I ain’t Afraid of NO Ghost!
The Birmingham Baron! | A. G. Gaston.
May 5, 2017Chicken Little … Chicken Little The Sky Is Falling!
May 8, 2017I ain’t Afraid of NO Ghost!
“ If you’re seeing things running through your head
Who you gonna call? (ghostbusters)
An invisible man
Sleeping in your bed
Who you gonna call? (ghostbusters)
I ain’t afraid of no ghost
I ain’t afraid of no ghost
Who you gonna call? (ghostbusters)”
We were supposed to be in English class preparing for the SAT!
It was do or die time for me. I’d bombed on the PSAT, and my two subsequent stabs at acing this Godforsaken college entry exam. Why was it even necessary?
I digress!
A missing comma on my essay or misplaced decimal point on some algebraic formula in all likelihood would doom my chances of getting in a TIER II community college.
Yet, every time I entered the class room my professor was wearing some ridiculous Shakespearean costume, bouncing around the room singing Who YOU Gonna Call? Ghost Busters!
Mr. Lebowitz, can I go to the bathroom? His response, Who You Gonna Call? Ghost Busters!
Mr. Lebowitz, I’m concerned I’m not getting what I need from your class. His response, Who You Gonna Call? Ghost Busters!
It was just my luck, Mr. Lebowitz was retiring after the semester after teaching English 101 for 37 1/2 years to chase his dream of being an actor.
His first major role, a cameo in ( you got it ) the recently released block buster movie Ghostbusters, sealed my fate!
Community college it was for me!
30 years removed from my stint in community college, I’m still amused by old Mr. Lebowitz!
Did he ever make it to broadway? Is he still chasing ghosts?
Today, I ask, are you chasing ghosts?
Six months ago, when asked What pushes him to excellence, 4 time MVP and 3 time NBA champion Lebron James said, I’m Chasing the Ghost Of six time NBA Champion Michael Jordan. Lebron went on to say, he wants to be the best ever.
Many laughed, but not me.
Since 1993, I too have been chasing the ghost of excellence. My target, Reginald Lewis.
Although he died in in 1993 at the tender age of 50, his legacy as Wall Streets premiere financier was cemented at when he scored $50 million in personal profit after buying then flipping the McCall Pattern Company.
The icing on Lewis’s cake was his billion dollar acquisition of an amalgam of 64 companies operating in 31 countries, ranging from a sausage producer in Spain to an ice cream maker in Germany.
Raised in the rough streets of Baltimore, he leaped frogged the naysayers and doubters to become apart of Wall Street folklore. Upon his death Reginald was easily one of the riches men in American. More importantly, he was a leading philanthropist and a role model to thousands of African-Americans from the inner city who sought to make an imprint in the financial world.
The question of the day is, are you chasing ghosts?
I long to hug Mr. Lebowitz, and shout I ain’t afraid of no Ghost, I ain’t afraid of no Ghost!
I too am a Ghostbuster steadfast on chasing my dreams.
