Commentary-Buddy Sampson, Bassist and Musician

Commentary — By Buddy Sampson on March 11, 2011 at 3:59 am

 

I’d like to say Hello to all of you and thanks for stopping by The Scoop LA.

I’ve been a little untruthful to you, my readers. I’d like to introduce myself to you. I am Buddy Sampson, Bassist and Musician. We’ll come back to that a little later.

My last three weeks have been very uncharacteristic of me and I apologize. For those of you that have read my Commentary before, you pretty much know that I’ve made my life an open book to you. And I do it for many reasons. I do it because I want you to know that just because I interview lots of stars and a number of very important people, that I am one of you. I am human. I suffer loss and heartbreak and sadness. And like many of you, I and The Scoop LA have been affected by our recession. I am a proud person of color. But in our recessionary times, people of color have been, perhaps, more affected than any other cultures. The national average for unemployment has been 9.1%, but in the minority community, that rate has been 15.7% to 25% and more. In our communities we see more and more persons of color, particularly men, on corners, selling what they can and hustling. One can find fault with that, but if you were to suddenly lose your job, then see your unemployment benefits run out, then deal with the prospect of collecting welfare, $221 a month and then deal with the strigent rules in effect to collect that money, then you’ll begin to understand- it’s tough out there. Now understand me, I make no excuses, or do I say that other cultures don’t have it bad as well in this economy. It’s rough for many people. I just want you to realize that it’s even tougher in the minority community and we can use a break.

I Worked As A Limousine Driver, Please Tip Limousine Drivers, Will You?

I recently took a job as a limousine driver. And I learned what being the working poor is like. Most of the drivers that worked in the company I worked for, which will remain nameless, were minority drivers, Latinos and Blacks. And we would work under the worst of conditions. We were asked to work sometimes starting at 6AM and would work until 11PM and then were expected to do the same thing for the next day. Many of my co-workers complained of a lack of sleep and one of them got pulled over by a police officer for swerving on the road. He was falling asleep at the wheel. We would be given days off and then asked to work on those days. If we didn’t work on our days off, we’d be subject to termination, which happened to me.

I write this section to give my show of solidarity to those that still work in fear at these unscrupulous companies of losing their jobs. I happened to talk to an Israeli driver, who pulled me aside and said, “I don’t know if you have another career in mind, but you appear young. If I were you, I’d look for another career. Many of us get exploited and we put up with it because we need to feed our families.” Now with all the hours we worked, you think there would be a monetary pay off, but the company I worked for didn’t pay you for the travel time you’d incur driving to the location to pick up your passenger. As a result, your hourly wage would fall considerably below the minimum wage level. In addition, the companies bill the clients, with “gratuity included.” So many of the clients wouldn’t tip the drivers. Guess who would receive the gratuity? Yes, you guessed it, not the drivers. The companies keep the gratuities and do not pass them on to the drivers. I asked my boss, the owner of the small company I worked for, out of journalistic curiosity, what happens to the gratuities? It was fun to watch him squirm and fidget and get nervous, but I knew my days as a limousine driver were numbered. It was very clear to me that the limousine industry, and I can’t speak for all limousine companies, but I can for the one I worked for, needs oversight from the government agencies. Remember, your safety is at issue. And know that there’s a good chance that the limo driver that is driving you around may have slept only 4 hours the night before, which I’m sure is a safety violation. Knowing these things, please, even if your invoice says “gratuity included,” tip your limousine driver. These unscrupulous practices in that industry must stop.

Being Single, Valentine’s Day and Deidra Burtonelli

But this was a sad three weeks. Valentine’s Day, as many single people know, can be rough. Now I did have fun this Valentine’s Day, but I have to admit I dreaded the day because it really is a day for lovers. The month of March is the month of the birthday of our lovely writer and Associate Editor, Deidra Burtonelli, who tragically left us in September 2010. I will admit to you, that I made mistakes with her and never knew how much I loved her and missed her until she was gone. It will always be my biggest regret. But she was a very, very special lady. I found a bunch of new pictures of her, and I finally will dig up the courage to print them, along with her last couple of stories. It was just way too painful for me, but you should read her stuff and know what a true talent she really was. She was a Queen, who rose above an insideous disease, never making excuses for herself, although she did conceal how sick she was from the people closest to her. I think that most of us that knew her, had we known, would have treated her diffferently. But that was why she concealed it. She just wanted to live a normal life and not be treated any differently. I’ll never, never forget her.

One of our Columnists, Eugenia Wright, said she was my “muse.” I denied it at the time, because I guess, lol, I didn’t know what a muse was. I thought it meant “lover,” which is why I denied it. So I looked up “muse” in the dictionary. MUSE- capitalized means “any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry and the arts and sciences.” Well that was true about Deidra. Deidra was a master writer, a makeup artist and a terrific poet. Another definition of “muse” is “a source of inspiration; especially, a guiding genius.” Deidra was always giving me suggestions and was my sergeant-in-arms. She believed in me and was there for me, even when I was going through my trevails with being with the wrong women. And she inspired me. Sure, I taught her many of the nuances of journalism and gave her techniques on interviewing. But she had a natural talent that I just helped cultivate. But her spirit, her beauty, her optimism, and her determination did inspire me, tremendously. So I have to finally admit that she was my “muse” in the definitions that Merrill Webster gave me. She inspired me and whenever we were out at events together, I felt that we were a real team. Many people thought we were an item, but we were actually just very close friends. A friend, Mary Beth, said to me that we were the “Dynamic Duo,” and that was closest to the truth. I began to take for granted that she would always be around, knowing, subconsciously, that her life was going to be short. Shortly before she passed, she knew I was getting back to playing music and said to me in an e-mail that she “was glad that I was following my dreams,” and that she knew “I would do well.” Even in the tragedy of her loss, she continues to inspire me, so I guess she was my muse. I cried like a baby thinking of her on Valentine’s Day.    

But outside of the Deidra tragedy, in terms of the single life, I did meet a couple of ladies, but they turned out to be flakes, standing me up for dates. I sometimes wonder if there are people that don’t flake in Los Angeles. I know there have to be, but I just seem to attract them. So it made for a depressing couple of weeks. But know I’m back. And very human and more determined than ever. 

Deidra is one of the ladies that have been instrumental in resurrecting my musical career. Contrary to what you know about me, dear readers, I’ve been putting on a bit of a mask as Publisher of The Scoop LA. I’m actually a musician, performer and bass player. I’ve been lucky enough to grace the stage with The Marvelettes, Edgar Winter, Steve Cropper, JJ “Bad Boy” Jones and several other artists. Deidra, my close friends and others used to get on my case about promoting myself and letting people know that I play and perform. Well now I’m taking the advice. Music is my life. Music is who I am. The Lord gave me a talent to create music and to play and I plan on being on several stages this year. I will let you know when I’m performing. I would hope you like my music and bass playing. I have been advised by several of my journalism colleagues, including a writer for The LA Weekly, that I should be performing and entertaining and it is in my spirit. When I don’t perform, I am miserable. I’m fixing that as we speak. Music is my love and as I’ve said in previous Commentaries, I promise to entertain you. I hope you like what I do. And I have to apologize, lol, for this shameless self-promotion. Those that know me well know that it took a lot for me to do this. Okay Deidra, I did it! 

Eugenia Wright

Speaking of Eugenia Wright, keep our wonderful columnist in your prayers. She is ailing and very sick and we are hoping she’s on her way to a speedy recovery. We love her very much and miss her, and hope she’ll be back soon to tell you all the happenings around Los Angeles, at events. Her presence at The Scoop is dearly missed and we hope that The Lord keeps her and protects her.

New Stuff 

We are working on a surprise interview as we speak. There’s a personality that wants to run for President in 2012 and we were approached by that person. If we manage to get that interview, we will give you The Scoop.    

Kim Webster continues to do great stuff for us and we love us some Kim Webster. She is a terrific columnist and is our most conscientious writer. Check out her column.    

And speaking of another Kim, we have Kim Somers Egelsee, who’s doing an inspirational column for us. Read her column and be inspired and encouraged.         

We have a gorgeous new writer that’s doing some stories for us, Gina Hall. Gina will be covering concerts, movies and plays for us. She is a terrific journalist and has written for AskMissA.com, The Culver City News and several other publications.She graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Cinematic Arts and has worked in the entertainment industry as a documentary and feature producer, development executive and social media writer.We are very proud and Blessed to have her write for us.

We have a new Ms. Scoop, the tall and gorgeous 5’11” Gaia Liotta and we will have some new stories for you soon.

We want to thank you for all your support. We need your help. We need more advertisers and investors and we’d love to redistribute the paper, which used to be The Scoop Newspaper, which started in 1967 by Mr. Jim Shields. We’d love to reestablish the amazing presence and history that the magnificent Mr. Shields bought to the Community. Jim taught me a lot of the nuances of journalism and I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for all he gave me. I miss the heart to heart talks we had and wish and hope that he maintains his health. He taught me many of the skills that I teach young journalists today and he is a giant of a man who is my friend and mentor. I love him and miss him.

We love you and want to implore you to hang in there, throughout these tough times. And know you make a difference in the lives you affect and encourage. Help others, love and implement the positive change that all of us deserve. Remember those that are less fortunate and remember the credo that “By the grace of God go I.” Love is the most important ingredient of all of our natures and we must learn not to forget that.

Many Blessings to you All, Peace and Love,

Buddy Sampson

Publisher, The Scoop LA