1648

     So as this whole virus/pandemic thing is unfolding, it has finally had a major impact on me. I had been hanging in, maintaining a fairly low profile, but there came a tipping point. 

     As of this writing, in the U.S., nearly 2,000 people have died, and we're just getting started (hold my beer). After over two months of poo-pooing and golfing, denials and outright lies, tRump is declaring how well we are doing because "the mortality rate is, in my opinion ... way, way down." The Peter Principle personified!

     When tRump was first elected, I posted something saying if people are ignoring the sea of red flags and can't see what he is, we are in trouble - there is little depth of thought - I was adamant because I did see so any red flags (at least I thought I did). I also said, "Down the road, I will either say to you, 'Yes, you were right. I am sorry," or I would say, "I told you so."

     "I told you so!" 

     BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER because over three years later, seeing who and what he is, his worshipers are more convinced that ever that he is a god, the second coming, and can do no wrong! Along the way I learned there is nothing he can do or say that will change a single mind in his base.

     I know that as I am beginning to post more comments, it won't matter, but it will make me feel better letting some of it out, and that's why I am doing it - I need to. I have no illusions it will make a difference. It won't, but that's okay. 

     And I'm okay.

     

IT'S ONLY MONEY...

     A brief life lesson from my good friend.

     Some years ago, a former student called me. She was sobbing and said she didn't know what to do. I asked what the problem was. She choked back tears and said she was out of work and had run out of money; she had her kids to feed and had nowhere to turn, and she thought of me.

     The last time I had seen her was when she needed to be bailed from an arrest. I don't remember what the charge was, but I was there for her (and didn't even collect my fee because I had her in school and liked her).

     This time, she sounded so lost and desperate... and her kids.... I advanced her $100 (I was working then and thought it was the right thing to do).

     Longer story short, it turned out she used the money for drugs. I tried numerous times to have her do the right thing and pay me back, but it was clear it wasn't going to happen.

     I was angry and told my bestie about it (I actually have two). He set me straight. He said I had to decide on an amount of money I could let go - money that wouldn't make me if I had it or break me if I lost it. It was a life lesson, and I should move on. As I thought about it, he was right, and $100 was a good place to settle on.

     Along the way, I have helped numerous people since with no expectation of return. I have not been disappointed.

    Good advice.

EXTRAPO...WHAT? EDUMAC...WHAT?

     You know, extrapolation. 

     When I introduced the Science Fiction class I taught, I used the term extrapolation. In my context, it meant to look at a current trend and, assuming nothing intervened or changed, predict future possibilities and outcomes. So many works of science fiction or speculative fiction do just that; they were warnings. Cutting edge science provides much fodder for such consideration (runaway viruses, over-population, nuclear power, robots, cloning, genetic engineering, AI, etc). Good science fiction is based in science. Or, as had been said, many science fiction move starts with people ignoring a scientist's warnings. 

     Now, on to edumacation. That's all that stuff you supposedly learned and carry with you after spending years in school supposedly giving one tools to help navigate Life. One question that has been successfully avoided for years (but still answered wrongly year after year) is what should a student know and when? When a person is graduated from high school, do they know enough to successfully navigate their way through Life, and, again, what is it they should know? Should a diploma guarantee a certain level of knowledge? (That was a thing for a while.)

     Learning never stops (at least it shouldn't). "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle. These days are unlike I have ever seen. If a thought/idea is presented and goes against what a person believes s/he knows to be true, to them, it is wrong. Period. It is a generational tribal model. The great grandparents passed along their learning to the grandparents who passed it on to the parents who passed it along to you. And when people don't move around much, pockets form, and where all think alike, no one thinks at all.

      You can pretend to be stupid, but you can't pretend to be smart. Anyone who is smart can see stupidity, but anyone who is stupid can't see smart - especially when it goes against their beliefs (and what's happening in front of their face.

     Sad.

A GOOD SPORT

 "Good is not good when better is expected." Vin Scully

     I like sports! A lot. Although nowhere near as knowledgeable as others, I know enough to enjoy what I watch. I love excellence.

     The only sport I never got into is basketball. I never learned the details of the game beyond throw the ball and hope it goes in the basket. My experience was limited to playing 'HORSE' or 'GHOST' in my best friend's driveway (it's the same game - just spelled differently) I rarely won.

     In elementary school, I was the 'Carrie White' player, usually getting picked last when it came time to make teams. I now know my problems were because of lack of confidence and not so much my lack of skill. I never played in any development leagues, so the skills never came. I was so uninformed, I once even fell for the first-baseman pretending to throw to the pitcher and got tagged out when I stepped off the base. Sad.

     In junior high school, besides the usual stuff, we climbed ropes, wrestled (not while climbing the ropes), and boxed. Yes, boxed! I had arranged with a friend to pair up and go easy on each other. The teacher had other ideas and paired me with someone else. I think there were three one-minute rounds, and I actually held my own (mainly to protect it). 

     When high school rolled around, I actually tried out for baseball thinking all those hours with my friend tossing the ball back and forth in the field next to my home was enough. I remained on the team until we went outside from the gym, and then things got real. When the roster was posted (much like a cast list in theater after tryouts), my name was missing. 

     I split the difference and ended up as the football manager for a couple of years. It was neat being around and helping the team.

     All of the above was a lead-up to my college years. I ended up at Emerson College in Boston (Emerson Football - Undefeated since 1880 [true]) and was a frat boy and served in the animal fraternity (we made "Animal House" look tame). Our faculty adviser was Jim Peckham (a big name known to real wrestling fans - he wrestled in the 1956 Olympics). In the pre-Pinocchio-ad days, he looked at me one day and said, "You have potential." He talked me into going out for wrestling! Really!

     I lasted one day! On the first day of practice, we had to piggyback teammates up four flights of stairs.

     I ended up playing ice hockey for the school and made the team, but that's another story. I also played fraternity sports (all but basketball) and did okay.

     Those were the days!

SERIOUSLY?

     It's getting dire - I am writing this at work and have exhausted my food supply for the day. There are 57 minutes left until I can leave - I am not sure I can make it. For snack in the morning, I had a small bag of trail mix and some pepper jack cheese and crackers. Then before lunch, I polished off a banana. For my actual lunch, I had a turkey sandwich and a snack bag of grapes. For my afternoon snack, I had a few Girl Scout cookies, and now... I wait - wasting away. Maybe writing something will get me through...

    (Whew! I made it.)

     ...Back in the day when my weekly print column covered the state (and beyond), I used to give away tremendous 'Berman's Bits' t-shirts (best shirts ever) I had made up as prizes for excellent trivia questions, drawings, and the like. I even went through a tremendous 'What-would-you-trade-for-a-Berman's-Bits' T-shirt'? period. One amazing trade I remember was a personal guided tour through the DYS facility in Manchester - woo-hoo!

     None of that has anything directly to do with what follows except the t-shirt featured a quote blazoned across the back. The quote is "Life is much too serious to take seriously." It really is! Especially these days.
     
     These days there have been more than a few memes along the way about toilet paper, nurses, and the police joking about serious things. As we are now learning with the Corona virus, matters are very serious! To cope, I and many others appear to make light of it all, but in reality, I suspect we all know it is deadly serious. But instead of wringing my hands and lamenting, it's easier to joke about it. If there is something we can do, we do it. If not, we do the best we can and move on. 

     Back in 1957, On the Beach, a novel by Nevil Shute was published. It follows different people in Melbourne, Australia, as they await deadly radiation from the northern hemisphere comes closer and closer following a nuclear war. How they handle their impending deaths is the novel.

     In a way, I feel the same way waiting to see what happens with the virus. There have been other novels and movies dealing with diseases, vampires, and zombies. But the thing is they are all fiction - or should be. Today, I am wondering if i will get the virus, how bad it will be, and if I will survive. We can read all the books we want, see all the movies we want, but they are escapist entertainment.

     Back when I taught a course in science fiction, we looked at future possibilities. The books and stories were a warning of what could happen if we didn't wake up and change course. It's happening.

     On a positive note, today, I am okay. As long as I can say that every morning, it's all good. We all should do the same.

     Today, I am okay. I embrace that.

TMI

     Full disclosure - I have to level with you - I suffer from a condition called witzelsucht, but I have managed it pretty well. Witzelsucht is a tendency to make puns or tell inappropriate jokes in improper situations. Combined with another condition called hypersexuality, if there is the remotest double entendre or innuendo (what's the Italian word for enema? Innuendo [there - that is a real-life example]), I'm right on it .

     When I was teaching, it took all I had to suppress such comments that popped into my mind. The last thing a teacher wants is a phone call from a parent/guardian or a request to appear in the principal's office, so that motivated me to bite my tongue.

     Students, on the other hand, often felt free to make such comments, and the problem was trying not to laugh as many were actually clever and appreciated, but I couldn't let on - it would just encourage them. If we were reading a story aloud, and the line: "She put the pot on the stove" appeared, some student (or many) would chime in with: "Heeyyy, pot, man!" (Of course, I have a voice I use to say it after the student(s) did. Seeing it in print here doesn't do it justice.) 

     Usually, there is a trigger word that brings a joke to the surface - that part of my processor still works. If someone asked me to tell a joke, I am not sure I'd readily have one, but when I hear any one of hundreds of words, the joke is right there; it pops out, and I have to tell it. Unfortunately, the Ever-lovely Miss Kim will hear the same word, and she knows what's coming. When I hear it, I look at her, and she rolls her eyes and prepares to hear the same joke for the umteenth time. I think the Ever-effervescent Miss Jessica is finding herself in the same boat.

     Anyhow, I mean no harm and am presenting this as an educational tool. If such a thing happens in your company, just do what my wife does - smile and nod. 

     Thanks for understanding.

A JOB THAT SUCKS!

     During my teaching years, I would always spend time trying to convince my junior and senior students to complete a Career Project, and that there was a world of possibilities beyond the local area. The project included interviewing people in the field they were considering, and, if possible, some minor interning to see and experience what went on behind the scenes. That sometimes resulted in students getting an in (sometimes, it's who you know).

     After the demise of the Plymouth Fair, the Plymouth Lions Club sponsored a smaller fair in the field below the armory (now a college parking area). At the end of the day, a septic pumper truck would pull in to clean out the lineup of blue (and/or green) portable toilets.

     When the truck backed up to the first one of many, a young man jumped from the cab; he had on long, presumably rubber gloves. I watched as he connected hose sections to the truck, went into the toilet, and did whatever it was that he did. He worked his way down the row.

     When I described the scene to my classes, I asked if that was a desirable job. Most students agreed it was not. And then I asked if it was an important job. After a moment of thought, the consensus was yes. I then asked the same about a dishwasher at a restaurant with the same results.

     My hope was to teach the students that not only is every job important but also to do the best they could. They are representatives of the company they work for, and their job, no matter how small or undesirable, is important for the success of the bigger picture. 

     I hope some learned what they should have,