This too is Yonkers–By Eric W. Schoen
I take one week off from writing, come back and I am amazed at what has happened both locally and nationally. And it was the week before Labor Day when things are normally quiet around town!
Labor Day is the time when, as a child, we would drive home from our Catskills vacation usually arriving minutes before Jerry Lewis would sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” This, after raising millions of dollars through his Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy.
Let’s face it. If we weren’t sad that summer was over after our ride home from the Catskills, watching Jerry Lewis – tears running down his eyes, barely able to sing and saying “thank you” to those who supported his favorite charity – would make us even sadder.
Jerry Lewis, Ed McMahon, Julius La Rosa, all now gone. How fun it would be to watch them clown around on stage? Tony Orlando’s still around, but the telethon that went from 9 p.m. Sunday night to 6 or 7 p.m. Monday night is long gone.
Getting back to what happened in the week that I was off canoodling around Pennsylvania and the southern part of New Jersey…
The South Plainfield Labor Day parade in New Jersey that the governor was supposed to march in was canceled, as destructive devices were found along the parade route.
New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport devolved into chaos on Labor Day after a flight attendant noticed two men who she thought were suspicious, causing hundreds to be evacuated on the busy Labor Day holiday. An Alaskan Airlines flight attendant first approached the two men at Gate 30 in Terminal A at about 8:30 p.m., asking them a series of questions. The flight attendant became concerned and then hit an alarm, yelling for people to evacuate.
Authorities have insisted there was no actual threat. Now we find out the flight attendant was bipolar and had not taken her medicine.
A West Texas gunmen killed seven people and wounded two dozen others. He failed psychological tests to legally purchase a gun. He resorted to a “private sale,” which doesn’t require background checks. These private sales are totally legal in the State of Texas.
A masked gunman opened fire on police in a Brooklyn backyard. The gun-wielding parolee in a mask was killed early Monday in a fierce firefight involving seven police officers after he shot at a patrol car in Brooklyn. Thankfully, none of the officers were hurt in the gun battle.
Seven people were shot dead in and around Chicago on Labor Day weekend. This has become a disturbing trend in the city.
The French government allocated $5 million to stop men from killing women. A staggering one woman is killed every two days by abusive partners in France.
Walmart stopped selling certain forms of ammunition and supports background checks. They immediately came under fire from the National Rifle Association even after a gunman killed 22 people and injured many more at their El Paso, Texas store.
Five die as a diving boat catches fire and capsizes, leaving 34 dead. The company who owned the boat has been doing these diving trips for years, never having any problems. The experienced captain and his crew get off the boat alive, leaving even more questions in this saga.
These things occur and life goes on. Have we become so oblivious to tragedy as it surrounds us every day? Everyone screams for gun permit background checks and that the guns people obtain legally everyday with magazines full of bullets and bump stocks are not needed by the average man or women who wants to carry a gun.
People want Congress to act. They say they will, and nothing happens. Isn’t it strange that the number one movie this weekend and last weekend was “Angel Has Fallen,” about a failed assassination attempt against a U.S. president? I’ll let you ponder that!
Briefs
How wonderful it is to have your gas pumped in New Jersey! And gas 25 cents cheaper than New York!
Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved serving alcohol (wine, beer and cider) at bingo games. I guess folks have to do something to relax since they no longer can smoke! Remember smoky Bingo halls?
The state fair near Syracuse had record attendance this year. How about a downstate state fair?
There was a big sign in the window of a Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia saying they were not accepting cash for purchases, only credit and debit cards and Starbucks cards. Is that a sign of the times or something we need to worry about?
People are jumping on train tracks in the New York City subways to retrieve EarPods that have fallen. EarPods is the fancy name for those little things you put in your ears that matchup via Bluetooth technology so you can communicate via cellphone hands free.
Philadelphia takes good care of its seniors, with no charge for traveling on bus or train around town. Rail line takes you to Trenton for $1. Movies at the theater are really cheap. And if you are using Uber or Lyft in Philly, they don’t tack on a million surcharges! Why can’t New York do these things for our seniors?
A passenger brings a miniature horse on plane as a service animal. I don’t even know what to say about that one!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show on Thursdays from 10 to 11 a.m. on WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.
