Malibu, Ca: The 125 million dollar house, and Vitamin Barn

The sign says that Malibu has "27 miles of Scenic Beauty".

Wake up everybody no more sleepin' in bed

No more backward thinkin', time for thinkin' ahead

I was at a Malibu establishment this week. I sat down at the counter as I always do when I go to Vitamin Barn. Best avocado sandwich in my opinion.

I ordered what I always order--that avocado sandwich and a banana smoothie. As I was eating I witnessed a conversation between a customer and the man behind the counter….it was about a just bought drink and the amount of wheatgrass "shots" that went into it, and the price.

No more backward thinkin', time for thinkin' ahead

The customer was claiming something, the exact details I don’t remember, but it was something about whether he should be paying for 3 or 2 shots of wheatgrass, yada, yada. There was a disagreement between the man behind the counter and the customer regarding what the price should be relative to the amount of "shots"…."it shouldn’t be 6 dollars, it should be 5 dollars”, something like that. This went back and forth (with decorum) until the customer went to the back to talk to the owner, someone he apparently knew well enough to approach.

I then heard some frustration from the owner coming in the back. The details I won’t disclose but let’s just say that he seemed offended that someone would leave the counter and search him out in the back to discuss with him the details of whether there should be pricing for 3 or 2 wheat grass “shots”. I heard the owner say politely that he didn’t want him as a customer anymore (under these circumstances), let's just leave it at that. Business owners rely on customers…..we can all agree on that, so for this owner to request that this person seek wheat grass “shots” somewhere else for the rest of his life was a reflection of some profound frustration, or at least that is what I heard.

I heard the emotion of the moment….the customer came back up to the front, clearly humbled, and said something like this to the man working behind the counter, “I’m sorry, I just lost my car keys and I’m having a bad day. I’ll pay for the 3 wheat grass "shots" at $6. He was standing right next to me as I unwrapped my avocado sandwich from it's wax paper.

As I listened, I recalled that the day before I had read about a 125 million dollar beach front mansion that was for sale at Pt. Dume. That rang like a bell in my head at that moment as I saw the frustration and embarrassment from the man who had lost his keys, and the argument over the one dollar and wheatgrass shots. For some people, one dollar is not a small thing. Actually, it's easy to be totally blind to the fact that for many people one dollar is significant. 9% of the people in this country live in poverty. 23% of children (under 18) live in poverty. I felt that for this man the dollar was important, not the argument. I put my arm around the stranger/customer and said. “I know how you feel. I understand”. He looked at me, not in the eye, with his head bowed, and said:

"I just lost my keys."

It was the most human moment in my day. There were no winners in that moment. Everybody lost. If I was thinking quickly enough and clearly enough I would have paid the dollar difference without a thought and the owner and the customer would have been spared the assaults on their wallets and characters. I didn't "wake up" quickly enough. The culture we live in tells me to just stay in my seat and worry about my own sandwich and smoothie. It puts no burden on me whatsever to care in the slightest. That's not good enough! It's a disgrace!

Did you know that in this town there lives a man, Harold Mintz, who decided about 20 years ago, on his own and without precedence, to give one of his own kidneys to a woman from Nigeria who he didn't even know...for the simple reason that he had one to spare and if she didn't get one she would die....leaving her daughter without a mother. I want to live in a world with people like that. A world without mansions.

Wake up everybody no more sleepin' in bed

no more backward thinkin' time for thinkin' ahead

There is so much hatred, war an' poverty

Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way

Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say

The owner was at the front soon after the customer left. Some people in the store were talking about it…I know what it’s like to be a small business owner. It's not easy….I empathized with the owner. He’s trying to have an honest, respectable business where everyone gets treated the same, fairly. He doesn't want to have to adjudicate disputes on wheatgrass shots, personally.

I wanted to put my arm around him and say the same thing…"I understand. I know how you feel” but, he was busy and I let an opportunity escape my grasp. I choked.

The world won't get no better if we just let it be

The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me

It don't matter what race, creed, or color

Everybody, we need each other.

I felt such despair for both parties...and for a large percentage of the 320 million people who live in our country. If I had enough time I would have felt pity for the man who owned the 125 million dollar house. The blind deserve our sympathy, too!

These men were having a dispute over a dollar…a dollar which meant a lot to that customer…while a man down the street was trying to get top dollar for his 125 million dollar mansion. Count me out of that. I want to be as far away as I can get. I will never step into a “mansion”. It doesn’t feel right in context with the country we live in. The world (and Malibu) disagree with me totally. It’s “survival of the richest” out there. Not enough people feel a connection to those who live on the other side of the tracks.

How did the world get like this? This is a country that claims to be founded on Judeo Christian values (whatever that means). How can one man have so much wealth that it is grotesque? How can one man have the ability to assuage so much human suffering and yet he lives in a 125 million house? I don’t want to hear any excuses…save them for the social gathering at Nobu (in the private dining suite).

The world won’t go not better if we just let it be….

We got to change it yeah, just you and me…

Wake up all the builders time to build a new land

I know we can do it if we all lend a hand

The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind

Can’t do it alone

Need some help, yep

Can’t do it alone

Get up

Need a little hand

The world won't get no better if we just let it be

The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me

Change it yeah, change it yeah, just you and me

Change it yeah, change it yeah

Can't do it alone, need some help y'all

Can't do it alone

Can't do it alone yeah, yeah

Wake up everybody, wake up everybody

Need a little help y'all

Need a little help

Need some help y'all

Change the world

What it used to be

Can't do it alone, need some help

Wake up everybody

Get up , get up, get up, get up

Wake up, come on, come on

Wake up everybody

We need each other!

"Wake up Everybody" - Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

"Afflict the Comfortable, Comfort the Afflicted" - Finley Peter Dunne