This is just a follow-up for anyone who may have their panties in a wad about something they misinterpreted or for those that want to know WHY I even wrote what I wrote. My inbox hasn't seen this much traffic since.....well never. Well, here you go...................................................................
First off....."I understand that I don't live in Bedford so my opinion will weigh about as much as a gnat's ass but I'm going to give you what I got anyway. But keep in mind, this is MY opinion."That word "opinion" seemed to have gotten in the way of logic for some here. You see, I didn't go to the KMA website and post this in hopes that I could sway a vote. I didn't go to the Omaha World Herald with the fantasy that anybody would even give a crap. What I did was go to This is how this blog came about.
For many, many months, I have watched my friend get pummelled by people. Here's something that not a lot of people know. When we were in school, I would have told you that I couldn't stand this gal. That she would never be my friend. My friends and I tried to intimidate her. Tried to scare her (I bet she doesn't even know that...that's how bad we really were). Tried different ways just to be mean to her. Can you think of one reason WHY we did that? Nope, me either. We must have been jealous of something though!!
Maybe it was the way she held her head high when she walked. Maybe it was the way she always presented herself as a lady. Maybe it was the way she took responsibility. I don't know but we were all kids back then and I have learned A LOT about this gal and her family over the years. I have grown up a lot. She was grown up a lot earlier than I ever was. And that's okay. She has never held a grudge against me for the silly and stupid ways me and my friends treated her. She had every reason to though. And to make the whole thing stupider, I used to go to her house and play when we were young! Kids, go figure.
Here's my main reason for stepping up for her when nobody else seemed to. She and her family did great things by and for my mom, as well as many other people at the Northside Apartments. What really grinds my gears is that this Mayoral candidate that I already have ill feelings about, called a private meeting to take over the parts of the job that this family had been doing for YEARS. And doing a damned good job of it! Many can argue that it wasn't a secret meeting at all but I do have facts that this family wasn't even told about this meeting. They were just told to get the fuck off the property when they went to get their tools and stuff. That's gratitude for many years of service, isn't it?
My mom would be so sad. Lary and Karen Wyckoff always took good care of the apartments when something needed tended to. You couldn't ask for better people. And I understand that Lary might have made a lot of people mad as the Mayor but tell me what Mayor can please 100% of the people 100% of the time? If that person exists, I will eat my foot. When dealing with the public, you are going to piss people off. And as far as I know, he was unfair sometimes too. Maybe some thought he was rude. Maybe some thought he thought he was a little high and mighty.
I used to think that too. Until they started taking care of the place where my mom lived for many years. I got to know them as people and realized they aren't who I thought they were. For most of us, first impressions are not always the right impressions. If you think I am a big mouth and a bad person because I speak my mind, so be it. Maybe I am. But in honesty, you don't know me at all. See how easy that is to get messed up???
"If you have a question of someone in your community, for the love of fried pickles, ASK THEM."
There is no mistaking my love for peanut butter, is there??? This statement goes a long ways with me. This means if you have a question about something the Sheriff is doing on County time, ask him about it. If you have a question about something the City Clerk is doing on City time, ask her about it. If you have a question about something a candidate is doing on voter's time, ask them about it. We need to reach out. Remember that old AT&T commercial? Reach out, reach out and touch someone. No, not with your fist. Stop that.
"I'm telling you right now that I would be ashamed to live in such a place. If I was that person...the one getting attacked for every single thing I did...I would move. I would run and I would never have one nice thing to say for that town again. And I would tell everyone. I would post it on every piece of social media there was to post it on. I would start putting some pressure on some people and demand that they be held accountable for their actions; PAST AND PRESENT."
It does NOT say any place in this blog that I am ashamed to be from Bedford. Don't put your words in my mouth. They taste awful. What I said was I WOULD be ashamed to live in such a place. I do not believe Bedford is the mean, spiteful town that it has gotten the reputation to be in the last year. I have defended my school until I'm blue in the face. I just did again the other day. That whole bullying issue is STILL plaguing that town. Maybe the new town sign should read, "Welcome. We aren't the bullies we're made out to be." BUT...let me be clear on this next part.
"She does what she gets paid to do. And if she wasn't good at her job.....guess what? She would have been fired years ago! Yet every day she goes back. To the job she loves. For the people in her community. Just so she can be hammered and ridiculed again and again."
If I was ridiculed and talked about behind my back all the time...you bet I would be telling the world what I thought of those that want me to look like the bad guy just because I stood up for myself. And why the hell would you think I would want to live in such a town? I hope Bedford never gets too big for their britches.
"Does he not have a family to take care of? Is his wife not going to be stressed at how people react to her when they don't like HIS politics? Because that my friend, is what is going on in little ole Bedford, Iowa."
As the daughter of a Sheriff, I can vouch for the fact that everything my dad went through with his job, my mom was right beside him; they were going through it together. And then as the kids got older, they were right beside him as well. Being closely related to a public figure can really be a drag sometimes. I remember when a then local woman, and employee of the County, tried to spread a rumor that she was sleeping with my dad. And I also will never forget how my mom came home crying one afternoon because she had been to Turner's and the ladies were whispering when she was in there and when she got close, they simply just stopped talking. How do you think that made my mom feel???
The point I am getting at is when you ridicule Lary for the things he does as Mayor, you are ridiculing his wife and his kids. Because that is who loves him. They are his support system just like you would be for your parent. When you talk about one of them behind their back, you are talking about all of them behind their back. And it feels like shit! So whoever the next Mrs. Mayor is, better have some pretty thick skin and nerves of steel.
In keeping up with my usual snide remarks, I will follow up with this. If I lived in Bedford, I wouldn't vote for any of these Mayoral candidates. How does that sound for assholishness?
I will follow up with my disbelief on how this blog got shared and thrown around and punched in the face and laughed at. I wish you people could do that EVERYTIME I wrote a blog! HA!!! I wrote a blog recently about how important this bond issue is for Taylor County and compared to this one about the city Mayoral race, it was barely even looked at! I think that is unbelievable. So...until next time...thanks for reading and vote YES on the new jail.
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