The changing face of the American

   It was Saturday afternoon and we needed to go grocery shopping. The weather was bright and sunny. The parking lot was packed. With the nice day, it appeared as though others had the same idea..... get out of the house and into some fresh air.
   Usually a trip to the store is quick, but we were not in a hurry today, so moving  up and down the aisles was more relaxed and it gave me the opportunity to see what bargains the shelves had to offer. What could the store tempt me to buy?  And with the extra time, it also gave me a chance to do a bit of 'people watching'.
   As I moved through the store, I found myself looking into the faces of what might be the next American. I only needed to look around to get a sense of the future of health care in our country. I am sure there were many I passed with either high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions, or obesity and  they didn't know they were inflicted, or didn't care. I know I am a bit over weight, but today I looked pretty good compared to others.  No wonder the drug companies are doing  well. Yes, the future looks bright for rising health care costs in America, costs that will effect even the healthy.
      In the breakfast food aisle a mother and daughter fought over  which cereal to buy. The scary thing was that most choices were not good, many loaded with sugar and preservatives. Mom won, but the entire store suffered as the child screamed and cried as she and her mother moved up and down the  aisles. Thank goodness they were near to the Ring Dings. Several packages quieted her down. Bribery does work!
   Does anyone know how to cook healthy meals anymore? I know eating healthy is expensive. Shoppers were not lined up in the fresh produce department. Schools no longer teach basic living skills; cooking, budgeting, small household repairs and manners, probably in part because the skills can not be measured on a standardized test. But then... isn't life the real test?
   When I was in high school (the dark ages), required courses for graduation included such classes  as driver education, family living, and home economics. For driver education, we didn't need to get a license, but we had to take the class. If I remember, I took classes that may have prepared me for life, in addition to learning how to read and write.
   Back in the store, I only needed to  listen to the language and watch the behavior of children and hear the way they spoke to parents and adults to understand the current lack of parenting skills. Where are parenting skills  taught today? You only need to listen to the 'words' to get a sense of a loss of a moral compass. But then watch television or go to the movies. Come on Charlie Sheen!
   As I turned the corner in the electronics department a young boy of about 8 slammed into my shopping cart. After a quick recovery he raced past me and I noticed a 'blue tooth' hanging over his ear. Give me a break! I know it is a different world and technology is an important part of life, or so I have been told. But an 8 year old with a cell phone? I wonder what he was going to have for dinner tonight or was the money going to pay for his cell phone service?
   And what mother would allow a child to go into a store dressed in pajama bottoms? Oh, wait!!! That wasn't the child, it was the mother! Silly me!!

Forcasting the weather and herding the cats

   If I am fortunate to come back to earth in a second life, I hope I am able to come back as a meteorologist, a weatherman. I have always enjoyed trying to forecast the weather, matching my skills with the men and women on the various TV news channels. I know they have computers and other scientific means to help them forecast the weather, but sometimes I wonder if having a plain, old, ordinary window on the world is all that is really needed.

   For many, weather is important in daily life. Storms impact travel, farming, vacations, golf games and often affect attitudes and behavior. Weather can determine where we choose to live. There is a reason why Florida is so popular.

   Now before I go any farther, I need to acknowledge the hardship and devastation recently experienced along the New Jersey shore and New York City area. I have lived in both areas and to view what happened is heartbreaking. Some things will never be the same.

   The weather does provide a topic to talk about when a conversations are exhausted. It gives us something to be joyful about, like a bright warm sunny day or to the contrary, something to complain about.

   A pending forecast can give us an excuse to do something, like take a day off from work if it is going to be sunny and warm or to avoid doing something we really didn't want to do anyhow. A bit of snow today? I had better cancel my dentist appointment. Could be dangerous travel.

   It appears, however, that in recent years weather forecasting has taken on a bit of showmanship. Colorful charts, graphs, maps and videos now add a new and exciting dimension to the forecast. Pictures of the earth from miles above its surface show swirls of clouds and storms as they move from place to place. That storm coming in from the Pacific Oceans looks like a real “humdinger”. Time to get to the grocery store and then 'hunker down.'

  But again, let me add that the recent forecast of hurricane Sandy was right on target and as the area  braces for another storm this week, there is a new respect for Mother Nature and what the weather forecasters do.

   Back in the checkout line at the store, I overheard a discussion between two people, a bit older than I am. They were talking about the old days and the storms 'way back when.' “Storms today just aren't like they use to be.”

   Actually I think they are getting worse. I do believe in global warming!.

   There are some 'givens' about the weather. We will have weather every day albeit rain or sun, wind or clouds. Even with all the computers and other tools of the trade, predicting the weather is not a perfect science and sometimes the storms and weather seem to have minds of their own..

   A forecast late last winter called for a light amount of snow, somewhere in the three to four inch range. But to the surprise of many, that light dusting turned out to be fourteen inches. Honey! Better call the plow guy.

   What I believe is that forecasting the weather can often be like herding a bunch of cats. You know what you want them to do, but sometimes they have a mind of their own and while they eventually may end up doing what you wanted, it may have taken a different route to get them there.

   Weather forecasting sometimes has similar results, not exactly what you expected.

But we like that because if it goes badly, except for the major storms, we have someone to blame. Come on Steve McKay. Get it right? I had outdoor plans for today and now it's raining!

    Yes, the sun is out today......and there goes that pesky bunch of neighborhood cats racing across my back yard again but I sure hope the Nor'easter predicted for later this week decides to blow out to sea!!.

To vote or not to vote...Is that the question????

   With only one exception, I have voted in every election since I was eligible to vote many years ago. This was the lesson taught in school.... the importance of voting, civic responsibility and service and for most of my life I took this teaching to heart. But for some reason, this year I am not so sure and have some real doubts.

   In the past, the months leading up to an election were exciting. Candidates would focus, not on the failures of opponents, but on the issues and ideas important to them. There was a civility and respect shown for those seeking elected office. But in recent years that civility has been replaced with character assassination, negative advertising and the infusion of millions of dollars to either support a candidate or destroy an opponent.

   What has been upsetting this year are the number of phone calls and surveys. As early as July the phone has rung on a fairly regular basis, either from one party or another or from one of the many groups supporting or not supporting an issue on the ballot.

   I thought I had the system figured out. Answer the phone, don't say anything and then hang up. That worked for most. What happened the other evening, however, was that the same number appeared on my caller ID 4 times within a two hour period. On call number 4, I redialed the number only to hear that the number could not accept incoming calls. Hmm!!!!

   For a short period of time this past Spring I had considered running for a seat in the legislature. Within several weeks I was contacted by party officials and given a primer course in what I needed to do, who I needed to see and what I needed to say. There was one problem. I consider myself to be a fairly independent thinker and “independents” don't do very well in today's government. If you are an “independent” in Augusta, you get a chair and a desk in the hallway or a spot in the back of the maintenance closet. And committee assignments? Forget that! So much for “yankee independence”. Nope...I decided not to run!

   What has disturbed me the most about this year's election, the one at the federal level, is the amount of money that is being spent. We are not talking about thousands of dollars any more, not even millions, but billions of dollars. Who says the economy is in rough shape. If there is that kind money available to put toward an election, imagine what a few of those dollars could do to build new schools or give to research for cancer cures or fight domestic abuse and violence. With billions of dollars being invested in the election, someone must be making money.

   Every few years there are calls for election reform and I suspect that after this year's election we may hear the battle cry again, especially if the 'right' candidates don't get elected. To get a head start, here is my partial list of ' 'reforms'.

  There should be a cap on the amount of money each candidate can spend. PAC money is no longer allowed. Any PAC that wishes to support a candidate can do so through a charity or cause of the candidate's choice, such as giving to cancer research. No campaigning before August 1 of the election year and all campaigning ends one week before election day so that candidates have time to spend time to get reacquainted with their families.

   Election day is just a few days away, and yes, I will vote as I have always done. But for those pollsters who are reading this....please do not call me and ask who I will be receiving my vote. I will be taking the phone off the hook until November 7^th !

Three

          My daughter called the other day. She was not having a good day. Her computer had stopped working. The garbage disposal broke and the car wouldn’t start.  Her comment?  It’s funny how things seem to happen in three’s.

          When I thought about it, she was right. Events, both good and bad, often happen in groups of three. I can think of a number of illustrations to prove the point. Here are some of my favorites.

         There are several sports references that are built upon the number 3. Baseball’s three strikes and you’re out or the basketball shot from 3 point range. In ice hockey, three goals by the same person is called a ‘hat trick’. And if the home team wins, it’s 3 cheers for them.  Hip, hip, hooray!

         There are also non-sports related references. Three’s company or three’s a crowd is quite common. God forbid if your two best friends ask you out and you end up being the ‘third wheel’!  Great, you get to be the designated driver.

          If you watch children playing and there are only three, one is usually left out, at least for the moment and before long feelings end up being hurt. Parents, take note. There should always be at least more than three invited to the birthday party! And in gym class in school, what’s this counting off by 3’s. Coach, you know Robert can’t count past 2.

          Now we all remember the 3 “Rs”, right? Then there are the three square meals a day. What’s a square meal anyhow? 

          One of my personal favorites is the ‘three bricks shy of a load’. Somehow I don’t think that is a reference to a truck load of bricks.  Is that really how you describe your sister’s new boy friend? Or maybe you are referring to his behavior at the New Year’s Eve party, ‘three sheets to the wind’.

          Now there is the 3-ring circus and the 3-ring binder. Why not 2 or 4? In a poker game, there is three of a kind; not a bad hand. Sure beats two of a kind but not a full house.  Even in music, the number 3 appears. There is ‘Three Coins in a Fountain’ or ‘Three Blind Mice’. Poor things. 

          At a recent auction there were some coins being sold that were said to be from a sunken treasure. They were as ‘phony as a three dollar bill’.  And have you ever watched a con-man move the shells around in a shell game. There are only three shells and you still can’t find the pea.

          By now you probably would like to have 3 wishes, the first being that I bring a conclusion to this week’s column.  But I have just one more thought for you to consider. When things are not going well for you, try again and maybe one more time, because the ‘third time is often the charm’.

           

Some thoughts for my grandchildren

   I recently spent the weekend with my granddaughters and watched as they played. The oldest entered middle school this past September, the youngest, kindergarten, although I think she sees herself to be ready for high school. She knows more at her age than I did when I was her age.

   Listening to the screams and laughter, I thought about their lives and their future. Life is going to be very different for them.

   Looking back, planning for my life seemed so simple. There were things I expected would be in place such as  social security and a comfortable retirement. But heading into retirement in 2012,  being comfortable has become a concern. Looking at the kids, I can't imagine what life might be like for them.

   If I were to give them some 'grandfatherly' advice, what would I say?

   I would start by advising them not to take anything for granted. They will have to work hard and the rules will change at a moments notice. My generation had planned for a retirement that would meet the financial needs in hopes of living a comfortable life. But look at the cost of a loaf of bread. At age 25, who suspected that the price of gasoline would be over $4 per gallon when it was once 45 cents or that a gallon of milk would cost nearly the same as a six pack of beer.

   I had hoped that a health care system would be affordable and that it would help pay some medical expenses and  issues that come along with old age. I expected to live in a society where age was something that was honored and not viewed by the young as a burden. But today, being old is now almost a crime.

  I would encourage them to plan for the 'unexpected.' and take personal responsibility for their future. I hope they will live a long and wonderful life, but know that many things will change, just as they did for me. Anticipate change and embrace it.

   Expect that technology will change the world as I know it today. They may work longer than I and that 'going to the office' might mean sitting at the kitchen counter in pajamas typing on a computer. 
   Star Trek may actually become a reality as they may be beamed up to the grocery store. What's a grocery store anyhow?

   Retirement will not be the life changing event at age 62,  65 or 67. They may work longer because they will be living longer and will need the income. Can you imaging working at 75 or 85.

   There are some other considerations too. They, along with their children, may grow old together. Seventy five year wedding anniversaries many not be uncommon or divorces may become more popular as long term relationships wane in the senior years.

   Communal living, a way of life in the 1960's, may be reborn as seniors seek the companionship and friendship of peers of similar age. Assisted living may move from 'the nursing home' back to the family home.

   The current decisions being made today in Washington or Augusta about an older society seem to lack focus and a genuine concern. They are a bit short sighted. What is lacking is balance between the greed of today  and a vision and plan for life in the future.
   I have lived a good life. I can sit in the sun and watch the grandchildren play. I sincerely hope my generation doesn't ruin their future and  the opportunities to share some 'grandfatherly' advice with their grandchildren.

Your call is Important to us

   ………..and other meaningless phrases! 

            You dial the number. The phone rings three times. A recording on the other end of the line says, “Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line.”

           I am going to assume for a minute that I am the only person that has had this often frustrating experience.  If it were really important, why is there not a live person on the other end of the line? I know, it’s the economy and during difficult financial time, customer service takes the back seat.

          Each day we hear and maybe use a number of these meaningless phrases. Here are several of my favorites.

          “I am from the government and I am here to help!” Are you kidding me? What has government done for me to make my life easier? The intentions may be good and honorable, but the reality is a far different outcome. I like the word ‘honorable’.

          “The check is in the mail,” or it sure will be as soon as I get off the phone. To avoid a confrontation, you may have actually used this phrase yourself on occasion. It’s called a delay tactic. Given the benefit of the doubt, you may have truly forgotten to send the check. Now, write out that check and race to the mailbox.

            I recently overheard this discussion in an aisle at Wal-Mart. Two people had just met and it was obvious they had not seen each other for some time. “Let’s do lunch sometime!” “Sure.”  As one walked past me, I heard her mumble. “Like that’ll happen in this century!”       

            One of my favorites. “The buck stops here!” The implication is that the person you may be speaking with actually has the authority to do something. Truthfully, I find it hard to believe, especially when the next response is something about having to the manager’s approval.

          These are often used as a group. “That’s a really good question. I’ll have to check into it and get back to you. Can I call you later?” Now what are you going to say to that? “No?”  I don’t think so.       

                    The health industry is taking a great deal of criticism these days. In some cases, the criticism is unwarranted.  But every once and awhile….!  A quick call to the doctor and “take two aspirin and call me in the morning” may tell me someone is late for a tee time at the golf course.

          Staying with the medical theme for just a moment, I can remember taking my children to the doctor for a shot and the child being told that “this won’t hurt a bit.” Was the nurse talking about the shot or the force with which she grabbed the child's arm?

          Love is not exempt from these meaningless phrases. “I’ll still love you in the morning if you will …….!” At least one time in almost every teenage boy’s life these word may have rolled off his tongue. What was on his mind?

          So here’s the deal. You read this column and I’ll call you later to get your opinion.

Whatever........

Whatever...

   When it comes to the English language and communication, I tend to be a traditionalist. Say what you mean and mean what you say. But with email and texting, communication and word meaning  is taking a beating.
   I know that slang has always been part of any culture, probably dating back to the beginning of time. Who does not remember 'groovy' or 'cool'. “Hey man, dressed like that.... where are you from? Podunk?” Or, you must be one of 'the good old boys.'
   Slang continues to emerge as a way to put a 'spin' on meaning and expression. It has moved from the simple 'ain't' to words and expressions I would not include in this article or any article for that matter. Not fit to print!
   However, one only needs to travel the aisles of  WalMart or stand in line at  Wendy's to discover just how far we have come and that is not a positive observation. Remember, I am a traditionalist.
   I recently stood in line behind a family as I waited patiently to place my order for two hamburgers “off the dollar menu.” It was difficult to not listen to the discussion that took place in front of me. If I were going to be their third  grade teacher, I do believe it would be a very interesting year. I was amazed at what came out of the children's mouths.  But then you only needed to listen to the parents to understand. 
   After a heated discussion at the counter, the oldest child of the group, my guess a teenager, stormed off, turned to look at the mother and verbally responding with a loud “whatever.”
   For those not sure, “whatever” is slang term that generally means “whatever you say” or more often, “I don't care what you say.” It's intent is to express  indifference, a “who cares what you say” attitude. Sounds pretty 21st century teenager to me.
   One simple word, grammatically called an interjection I think, has now become a complete sentence.
   The history of “whatever” dates back to the 1980's. Remember the 'valley girls' of  California and their “I don't care” attitude. It was the beginning of a cultural revolution.  When spoken, it was often accompanied while forming a “W” with the hand. Cool! We Americans are so clever.
   In a poll taken by Marist College in 2009-2010, whatever was voted the phrase that was “most annoying in a conversation.” My guess is that the dubious honor may still rank at the top of the list today.
   In defense of it's use, it can often be quite an effective tool. What better way to be a passive-aggressive conversationalist. How simple it is to block having to respond or express an honest thought or opinion. Don't want to talk? “Whatever.”
   What is  exciting about “whatever” are the items you can purchase. There are Whatever T Shirts, clocks, posters, key chains in the shape of a 'W so you don't have to use your hand, book covers (a great idea for school), and computer screen savers.
   I am  concerned about the future of the English language. Will we eventually reach a time when we only communicate in one or two word conversations or flash hand signs to the neighbor who is disposing his garbage over the fence in my backyard.
   Will we reach a point where we will never talk at all?
   So, don't like my column? “Whatever!”