NeverHillary vs NeverTrump

Dorothy Rabinowitz, writes an interesting op-ed essay in today's Wall Street Journal.   "The Hillary-Hatred Derangement Syndrome" compares the compelling arguments between the "anti-" groups.

Ms Rabinowitz is a member of the Journal's editorial board so Clinton haters cannot dismiss her writing as the product of leftist kool-aid drinker mentality.  Her conclusion, surprisingly, is to urge for the election of Mrs. Clinton because "She alone stands between America and the reign of the most unstable, proudly uninformed, psychologically unfit president ever to enter the White House."



Since base supporters on either side are largely deaf to criticism of their chosen candidate, the election will likely be decided by the voters who will hold their noses and then vote for the second-worst-choice.

"You told me that already."

On Repeating Oneself

One of the more annoying phrases in current American parlance is, "You told me that already."   For me, it's a conversation killer.
Everyone repeats themselves.  If you have a good story, you tend to tell it to more than one person.  It's not a personality disorder to forget the names of everyone you have already told the story to.  Paradoxically, the ones most-likely to call you on repetition are, themselves, the worst repetition offenders. 

  I have politely listened, for the second or third time, to some tedious story about some former neighbor's niece's cocker-poodle who desperately needed a kidney transplant.    Shouting "Yes, you already told me that." seems like an unnecessary rebuke.  Si I sit quietly, nodding at the appropriate junctures,  not interrupting, until the tedious end. 

Because I understand that it is therapeutic for you to tell this story, I smile and nod. Rather than embarrassing you with an interjected, "You told me that already,"  I let you tell the story beginning to end, again, up to and including the solemn ceremony placing of little Max's ashes in an urn on the mantle.


Perhaps the motives of the person informing you that you are repeating yourself are completely innocent.  Perhaps they just want to let you know that they were indeed listening the first time you told them that joke or anecdote.  In my opinion, they are just being rude. 

The thought occurs that maybe the solution for me is to get out and meet more new people who have not heard any of my fascinating stories and knee-slapper jokes already.   

Labor Day Thoughts 2016

It has been 13 years since I was a full-time employee of a company.   Since I "retired" I've had a few part-time (retail) jobs, one very lucrative 12 month contract job and a dozen or so "gigs" involving writing, editing or database work.   Currently my only commitment is to a volunteer job which requires 3 hrs a week. And lunch.

Most of the time since 2003, I have been free to do anything I wished, whenever I wish. Within certain parameters, (eg physical limitations, fiscal constraints and of course, permission from my wife.)

In general, I like being retired a lot more than I liked working for a living. No more meetings, daily commuting, no more trying to look competent to an audience of doubters.  Being unstructured is liberating.  Now, I only have one boss, and she is often too busy with her own agenda (grandkids, art classes, painting, museums, part time work) to place too many constraints on my activities.    

But I do my best to remain connected with interesting people I once worked with.  And I meet new people all the time who share interests.  Good books, poetry, fishing, eating, etc.

 Occasionally, I feel nostalgia for the structure and sociability of working in a corporate environment -- belonging to a team of people trying to accomplish a common goal. And I do miss my lavish salary.  (Ok it wasn't that lavish, but,  unlike social security, it paid the bills.)

I try to justify spending those decades  at the office by saying, "Well I helped make the process better for my coworkers." But the evidence of my "work" is not visible, unless you regard folders full of charts and plans as accomplishments.   Most of it was really useless paperwork demanded by some would-be Napoleon who had clawed his way into the executive ranks.  At least if I had worked on an assembly line or built a wall, I'd be able to say, "I did that."  

When you look back and realize that nothing that you did has made a damn bit of difference, it's a wee bit humbling.  It seemed like I was working hard at the time, but in retrospect, it probably made little difference whether I came into the office or called-in sick.  None of the companies that I worked for from 1972 to 2003 are still extant.  None of the applications I designed and helped develop are running today.  Obsolete and forgotten.

You might think this perspective would leave me wallowing in disappointment and regret.  But, not so.  I actually feel pretty good about my "career."  True, I did not accomplish anything permanent or important. No one will compose epic poems about my accomplishments.  No statue will commemorate my contributions to civilization.  My name will not be etched into a bronze plaque at some hall of fame.

But I did keep a record of activities.  I started writing a journal in the early 1980's.  I can go back to those pages and validate the earnestness of my intention to do good things.  Pages filled with conflict, disappointment and a few glorious wins.    

And, it pleases me to imagine that most of my coworkers, if they remember me at all, will remember me as a guy who trustworthy, creative and anti-authoritarian, who was trying to have fun in a disapproving corporate world.

If anyone asked me (and believe me, no one has) for career advice, I would tell them:

1. Never take a job that requires you to drive East in the morning. You will be driving into the sun every morning and every evening.  It's not worth it.
2. Avoid working in retail.  Retail managers do not value individuality.  They want interchangeable parts who do not ask challenging questions about process.
3. Do not take a job that requires you to carry a pager or work-supplied cellphone.  They will wear you down with 24-7 connection.  The stress will make you sick and shorten your life.
4. Make lunch the focus of your day.  Avoid eating with assholes.  Never eat at your desk.  Work will wait.  Don't drink martinis at lunch.
5. Try not to share the boss's sense of urgency.  You can't avoid dealing with it and complying with it, but never let it own you.
6.  Seek a career in a field where your accomplishments are palpable. Be a builder or a maker or a healer.   If you become a bureaucrat, at least keep a journal so you can have something to show for your time.
7.  Do mix pleasure with work whenever possible.
8.  If you hate your boss, or vice versa, quit and go somewhere else.  Good bosses are hard to find.  Keep looking.
9.  Do not get a tattoo that is visible when you are dressed for work.
10.  At some point between the ages of 40 and 50, you will come to the realization that almost nothing is worth the time it takes to do it right.  Figure out what is really important and do those few things right.  




 

Standing for Something

Racist symbol?

Why do we stand when the US National Anthem is played?  If you refuse to stand, what does it say about you?

A huge flap was kicked-off when a SF 49ers football star quarterback decided to sit when the Anthem is played.  He says, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

What a dipshit!


Now don't get me wrong.  I am not a flag waver.  I don't fly a flag on a pole in my yard, I don't have flags waving from my pick-up truck. Nor do I flaunt my so-called patriotism with bumper stickers or embroidered clothing.   But when I am at a sporting event where the Anthem is played, I get up and stand respectfully, like everyone else.

To me it is an expression of unity.   I regard the National Anthem and flag as symbols that represent the highest ideals that we share as Americans:  Freedom, Equality, Justice.  For all.

Everyone is standing except one dipshit

When I am standing, I am thinking what a great world it would be if everyone could be free to follow their own path in life, free from poverty, oppression and hatred.  When the crowd rises I imagine that they do so in an act of sharing a momentary sense of togetherness and pride.  It's an expression of gratitude to those (civilian and soldier) who have sacrificed time, treasure and blood, to keep our way of life secure.

(Full disclosure:  I'm also thinking that the beer is wickedly over-priced)

I recognize some folks see the flag as the symbol of all  the injustices and evils that have been done, often under the guise of "defending our freedom."  I get that we see what we want to see. If you feel like a victim, someone must be to blame.  And I acknowledge that every individual has the right to express their view.

And, what country is he talking about?  South Africa?

He certainly is not referring to the USA that I live in.  I am not saying that racism against blacks and other minorities doesn't exist.  It exists everywhere in the world, in every institution.  But I don't know of any country where minorities have a better chance to get ahead in terms of  jobs, education, wealth and power.   

Mohammed Ali is often cited as a man of principle.  He refused to be drafted during the Vietnam conflict, famously saying "

“I Ain't Got No Quarrel With The VietCong...No VietCong Ever Called Me Nigger.”

He lost his championship title for that principled stand.  Most Americans respect a man who stands-up for what he believes, even if it isn't popular.  

But sitting down, showing contempt for the symbols of freedom, justice and equality, not-so-much.