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MEAL OR NO MEAL

No, it's not a new game show with Howie Mandel featuring voluptuous females holding silver briefcases, it is, instead, the question that a Louisville, Kentucky restaurant owner asked himself on May 4th. The reason? Well, it was around 10:30 p.m. when O.J. Simpson showed up with a party of twelve at Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse, an upscale eatery that is consistently packed. For many people, in fact for most people, the easy answer was "meal" and turn the other cheek. Owner Jeff Ruby had a different approach however, and informed O.J. that he would not be served in this restaurant.

This little story got little press but it's got big, brass, you-know-what’s as far as I'm concerned. If I had the time, I would fly to Louisville and hug this guy myself. This world has precious few like Jeff Ruby left in it, people ready, willing and able to take a hard-line stand for right and wrong. I only wish I could have been there to see the expression on O.J.'s hapless face when he got the bad news about his steak. For people like me, O.J. Simpson came to represent everything that is wrong with our legal system. Justice for sale. Race used as a counterweight to the scales of justice. His exoneration set back race relations by decades in many ways, as it outlined the simmering disdain that many African Americans have for Caucasians. This was not a concern for O.J. of course. His concern was resuming his pathetic golf-laden existence as soon as possible, and of course, his never-ending hunt for the "real" killer who, hopefully, is hiding on a golf course somewhere. His continued appetite for the public eye, his brushes with the law, keep him always in the gossip circuit and likewise keeps the pain fresh for the Goldman and Brown families who each lost children to an unstable psychotic.

Most thinking people who found themselves lucky enough to be acquitted of a double murder even with the overwhelming evidence, would shrink back into the shadows and spend the rest of your time reveling quietly in your good fortune. Not O.J. He continues to live large, even trying to sell a book detailing the gruesome events in some sort of demented tongue-in-cheek diatribe. I only wish that Jeff Ruby had instead been Jack Ruby and given the guy a couple in the stomach. He really doesn't deserve to be enjoying freedom everyday, never mind an exquisite meal. Everyone who cares about decency should drop this guy a line and thank him for standing up for the rest of us. If, as a culture, we want to see more people like this, then they should be recognized for their deeds.

In Franconia this past week, another stand-up guy demonstrated his stuff when he interceded immediately after the fatal shooting of Officer Bruce McKay. A local man who had a long running feud with the officer had been pulled over, a melee ensued and the officer was shot four times. Gregory Floyd, an ex-Marine, was driving by with his son. The shooter, Liko Kenney, was attempting to drive over the body of the slain officer. Floyd blocked him with his vehicle, got a hold of the officer's gun, demanded that Kenny drop his weapon, and when he didn't, he shot him. Thank you, Mr. Floyd. Although he didn't get there soon enough to save McKay, he kept his cool and, more importantly, stopped to help. How many of us would do the same? Like Ruby, the risk of the situation did not enter the equation. Both these men knew only one course of action. Do the right thing.

We should all take a note, and a moment to think about how rare people like this are, and why. There is risk involved interjecting oneself into a situation like this. In Franconia, a murder had just taken place. At Ruby's restaurant, a murderer was asking to be served and it's got to be a little nerve-wracking telling O.J. to go get a cheeseburger somewhere else. The good news? Patrons at Ruby's didn't have to endure the sight of Simpson with a steak knife in his hand.