I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the passing of Prince. In the music world he was one of the greatest icons that ever was. He will be missed as his music lives on and on. He has written, co-written and influenced so much music that I hesitate listing anything. As I understand it, he has a vault containing hundreds of unpublished music. I can hardly wait for any of it to come out. He is one artist that will never be forgotten. RIP

I was a radio announcer/DJ for many years and I have had an e-mail account since the mid or late eighties. At the end of my radio shows (since the eighties) and at the end of my e-mail accounts I always closed with a saying…”Be kind to your neighbors because you’ll never know when you’ll need them. Also, ensure your words are soft and sweet because you’ll never know when you’ll have to eat them”. There are many people that need to learn that and, as for me, I try to.

Why am I relaying this? The other day, as I was sitting on an outside bench getting a little sun, an older woman with her walker passed within a foot of me. I spoke, she glanced at me, kept walking and never spoke or acknowledged that I had spoken. I knew she heard me because she did not glance at me until I spoke. Later that same day the same thing happened with another person. I began to think there was something wrong with me. That is when I started to remember the saying. If the first and second woman were to have an immediate, life threatening or not, problem both would look to me for help of some type. I then must become a good neighbor and disregard any and all prior treatment by that person. I could either be a kind neighbor or not. That is my call, depending on my feelings at the time. I could help or, being angry for treatment I previously received, go on about my business and not help.

I looked at the evening news Thursday and saw the man knocked unconscious, robbed and run over by a cab as the multitude of people stood around and did nothing to help. If it was one of them, they would want some type of intervention. Be kind to your neighbors. The man died. I could quote many more incidents from here at Imperial Plaza and elsewhere, but for brevity I will not.

The other part is about speech. Not the sound but the content. I’ll hop on a political figure although there are many more examples but this is most recent. Mr. Trump stated, many times years ago and when he started campaigning, that he was against abortion and gay people. Period. Thursday, I am guessing it’s for political reasons, he said he is for abortion in the case of rape, incest, etc and transgendered people can use any restroom they choose. What a turnaround (can someone say flip-flop). Ensure your words are soft and sweet because it may come back and bite a big chunk out of whatever. Mr. Sanders said, at the beginning of his run and like the republicans, that he would support whomever is the democratic nominee. Thursday he said only if the nominee supported his views. Were his words soft and sweet? And, what did he say about Harriet Tubman?

All I am saying is people must be careful in what they say, how they say it and what they do because they may not have a chance to correct the oversight before they are caught in the web of regretting all that they have done. It is a shame we have people, here at Imperial Plaza, that act like it’s still the nineteen fifties, sixties or before. They may be old but this is a new age and, one day, they will need help, no matter who gives it. They would let the devil help, if he would. And, last but not least, all of the politicians have said something that they should not have said and, believe me, it is recorded somewhere.

We will all need help, at some point in time, and we all should think about what we are about to say before we say it and/or acknowledge being spoken to. Many people do not and it may not be forgotten when push becomes shove.