In football, when the result of the game is a foregone conclusion, the lesser talents will be scuttled onto the field for what is called garbage time.
Garbage time means the serious work has been completed. That’s why I’m puzzled over the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus filing a lawsuit this week against the state of Georgia seeking to dissolve the city charters of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hills. They’re not too mirthful about the idea of Milton County, either.
Have we finally reached garbage time in the ongoing struggle between various groups? Have we finally reached across the divides of race, religion and sexual orientation and completed the substantive work necessary for the long-term quality of life for all?
I’m only asking because lawsuits like this — regardless of the outcome in the judicial system — pull our attention, intellect and energy away from what truly matters. There is a momentary splash in the news, a lot of people get to see their name in the paper and at the end of the day we — all of us — are no closer to a solution.
Aren’t we all supposed to be pulling together? Can we pull together when we’re running to court and filing featherbrained lawsuits against each other?
We can’t come together when we’re constantly fixated on our specific agenda. A mentor points out that when I’m obsessed over the differences between myself and anyone else nothing good can happen. That is until such time that I’m willing to find what I have in common with that person.
Several years ago there was a community where the pro-choice forces were in a heated blitzkrieg with the pro-life proponents. Other than a lot of noise not much was getting done.
Then someone suggested they pool their energies into an effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Neither side got everything they wanted, but their efforts did yield positive results.
It is all too easy to see our differences. Finding what we have in common takes some effort and that’s unrealizable when we’re suing each other, holding rallies to condemn each other and celebrating what we accomplish in garbage time situations.
There is one trait we all, sadly, seem to share. Regardless of our heritage, our religious beliefs or our sexual orientation, we make it mightily hard to join hands and pull one direction. There are too many days where that is our greatest common denominator.
If I were the judge hearing this case I’d consider both sides carefully and then withhold my ruling until both sides spent a month working together at community food banks, no-kill animal shelters, senior citizen centers, battered women’s shelters, homeless shelters — as well as building a Habitat for Humanity home.
If they learned anything during that time they’d forget to come back for the verdict.
Jim Osterman lives in Sandy Springs. Reach him at jimosterman@rocket mail.com
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