RANDOM THOUGHTS - PART II

RANDOM THOUGHTS LIST TWO

How fair is it to define someone by something they said or did 40 or 50 years in the past? Does how they’ve grown, who they have become, and what they’ve done since matter more?

If there is a law about pre-funding the USPS retirement system, just reverse the law.

Not a huge deal, but after two years at her job, my daughter is making more than I did as a teacher after 31 years.

As my folks’ passings taught me, enjoy the journey because the destination ain’t so hot!

No matter where you go, there you are.

If I can start charging $50,000 to officiate weddings, all I need to do is one a year.

Because of the news cycle, when something gets uncomfortable, something else comes along to push it out of sight. I am predicting we will have a new hot war before the election!

One. Hundred. And. Twenty. Five. Thousand. Americans. Dead while tRump denied and lied. If anyone still supports him, they are complicit. Many see it. Others never will. One belief is very wrong.

So, maybe it was a test or wake-up call. Suppose the Coronavirus was a truly deadly disease. Where would we be today?

A chance to lead. When ‘only’ 200 people had died, Trump was asked, “So, what do you say Americans who are scared…?” The answer: “I say that you are a terrible reporter, that's what I say. I think it's a very nasty question.”

A new way to eliminate cancer! Stop testing for it! It’s that simple.

One thing I hate is when I am refreshing Facebook and a box shows saying I haven’t finished my post. I still search for an unposted comment. There must be an easier way!

“You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.” John Morley

Even though they are pretty hokey sometimes, Magnum P.I., Diagnosis Murder, and other such shows are good time passers. After watching the original Magnum P.I., I would love to be Magnum (except for those shorts), but I am afraid I am more like Higgins.

Anyone can pretend to be stupid, but you can’t pretend to be smart. Maybe one really needs to be smart to recognize stupid.

FORGIVE ME, READERS, FOR I HAVE SINNED....

As I was checking out at the grocery store, my eyes fell upon something I haven't seen for at least two years: NECCO Wafers! They're baaack!

I wasn't going to eat the whole sleeve in one sitting, but you know how that goes! The two-ounce package seemed bigger than I remember, but I soldiered on. After all, the serving size is listed as one package. 

There is NO CHOLESTEROL and NO FAT! That's the good news. The bad news is I consumed 56g of carbs, 51 of which were sugar. I rarely eat sugar, so that hurts, but it's a one-time thing! Most of my sugar is from fruits, which, for some reason, converts better than the processed stuff. 

Anyhow, the new wafers are made in Mexico, our neighbor to the south. Not many wafers seemed to have the NECCO logo on them, and some pieces were missing part of the circle - thinking that's a quality control issue. 

From the Spangler Candy website, a few facts: "From the time of their creation, Necco Wafers have been enjoyed all over the world, quite literally. They were carried by soldier during the Civil War. In 1913, explorer Donald MacMillan took Necco Wafers on his Arctic explorations, sharing them with Eskimo children.

Later in the 1930s, two and a half tons of Necco Wafers were taken on an expedition to the South Pole, which amounted to about a pound a week for each person during their two-year stay.

During World War II, the U.S. Government requisitioned a major portion of the production of Necco Wafers. The candy was perfect for shipping to troops overseas since it doesn’t melt and is very portable."

IT'S ONLY WORDS (OR IS IT?)!

I was brought up to understand certain words are not appropriate in most circumstances. Period. (There was a time when even that last word made people [usually those of the male persuasion] uncomfortable.)

In spite of the time I spend on Facebook, I am still a bit shocked by the matter-of-fact usage of some of the biggest no-no's. I am sure the users of such words have no understanding that swearing still makes some of us old timers uneasy. (Full disclosure: having gone through 6 months of basic training and AIT [11B10], I could easily out swear any of you and did at one time, but I don't now.) It is very rare that I use swear words, because I know how and when to use them for maximum effectiveness. Yes, I may seen like a snowflake to uncouth boors, but suck it up.

Forewarned is forearmed. If you swear in my presence, chances are good I won't react, but it is appreciated if you don't. If you do, I will mentally assume no one taught you manners, but that's me. If I swear in your presence, we are probably watching the news together.

Alan Sherman, comedian and musician ("Hello, Muddah! Hello, Fadduh! - A Letter from Camp Granada") was around before most of your times. He wrote a book called The Rape of the APE: The Official History of the Sexual Revolution. The APE referred to is the American Puritan Ethic.

In order to inure people to changing times in those days, in the book there was one chapter, entitled, "Short Chapter, Long Footnote." From Amazon, "...it was just just the single word "F*ck" followed by an asterisk. The "Long Footnote" goes on for 20 more pages as he excruciatingly scrutinizes (no pun intended) the four-letter word, providing its possible origins, and our different ways of saying this forbidden word (like saying "screwed" or "I'm seeing him") without actually saying it. Sherman confesses that the word held such power over him personally, that he devoted nearly three full pages of this book to just typing the word again and again and again, until after about the 487th time of typing it, he found he wasn't nearly so traumatized by it anymore."

Maybe I should try that.

WRITE ON!

One of the things I really miss about teaching is having a spirited class discussion. Critical thinking was (and should still be) a big deal. By discussing issues, both sides (or more) were presented, and students would then explain in their writing which position they took and why. In theory, it sounds great. I usually refrained from stating what I believed until late into discussions and made sure to pantomime taking off an imaginary hat while saying, "This is me removing my 'teacher' hat and speaking from a personal perspective."

One textbook I used for a writing course was called Write On! The book presented issues of the day through quotes, poems, short stories, essays, and photographs and gave students both sides of an issue to which they responded.It has been a long time, but, if I remember correctly, among the topics were drug use, running away, war and peace, racism, money, love, and others issues of the times.

I remember one student who refused to do much of anything in class. When he failed himself for a quarter, his father called a meeting. The father said basically that he and his son objected to the book, that the son's life was already too complicated, and he didn't need to think about those things. He added the purpose of a teacher was to present the issue and tell the student what the right answer/opinion was. (Interestingly, the student's sister had previously taken the same course and did well with no such objections.)

Above all else, the concept of at least acknowledging, hearing and considering others' points of view was the whole point, which is the whole point here. We have too many "Don't bother me with facts. My mind is made up" mind sets.

I close with Walter Lippmann's quote: 'Where all think alike, no one thinks very much."

Think!

HE'S NOT BLACK....

Many, many years ago, I accepted a summer job as a speech therapist. I was a speech and communications major at the time, the place couldn't find someone truly qualified, so with my background, I guess I came close enough.

I found a couple of texts on speech therapy, read up on some basics, and did what I could. 

Part of the process was to interview the kids, just chat, and identify any speech issues I could. 

I have never forgotten one interview with one three- or-four-old year-old kid. During the course of our chatting, he revealed he loved dinosaurs! 

I asked if he'd like to have one. 

He replied, "Yes!"

"Where would you keep it? Is there room in your bedroom at home?" 

"No... I'd keep it in the back yard."

"Is that big enough?"

He nodded his head.

"And what would you feed him?"

"Black people." 

Fortunately, I kept my composure. His best friend, by the way, happened to be black.

"Wait. You would feed Nathan to him?"

"Oh, no. Nathan's not black - he's my friend."

It starts young.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW...?

Because of the restrictions from the unnecessary pandemic, I was able to catch up with my crossword puzzles. 

Besides my Page-a-Day calendar of ten-minute "MENSA" crossword puzzles, I also do the weekly puzzle from The Week magazine, and the Union Leader Sunday puzzle, but along the way, the Union Leader daily puzzles piled up. The Ever-lovely Miss Kim clipped them out for me resulting in an at-least solid two-inch pile of undone puzzles all clipped together. Over the past couple of months, I ended up doing several a day and am now caught up! I also found an old puzzle book from several years ago, which led to the idea for this entry.

There is a lot to be learned from doing crosswords. How many of you know Nick and Nora Charles's dog's name? Forgetting the dog, how many of you have even heard of Nick and Nora Charles? How about what Agra is famous for? What about an oboe (that one should be easy)? etc. Doing a puzzle is like watching Jeopardy - I am sometimes amazed at how much I know... and how much I don't know!

If you are still with me, this points to the BIG Life question: when school is through, what should a graduate know and when should s/he know it? I think that question has been asked every year as long as I taught (and never successfully answered). If you have never heard of the Charles family, aside from crosswords, does it even matter? If you don't know where the Taj Mahal is, does it even matter? What if one never read "Romeo and Juliet" or "The Scarlet Letter?" The answer resides in Cultural Literacy, but that is a topic for another time.

I used to say that you don't need to know all the answers, but you need to know how and where to find them. Even that's not easy sometimes. One of the biggest concepts promoted by my school's exceptionally erudite librarian is to not only check facts but check the site that presents those facts. Since anyone can put anything on the Internet, how do we know which are reliable and which not?

Anyone can pretend to be stupid, but not everyone can pretend to be smart. Smart can recognize stupid, but stupid can't always recognize smart. Stupid can't even recognize stupid... and that's a good place to stop. 

BEST JOB EVER!

Back in the day (whatever that means), I was a paid columnist for "Summer Week" and "Ski Week,' two seasonal New Hampshire weekly tourist publications. I wrote a weekly column called "Berman's Bits" (big surprise there).

As time went by, I also wrote several feature articles about things like the inaugural Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway, the first Indy Racing League race there, Sports Car Club of America racing, and motorcycle racing. Not only did I get paid for the writing, I attended with pit passes! Woo-hoo!

I also did a feature on Annalee dolls and got to sit down and interview THE Annalee herself.

As great as the above events were (they were), probably the best part of the job, was when I was able to do restaurant reviews. I made arrangements to visit the venue with a date, eat what we wanted, walk around and take pictures, visit the kitchen, interview the owner, manager, and/or employees. And... at the end the meal was free! The things I most remember were prime ribs, steaks, and cold watermelon soup.

That was then - this is now.

I recently used to still do "Berman's Bits,"  but the paper it was in disappeared suddenly. I trust I didn't have anything to do with the paper's demise. 

I have this blog and post on Facebook (although nowhere as much as I did in the past). I am still getting my feet under me here and will soon promote this blog.

Anyhow, if there is anything you'd like to know or see here, drop me a line. Thanks.

Later.

RED, WHITE, BLUE, AND OTHERS

In 1973, coming from a comfortable middle class suburb of Boston, I found myself in a simpler rural New Hampshire. The plan was to stay a couple of years, gain the experience schools in Mass. wanted and then return to find a job there.

The differences from where I grew up were profound, yet some 47 years later, I am still here in NH.

The heavily conservative New Hampshire was then demographically white - 99 percent. It was nothing I thought about until a few years into my stay. I went back to visit my folks, and they sent me out to the local KFC. I was a bit taken aback when I walked in and saw black, Asian, and Hispanic people working there. I thought, "Whoa! I've in New Hampshire too long."

As of the last census (2010), NH is still 93.9 percent white. Over the years, NH has turned from a red state to a blue state with the first state to have a woman governor and full Congressional delegation!

Over the past few years under tRump, the political split has changed from a hairline crack to a grand canyon. There is no middle ground and no discussion. Whether they admit it or not, there is a hardcore group that fervently wants a straight, white, male-dominated, Conservation, Christian country. There is no reasoning with them. It's pretty scary.

Since I got here, the contemporary wisdom was outsiders are welcome, but don't bring your ways here (spend your money and go home). From the beginning, there was a so-called Town-Gown conflict. The locals resented the educational community and their kind. One local guy I knew referred to them as "the tweedies" (because the college types wore tweed jackets, but I am sure you knew that).

Anyhow, what seemed like an attractive Mayberry, North Carolina, became more like a Neshoba County, Mississippi. While thoughts may be the same, fortunately, the actions are not.

Yes, I am painting with a broad brush here, but....

Anyhow, what's been happening in recent weeks in the U.S. hearken back to the late 50's  early 60's. In spite of what I thought, attitudes never went away. They just went to sleep.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Sometimes the thoughts just show up. Sometimes they hit the mark but not always.

Some Random Thoughts

  When you sit in your living room alone (or with friends) to watch sports (remember them?), do you stand for the National Anthem when it comes on?

  We need scriptwriters for our everyday life interactions. It would make things much easier. 

  So, in the middle of the night, when the wife suspiciously confronts the husband, the first thing she comes up with to ask is, “So what are you wearing, Jake from State Farm?”

  

  We have one of those drains that have a twisty knob to seat it in the drain. It usually drops there on its own when I don't want it to, but when I try to seat it, it takes several tries.

  So, is the slogan “Make America Great Again” copyrighted? If not, the Dems could use it (and actually have it mean something true).

  I see why so many people think they’re geniuses – they found the M, the A, the 9, the mitsake, etc.

  If Trump wins in November, will he blame everything on the first Trump administration?

  In our 27+ years together, my wife and I have never gone out to a movie together. Not complaining – just saying.

  

  One. Hundred. And. Eleven.Thousand. Fellow. Americans. Dead while tRump denied and lied for two months. If anyone still supports him, they are complicit.

  Is accidental overdose an oxymoron?

  At a former job, my boss had quite the precocious son – they were playing Trivia Pursuit. The question was ‘What does a peacock make love with?” The expected answer was a peahen. His answer: “His tallywacker?”

  When you only think in terms of black and white (literally and figuratively), you aren’t thinking at all. There are thousands of shades of gray.

  MAAA – Make America America Again.
  
  The authority of my fist stops just before the tip of your nose!

  You don’t have to like everybody, but you have to get along!

  Life is much too serious to take seriously.

  No matter what, frozen pizza still tastes like frozen pizza.

  So, when Maine Senator Susan Collins decided not to meet with tRump during his Maine visit, does that mean she learned her lesson?

  As soon as you realize taking a knee isn’t disrespecting the flag, things make a lot more sense.