog/walking on a treadmill by 1/1/10!

Part of that goal is completely out of my hands. The muscle and tendon have to heal before I can do anything. I’m powerless to make that happen quickly. And then I’ve got to work to get back some range of motion in my knee. Today I achieved 110 degrees of knee bend! This is pretty dang good! I’ve worked hard to get there. It’s required two or three sessions a day at home with me stretching, bending, flexing, and icing my knee. Each session takes from 45 min to an hour to complete. And then I go to Campbell Clinic twice a week to be tortured by those demons for an hour or so!

Write down your goals! Make sure that your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic in two months time. (S.M.A.R.T = specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time defined.)

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HALF MARATHON TRAINING THIS SATURDAY!!

Our St. Jude Half Marathon Training continues on Saturday, Nov 7 at 8 AM!
We will meet in front of the Visitor’s Center at Shelby Farms!

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0645 and 0830 CLASSES ARE ACTIVATED!!

The 0645 and 0830, both MWF classes, are back in session!

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TUESDAY & THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tuesday and Thursday evening classes meet at St. Mary’s track. Those classes begin at 5:45 PM. St. Mary’s is at the corner of Walnut Grove and Perkins. In the event of rain, these cardio only classes will be canceled.

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RACE FOR GRACE 5K

The Race for Grace 5K will be held on Saturday, November 7 at 9 AM @ Shady Grove Presbyterian Church.
This race benefits the Church Health Center!

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NO MT. FUJI WORKOUT THIS MONTH!

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NEW WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM!

Soon I will be announcing a partnership with a very successful and results oriented weight loss program endorsed by John’s Hopkins Hospital! Stay tuned for more details!

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HIRING?

A former boot camper is looking for a job. She’s got experience in marketing, sales, copy writing, and real estate (she’s got her license). If you know of something that might work for her, let me know.

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“Be ye kind, one to another!”

To your continued good health and fitness!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding

Memphis, TN

901-644-0145

www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com