As the Coronavirus Pandemic drags on and on, people, on all sides, are getting more and more frustrated. I know I am. When we get frustrated, it is only natural to look for people to blame. If we can just take care of the cause of the problem, things will finally start to get better,…
I find myself frustrated lately. I am vaccinated and I continue to wear a mask when I go out in public. I do so for several reasons. One is that my daughter is one of many unvaccinated people (she’s too young), and I would hate to spread COVID to someone who could be seriously hurt…
Every job has its tools. My first work experience was as a paper carrier when I was ten or eleven. I had a big sack that went over my shoulder to carry the papers. I also had a hat, gloves, a jacket, boots, sneakers, and rain gear. All of these tools helped me do my…
I got stabbed in the left arm two weeks ago. It hurt, but it wasn’t that serious. My arm was sore and I was really tired that night, but I recovered OK. It happened again today. Same arm and everything. Once I could write off as a fluke, but not twice, so I demanded an…
Major League Baseball made the decision to move the 2021 All-star Game out of Atlanta because of the new Georgia voting laws. This is absolutely the right decision, but I have to admit to being a little surprised. It’s been a long time since Jackie Robinson, and in my experience, MLB can’t even make the…
My dad sent me a headline, “Court sides with professor who repeatedly misgendered trans student” from Inside Higher Ed. The article talks about a professor who is suing his college because he was reprimanded for treating a trans student differently than his other students. Apparently his habit was to call students “Ms.” or “Mr.” He…
Eric Schwitzgebel wrote a recent blog post called Love Is Love, and Slogans Need a Context of Examples. The post makes the point stated in its title. Slogans, taken on their own, are mostly meaningless. If you took someone with no knowledge of the fight for marriage equality in the US, and said to them,…
I was in the grocery store and a guy walked past me wearing a Blue Lives Matter mask. I had a strong urge to tell him off right there in the store. Those who know me know that isn’t typical of me. As a rule, I don’t talk to strangers. I certainly don’t pick fights….
I got an email from the superintendent of the West Hartford Public Schools informing me that the school system will be fully reopening on March 17th. Saint Patrick’s Day. Next week. I’m utterly baffled. What’s changed? None of the kids are vaccinated yet. Most of their parents aren’t vaccinated yet. People are still dying of…
Apparently, based on my Twitter feed, something happened yesterday that I didn’t know or care about. The result is people venting their outrage on social media today. This caused some rather old memories to come back to the surface. I want to talk about those memories. I used to work at Borders Books and Music…
