January 17th, 2024. I woke up thinking about how lucky I am. I’ve never spent a night homeless. Never looked for a soup kitchen because I couldn’t buy a meal. Never been clinically depressed. Never addicted. So much good luck in my life. Now that I’ve got my attitude in the right place, today is Ben Franklin’s birthday, customer Service Day, Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day, Hot-Buttered Rum Day, Judgement Day, Museum Selfie Day, National Bootleggers Day, National Hot Heads Chili Day, and Popeye Day. It’s also National Pizza Week. Now some history: On this day in 1775 nine old women were burnt as witches for causing bad harvests in Kalisk, Poland. On this day in 1917 the US paid Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands. This is the dark day in 1920 that the prohibition of alcohol went into effect. In 1929 on this day Popeye made his 1st appearance in the comic strip “Thimble Theater”. This is the day in 1950 that 11 men robbed the Brink’s armored car company of $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in securities. It is known as the Great Brinks Robbery. This is the day in 1961 that President Eisenhower delivered his televised farewell address to the nation warning against the accumulation of power by the “military-industrial complex.” In 1987 on this day President Reagan signed a secret order permitting the covert sale of arms to Iran. Since it’s Ben Franklin’s birthday, I’ll use his quotes for today. Ben said, “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” “Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” “Never ruin an apology with an excuse.” “Those who beat their swords into plowshares usually end up plowing for those who kept their swords.” Ill wrap this day’s post up with “The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all others, charity.” Abide.
