Commentary-March 2012

Commentary — By Buddy Sampson on March 28, 2012 at 9:15 pm

We are excited! A lot of great things are happening with The Scoop LA. First, Los Angeles has an underrated fashion scene and we hope to bring awareness to its burgeoning scene. We have a new Fashion Editor, Claudia Cooley. Claudia brings a wealth of fashion expertise and knowledge of fashion trends to The Scoop LA and we are proud and delighted to have her as a member of our staff. She is a true friend and I thank her for her amazing counsel over the last few weeks. She is an amazing and wonderful person and, with Kim Somers Egelsee, I have two staffers that serve as life coaches for me and inspiration. Kim has a new column about conquering your fears about new ventures that I’m sure will enlighten you. She is pregnant and she already was glowing before her pregnancy, so now she is just beaming with even more positive energy. Congrats to her.   

Speaking of fashion, we are doing a fashion offering in The Scoop LA. We covered LA Fashion Weekend (LAFW) and we’re hoping to have more fashion correspondents to cover more fashion events. We want to emcompass all types of fashion, from classically elegant fashion styles to red carpet styles and hip hop clothing, which has dominated the world spectrum. Visit The Scoop LA for periodic updates. We were lucky to have Greg Thompson, who writes for Hot Diggety Press, lend a hand to us to help us cover LAFW. The debonair gentleman is a favorite with the ladies and speaks several languages. I found out recently that he’s a good rapper, too. Who would have known? When I hang out with him, I’m lucky to get any ladies to pay attention to me because he gets it all..(sigh.) He is a good friend and we’d like to thank him for helping us out with LAFW. Another friend, Nelson Shen, who is a fantastic photographer, allowed us to use photos from LAFW and we owe him a debt of gratitude. We love him and thank him. He’s so humble-he didn’t know I was going to mention him- that he only had one photo of himself on his Facebook page. I borrowed that photo so you know who he is.  

Racism Should Be Dead, Not Trayvon Martin  

The Scoop LA stands in solidarity with the protesters that are involved in peaceful protest for the much-publicized Trayvon Martin shooting case. This seems like something that would have happened in 1950, not 2012. Student Trayvon Martin was killed in an apparent racial incident. We are warmed to see the outpouring of support over racial lines. Decent people know, no matter which background they come from, that this is wrong. The images of Whites in hoodies, Latinos in hoodies, women in hoodies, African Americans in hoodies is truly heartwarming and shows that we, as a country, have came a long way. But we still have a way to go. It’s amazing that in 2012, that racial profiling is still an issue. Just because someone wears a hoodie, it doesn’t mean they’re criminals. I’m far from a criminal and I wear a hoodie when it rains or is cold. It’s a crying shame and a travesty that this still happens and we’re hoping the Justice Department does the right thing and arrest the shooter, Zimmerman.  

Homelessness  

I have to say this and if you’re a regular reader, you’ve heard me before on this. A friend of mine that I love dearly, posted a picture of himself with Kim Kardashian at the LA Mission downtown on Thanksgiving. Now maybe people mean well, but homeless people need to eat more than on Thanksgiving and Christmas. If celebrities want to offer a hand, go there without all the cameras and the media and help the homeless all throughout the year. If you feel you must help only on Thanksgiving and Christmas, don’t just get a spoon and shovel the homeless food- they can do that themselves. Sit down and talk to them. Many of the homeless are just like you. And you are subject, in this economy, to be two paychecks away from being homeless. Homelessness is a circumstance, it’s not a disease and many of the homeless are demoralized, especially when people treat them like they are sub-human. Talk to them. If you see them on the bus or the train or on the street, reach in your pocket and give them a few dollars. And talk to them. Remember, they are human and also remember, “By the grace of God, go I.” Think of how you’d want people to treat you if you happen to be homeless. I’ve been homeless and trust me, I know what homeless people go through. So be kind to someone that is homeless. They can use the kindness and I can guarantee you, it will not only make their day, but yours too.  

Scammer Alert  

A few weeks ago, to make some extra money, I decided to answer one of those ads for mystery shoppers-you know who mystery shoppers are-they’re the people that pose as customers and go in your favorite stores to see how store personnel handle themselves. I filled out their online application and in two days, I received a postal money order for $1,000.00. At first I was happy, but I became immediately suspicious. You know the old saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” I heard about fraud with postal money orders. The “company” wants you to deposit the money in your account, withdraw money and send it somewhere else and you keep the rest of the money. The scam is that the postal money orders are fake and by the time you are the wiser, you are out lots of money. I didn’t bother to do that. I took the postal money order straight to the post office and the postal guy at the counter started laughing and hollered to the back, “Marge, we have another one.” I laughed too. So if you are doing business with anyone and they pay you, insist on getting cash or a credit card payment. If you get a check, take it to the bank right away to see if the funds are available before you do the business. If you must receive a postal money order, take it to the post office. You’ll be glad you did!  

I have to mention the Internet and social media, particularly Facebook. Beware of phony Facebook profiles. There are many people on the Internet that use Facebook and other social media to give a false impression of who they really are. They claim they are models or actresses, record company owners, CEO’s and other professions they’ve never worked in to friend you on Facebook to get access to your contacts, spread viruses, scam people out of money, or even more nefarious things. If you’re looking for a relationship, as you would off the Internet, it behooves you to do due diligence on who you’re getting involved with. Take great caution- you could end up sleeping or being with a pedophile, a rapist or even a murderer. You can meet someone that could wreak havoc in your life. There are many websites that do background checks for a minimal fee. Trust me, it would be worth it. Remember, caution is the order of the day.  

Carol Phillips Ickes  

At this time, I’d like to thank Carol Phillips Ickes, who was very instrumental with her help in developing the website as it is now. She and I worked tirelessly to get the site to where it is now and helped execute my vision.  She donated her time and energy bringing us up to be more professional and accessible. She worked with us for a year and she’s gone on to bigger and better things, but we could not have embarked on our journey without her. We still love her here and visit her website at www.bizolly.com.  

And Finally  

I’ve been mulling for the last few weeks what to write for this commentary. For those of you that are regular readers, and to my columnists, I dearly apologize for the lack of recent updates. If you’ve read my commentaries before, you know that some of my life, particularly my dating life, has been on public display. I want to talk about love and being with someone as a couple. I had the opportunity recently to experience that recently again over the last few weeks. It was like being on a roller coaster ride, but I learned to experience what it is to be in love, particularly with the wrong person. You experience the scintillating highs and the devastating lows. When you are in love with someone, nothing else matters. You’ll do anything for that person. However, you are with the wrong person if they consume your life so much that you don’t have time for anything else. When we broke up a few weeks ago, I was devastated. But there was a Blessing in disguise. I found out how loved I truly am. Bryant Neal, a guitarist from Philly inspired me as did Bryant O’ Neal from the Bus Boys. David Harrison Levi came to my aid. And I wish I could mention all the people that told me to rise above the frey and focus. I will mention a few- Paul Batson, Gary Curtis, Actor Xango Henry, Christine Ames, guitarist Mike Davis and so many more. And my new fashion editor Claudia Cooley and Kim Somers Egelsee let me cry on their shoulder. I’m so Blessed, it’s like having two counselors on my staff. But I have to single out one friend, one dear, old friend, for just taking time to listen, Kevin Scott. Kevin Scott and Mike Davis got on the phone with me on a conference call and told me that I needed to part ways with the lady and move on because they feel I’m destined for greatness. I ran a band called The Underfunk in Philly some years ago, and I was the leader of the band. Kevin said to me that I led the band well and that I can lead The Scoop LA to be bigger and better. He told me to rise into my greatness. That’s an awesome thought. I love him and thank him for that.  

So I have this message for you- rise into your greatness. You have the ability to be great, if you don’t let negative people get in your way. Discard negative people and rise into your own personal greatness. And have faith. Trust in God.  

We love you here at The Scoop LA and peace to all of you that are reading this post.  

Buddy Sampson