What do PSA’s from our childhood and changing things you need change have to do with each other? Do Patti Smith, speeding muscle cars and heart attacks have a role in change? How do we get through this? Whatever this is. Let’s start with a story.
Storytime and the Heart Attack
It is a Summer night in 1988 I am on a farm road between Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois and my grandparents house in Bolingbrook. After work I had spent time with my girlfriend at her aunt’s townhouse by the mall. It was a warm Summer night and I was feeling good. Windows down, sunroof open, and WXRT or the Loop blaring through the speakers of my ’77 Monte Carlo. Then I saw it.
A pickup truck with the hazards on half in the ditch in the middle of nowhere. A man leaning against the side of his truck waving at me. I slowed down and got out and ran over to him.
“I think I’m having a heart attack!” he said. I helped him into the backseat of my car, locked up his truck, and gravel spat behind me as I tore off. The nearest emergency room was 15 minutes away. I was gonna get there in less than ten minutes. I had no idea what else to do.
“Hey man!” I said. “Need ya to talk to me and keep talking to me. We’re going to an ER.”
“What’s your name?” He asked through gasps.
“Pat,” I replied. “I don’t know what to do but I think you gotta breath more slow or something. Can ya do that? Like deep breaths or something?”
I heard him take a few deep breaths.
“Thank God you stopped, Pat. Others kept driving.” Then I heard him react in pain…a groan but different. I was 18 and scared shitless this guy was going to die in the backseat of my car.
“No one told me what to do about this.” It was what I was thinking, but I said it loud.
“I don’t know what to do about this either, Pat. Who would tell us?”
I remember glancing at my speedometer. I was pushing 85 and had to slow down for a turn coming up fast.
“Television? They told me how conjunctions works and not to drown my food.”
He laughed through grit teeth as I made the turn.
“Conjunction function, what’s your function?” he half gasped and sang. I hit the accelerator and sang back.
“Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.”
We got to the ER in short time. He had a kid and he knew the PSA’s. We went through our faves and made fun of the Just Say No campaign. When we got there I ran in and they got some people to help him out of my car. After they whisked him away everything was a blur. I remember going home and later I wondered what happened to him.
I called the hospital and told them I was the guy who drove the man with a heart attack…or something…in. They would not give me any information. I called the next morning and explained the situation. I was put on hold. A woman’s voice came on the line and told me in a hushed voice. “He’s all right. That is all I can tell you.”
I never found out if it was a cardiac arrest or something else. I never even knew his name. But I also knew that I was the only one who pulled over and I did not know what to do. He could have just as easily died in my car. Hell, the way I was driving I could have killed us both. It bothered me that I did not know what to do.
I thought about our little banter about PSA’s on Saturday morning cartoons. I knew to stop drop and roll and how how a bill became a law. But no one taught me what to do about this sort of thing and I never wanted to be in that position again. So I took CPR, first aid, and advanced first aid.
I knew what to do that winter when my girlfriend cut herself while drunk. In the 90s I knew what do to when I saw a man on a motorcycle get struck by a car on my to get groceries. And when my kid got a gash in the forehead I knew what to do so well that when they were putting staples in the forehead of my child a nurse asked where I was trained.
I was put in a horrible situation when I was 18 and me and that man got lucky. It was scary and I wanted to know what to do. I had no idea that I would be in other situations in life, but that was why I learned what to do.
Saturday Morning PSA’s

Children’s PSA’s taught us how to deal with moral and ethical situations like bullying and drugs. They taught us grammar with fun jingles. We also learned a little about nutrition. And I think every child that had access to Saturday Morning Cartoons in the 70’s and 80’s is still ready to stop drop and roll at the first sign of a blazing inferno. In the medical world, Saturday morning cartoons did have some tutorials on basic cuts, burns, and the Heimlich maneuver if someone was choking. But first aid and CPR at the side of the road? That was not on the menu.
But the information to get the CPR training was also in PSA’s and news reports.
The Dummy in the News
The local news would have their own PSA’s as part of their programming. CPR dummies had improved. These new models were better and had realistic chest compressions, audible feedback, and even simulated breathing. PSA’s from the American Heart Association were on the television and there was a phone number I could call for more information. So I did. And I got certified. I now knew what to do. Did I know as much as a paramedic, a PA, a nurse, or doctor? Not even close, but I knew what to do until one got there.
Patti Smith and the Internet
While all this life saving reckless driving and education was going on, Patti Smith was back on the radio telling us People Have the Power. It was meant as a protest song, but the core message is that we have the power to change things.
I see a lot of people upset about social issues and politics. I’ve had to talk a few 20 somethings off the ledge this last week. One of them called their representative and educated themselves about how executive orders still have checks and balances and the process, though imperfect, has moments when your voice matters. They are learning to take a deep breath, understand the process, work within that, while also seeking ways to change it through strategic activism.
A friend of mine from high school recently asked on social media how we are supposed to get through the next four years after the first week. You remember that people have the power, but the people have to know what they are doing.
Executive Orders as an Example
We all had to take the same US Constitution class to pass the 8th grade and enter high school. We may have to go back to the basics, watch some School House Rock and learn how a bill becomes a law again. We also need to learn how social movement and activists effectively changed things they care about deeply.
In the first week, the new president signed 35 executive orders. This is more in one week than the last 15 presidents and far more than the 4 he signed his first week in 2016. What is an executive order? How far reaching are it’s powers? What checks and balances are there to executive orders?
An Executive order is a written directive from the President that has the force of law. This power was granted them by Article Two of the United States Constitution. But it can be overturned by judicial review and is subject to not only the law but the Constitution. Congress also has the power to overturn an executive order by passing legislation that invalidates it, and can also refuse to provide funding necessary to carry out certain policy measures contained with the order or legitimize policy mechanisms.
While many are freaking out on social media and spreading memes, there are countless people who have been in situations, learned what to do, and are challenging the executive orders. If you want to see a list, Just Security has a tracker providing the cases and plaintiffs using the courts to challenge the executive orders and other threats the current administration is making.
If you go to the tracker, pay close attention to the plaintiffs. You will see state governments that need to hear from you. If you live in one of those states you have a governor and a representative where you live. They have telephones and email addresses. You will also see organizations as plaintiffs that may be helping the cause you care about or are affected by. Each one of those causes have websites with information telling you what you can do. There may even be opportunities to volunteer, donate, and help change things.
The More You Know….
Between 2010 and now I have worked with others and helped change several laws in Illinois and a few Federal policies. I have challenged school districts and companies and forced change. And to change these things, I had to do the same things I did when I learned Fist Aid and CPR. I learned.
This is not just applicable to politics and CPR, it is anything that you want to change. I feel badly and frustrated by people who cannot move further than their keyboard and social media feed. The problems get bigger and scarier and the amygdala is running the show. To feel better for a moment they will share a meme or sign a useless online petition. The dopamine is fed in that moment, but just for that moment. In the meantime it is one less person doing something and helping effect change. It is one more person feeling helpless and anxious as opposed to feeling empowered and in control while doing things that makes a difference. The frustration comes when I invite them to join, learn, and do, they dismiss me and others who would love to have them helping us.
Pick one or two things that matter to you. Learn how the system works and where it does not. Find the people doing the things you want done and learn more from them on how to change shit. And if you are not part of a demographic and those in that demographic say that an action you are taking is hurtful or counter productive, please listen to them. In the words of David Bowie, they “…are immune to your consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through…”
These little acts will take you away from the doom scrolling and the amygdala fight or flight and invite the pre frontal cortex and a sense of empowerment as you begin to change the world and know what to do.
We were spoon fed how to stop drop and roll, but we were also given the tools to learn how to change things.
It is scary to be in a situation that is overwhelming and you do not know what to do. In the moment you stay calm, do the best you can, and then learn how to change shit.
Like Patti Smith “I believe everything we dream
can come to pass through our union
we can turn the world around
we can turn the earth’s revolution
we have the power
People have the power”
Stay Informed!
Stay Totally Awesome!
Stay True to you!
One More thing! Please Help!
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