Monday, August 16, 2010

Who will find the cure to this disease?

Shakespeare is no different than Snoop Dog who is no different than Marie Osmond, each of us are Masters of word formation and each who participates learns to exceed the limits of bringing them to the forefront of everyday communications.



By law English is the suggested language on American soil, once set free to roam the streets of local neighborhoods to coffee meet up circles and separate region’s of the nation that give weather guys direction, every word written, spoken, muttered or mumbled has the ability to evolve into a completely erratic definition when compared to its origin.



Big Al from Costa Rica often complained to me, “You American’s are insane to have so many words in your vocabulary. How do you expect me to know what you’re trying to say if what you’re talking about says nothing about what I assume?”



Bad became good somewhere in the 80’s; fat isn’t related to phat, copy has been replaced by clone, unemployed really means self employed and who really knows what’s written in extremely tiny print during television commercials? I see that stuff and instantly hear a voice, “We’re lying to you. We’re making up stories to cheat you. You aren’t reading this so we can steal all your money cuz you signed the contract. Neener, neener, neener.”



Here’s a word that totally takes out the drive for anyone to succeed: Justa



Every walk of life, including yours has used the word. I’ve oversaturated my career with such a harsh, unstable, vulgar presentation of letters that not only leave people’s dreams dead along a nifty cool ocean shore but everything associated with desire, determination and success is pretty much junk stuffed into a trunk then left in a pink bag outside for some nonprofit organization to pick up.



“So Arroe, what do you do at the radio station?”



“I’m justa commercial writer and producer.”



“I heard you’re a published author, what do you write?”



“I’m justa poet who happens to pen things out in long form.”



Justa doesn’t give ambition its rightful justice. By using the word you’re physically cutting yourself off at the knees. During the 90’s if you weren’t Gangsta your music was rarely if ever listened to. More Hip Hop artists have publicly admitted having a rough, tough in your face career first in jail is what gained them strength in the eyes of those who collected the poetic gestures as presented by anyone who was truly Gangsta.



No one was justa Gangsta…you either were or you weren’t. Chris Daughtry has never settled on the idea that he’s justa contestant on some reality music show. The balloon boy’s father last year pulled off the wacky news stunt because of a need to become part of justa reality show.



Arroe is justa commercial writer and producer and yet you or someone you know may be driving a new car because of me. You might have purchased a new sofa, refrigerator, lawnmower or had dinner in a fine restaurant. By eliminating the word justa from my vocabulary it makes reaching a listeners busy life easier to achieve.



An elementary school principal commanded his legion of educators to believe in a single spirit: he should never walk into a class and notice a difference between the teacher and the assistant. Introducing a new word Justan. You’re never justan assistant.



I’m justa a mall store manager. I get through life being justa convenience store 7-11 employee. I’m justa busboy or justa taxi driver. I never hear doctors, lawyers Dale Jr. or Sears service men and women say, “I’m justa…”



By thinking justa you deliver justa.



A major league player in the job headhunter world recently looked across the table at me with anger, fear and determination in her eyes and proceeded to tell me how much she hated her job, “People think they’re worth more than what they offer! Egos are destroying our workforces!”



“Wow!” I thought to myself, “Nobody wants to earn justa dollar.”



Managers, Owners and any other words we’ve created to put more lime in their light have set their standards of wanting so incredibly high that in order to properly and safely maintain any level of success they only want the best for one quarter the price. You can’t knock them for stepping beyond the line that vividly reads justa. They don’t want justa player, they require skilled workers who are blessed with heaping amounts of passion, sickening gallons of oversaturated desire and the holiest of all gifts…endless amounts of compassionate and unconditional dedication…for this price ____________.



I sat listening in a distant corner overhearing a sales person’s pitch yesterday trying to pull in new everyday common people to their soon to be opening gym, “Of coarse our price is low right now but I guarantee our product will soon be the most talked about gym in the southeast and that’s when I will start charging sixty bucks a month per person. I expect greatness which is why you should join…that’s who you need to be your coach.”



He was far from being justa workout buddy. There was no way he was settling on being justa sales pig. By investing in his energy you knew deep inside your soul you wouldn’t be justa number.



People ask me everyday where I find the strength to do everything I do…nearly next to never do I share the answer while looking into their eyes because I have somehow convinced the heart I carry that I’m justa 2nd degree black belt, justa radio on-air fill in, justa doodler on canvas, justa poet whose tapped into a circle of readers as far away as Russia and India. Justa former Montanan who faithfully loves preserving nature inside the limits of a city then teaching young, middle and older in thought people how important it is to listen to the wind.



What in God’s name would happen if we stopped saying justa and put forth the effort to become?



arroecollins@clearchannel.com

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