May 2018
Being Broke
The kindness of strangers, the vicissitudes of life, the merry-go-round at the mall
Calling Him Back From Layoff
I called a man today. After he said
hello and I said hello came a pause
Sunbeams
This troubled planet is a place of the most violent contrasts. Those who receive the rewards are totally separate from those who shoulder the burdens. It is not a wise leadership.
An Embarrassment Of Riches
Les Leopold On Forty Years Of Runaway Inequality
Our economy does not work for all of us. It works for a small handful of elites who are extracting as much wealth from it as they can.
Loyalty Rewards
In the fall of 1991 I was the lowest-ranking waiter at a steakhouse in Hampton, Virginia. My sole transportation was a Honda 350 motorcycle — halfway between a street bike and a moped — whose chain slipped at the most inopportune times.
People Are Starving
We didn’t know what it was to be desired. We didn’t know what girls’ bodies were supposed to look like. We just knew it was better for us if nothing stuck out too far.
Kids Today
Just one time I had done something nice. Just one time I had left some forlorn teenage girls an offering of chocolate and words, and suddenly I was the local pedophile. I hadn’t left them Fifty Shades of Grey.
Freedom From Delusion
The last time I was in London, I kept passing store windows full of tea towels and souvenir mugs with the motto Keep Calm and Carry On. I once read that when the British government dreamed up the slogan at the onset of World War II, the populace was insulted at being given advice that went without saying.
My Sister Blazed Through Her Life
When she was young, she had a small part in a play, but everyone looked at her. Dull her down, the director said, throw an old coat over her. They did, but everyone still looked at her.