-
Hungry Children
I was travelling to visit my daughter at college this past weekend, and an article appeared in my news feed: “Colleges Should Not Have to Have Food Pantries” (The Nation). The article was about the growing problem of hunger and homelessness among college students. The article cited a recent survey (College and University Basic Needs…
-
What the Devil Wears
Theresa and I watched “The Devil Wears Prada” last night. It is a movie starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, about a young woman who works for the editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine. Meryl Streep plays the editor-in-chief, and portrays a “win at all costs” mentality in the work force. The character played by Meryl…
-
Choice Anxiety
Consumer researchers have done studies in supermarkets, and learned that the more choices are available for certain products, the fewer purchases consumers make. That seems counterintuitive. I would expect that more choices would equal more purchases, but it actually works the opposite way. As consumers, we say that we want more choices, but when it…
-
Right or Wrong
I was having a discussion about a Certain Politician recently, and we asked ourselves, “where does his support come from?” The answer we arrived at was that his supporters supported him, “right or wrong”. Have you ever heard someone say “I support my church/synagogue, right or wrong”? Have you ever heard someone say “I support my…
-
Father Less
It has been a while since I have published on this blog. There are a few reasons for that: 1) I have been writing for another blog site 2) I am finishing my second book (working title “Letter Openers: More Essays About Life and Love”) 3) My home life has been pretty busy I would…
-
The Days Between
The Grateful Dead wrote a song in 1993 called The Days Between. The song was written about a relationship that Jerry Garcia had with a woman when they were in their teens. They lost touch for 30 years or so, and then they rekindled their relationship in the early 1990s. The song is about the…
-
Don’t Wait Until The Last Minute
When I was in college, there was a fellow who lived next door to me who had exceptional study habits. He would study rigorously, and he made it look easy. He organized his time, and he studied (almost) every night. He began studying for exams weeks in advance. He blocked his time into manageable periods,…
-
Making Mistakes
I learned early in life that making mistakes was a bad thing. I learned that making mistakes meant failure, and that mistakes should be avoided at all costs. I learned that lesson so well that I became afraid to try new things. Why try something new, if I was going to be bad (fail) at…
-
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
My family and I watched the movie “Fences” this weekend. The movie is about a 1950’s family, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. (Spoiler alert-I’m going to discuss some plot details here, in case you haven’t seen it). In the movie, the Denzel Washington character starts the movie with (what seems like) a small thread…
-
Give Me A Choice
I don’t like to be told what to do. I don’t react well when someone points a finger at me and orders me to do something. My first reaction is either “no” or “why?” My sense is that this is a universal reaction. The people I know react badly to orders. On the other hand,…