Saturday Soapbox: A test of wills
Jesse Padron has had one of the rockiest employment histories you'll read about - all with the same boss. He's been disciplined, he's been put on probation. He's been fired. Twice. And he keeps coming back for more. The 19-year Elgin cop is suing to get his job back, claiming that the department conspired to get rid of him. While it's clear the police department has been itching to dump Padron for years, we'll leave the legal wrangling for the courts. One question, though: If your employer so desperately wanted to get rid of you, why would you want to put yourself through so much grief to stay?
Cell-y idea:
Apparently, someone somewhere has claimed this to be National Cell Phone Courtesy Month. Sorry, we didn't get the memo (i.e. text message, e-mail or voice mail). And, from the look - and sound- of things all around us, not many people did. Nice try, though.
A welcome (home) bit of news:
Perhaps Bo the collie should become a celebrity spokesdog for pet microchipping. Bo, the pet of an Arlington Heights family, disappeared more than five years ago, and amazingly turned up in good shape this week in Rockford. But it was only because Bo had been outfitted with an implanted ID microchip that the tearful reunion with his family could take place. That's about as good a plug for microchipping your pet as any ad executive could have come up with.
A well-deserved honor:
If you've ever met Apollo 13 astronaut James A. Lovell of Lake Forest, you know that in addition to his distinguished career, he is a good and unassuming person. So we were happy to see that ground was broken in North Chicago this week for the Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center.
Local landmarks help:
A great movie doesn't really need help to engage our interest, but admit it, it's a nice extra treat to look for local landmarks like we can with "The Dark Knight," the latest Batman blockbuster.
When oratory fails:
Love him or hate him, no one's ever doubted Jesse Jackson's impressive skills as an orator. Quite an irony then that such a mesmerizing public speaker could be done in by coarse speaking that became public.
Gerry Kern and 'the worry vibes:'
Congratulations to Gerry Kern, the new editor of the Chicago Tribune. The Long Grove newspaper executive was a longtime managing editor of the Daily Herald before moving to the Tribune in 1991, and we remember fondly his admonitions that to solve a problem, "You have to send the worry vibes out." No doubt, given the state of the industry these days, there will be many worry vibes to send out at the Tribune. But having seen Kern's magic here, we're confident he'll put those vibes to good use at the Tower.
Depressing destruction:
Vandals get a sick kick out of destroying property. But there's nothing amusing about the damage they leave behind. That is particularly true in the destruction of vehicles earlier this month at the Medinah Baptist Church in Medinah. The cars that were vandalized were to be given to single mothers and families in need. But none of the damaged cars can be repaired. And the entire car ministry program is in limbo. It's a shame to see thoughtful people, and those they are trying to help, hurt by such thoughtlessness.