The longer I live, which is just another way of saying the older I get, the whole puzzle of life seems to become much simpler.
We need to find the right balance that allows us to exist happily with everybody else. That's it.
There's a synchronicity to your life and my life and all of our lives; what each of us does affects everyone else and on and on it goes.
My Canadian-born grandmother was in a nursing home in her 90s when we went to visit one winter's day to take her out on a day trip.
We went to a nearby hilly area where we parked and watched people go up and down a gentle incline, at least that's my memory of the day.
There was fresh snow and my ancient grandmother, tiny and shriveled, sat in the front seat watching for a while and then pronounced, "Round and round everyone goes, and where they stop nobody knows."
That was it. She apparently had nothing else to say.
Since it was cold we soon took her back to the nursing home and ended our visit. I found out later that she hated it there and was always getting into trouble. Apparently she kicked an attendant who told her she had to stop hopping into bed with her boyfriend.
***
In order to function, society imposes controls in the form of social norms that all of us are expected to follow. One problem in a highly diverse place like America is many different types of people from different backgrounds must learn how to mix and find some sort of common ground.
That might seem like an achievable objective, but much of the time we seem to break up into warring tribes instead. Often as I listen to the conversations around me, focusing on the great questions of the day, one person is arguing one side forcefully, while another takes an opposing view.
There was a time when I would step in and try to forge a consensus and on occasion I still do. That seems to be a role that suited me throughout my career both at work and at home. So I would find myself mediating disputes, suggesting ideas for reaching the middle ground.
As a manager, I was the guy whose office door always remained open, so any employee could drop in for a chat if they wanted or needed to.
Over a 55-year career, many, many people did just that.
***
My grandmother is long gone and now I am elderly myself, thankfully not in a nursing home, but removed nonetheless from the daily tussle of choices that beset younger folks. They are always debating, worrying, wondering, choosing, staking out alternative positions and engaging each other in a search for...something.
Increasingly, I find myself growing silent on such occasions. It may be that I have an opinion or it may be that I am uncertain. And it may be that it no longer matters all that much to me.
All I know for sure is that they are riding the merry-go-round and therefore will keep going round and round.
And that where they will stop nobody knows.
But before you drop me off at the end of our day trip, please be grateful that I haven't kicked anyone yet.
***
The news:
* Deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year, with two devastating spikes eight months apart, a government watchdog reported Tuesday in the most comprehensive look yet at the ravages of COVID-19 among its most vulnerable victims. (AP)
* What Biden — and a lot of other people — get wrong about journalists. Are journalists too negative? That’s not the problem. Our role is not to cheerlead for the people we cover, Margaret Sullivan writes. (WP)
* Covid-19 Delta Variant Threatens to Set Back Europe’s Recovery-- The Delta variant of the coronavirus is making inroads around the world, including in the U.S., where public-health experts expect it to soon become the dominant strain. (WSJ)
* The fortunes of America's 50 richest family dynasties has soared at 10 times the rate of typical U.S. families over the last four decades, according to a new study that warns of the increasing concentration of riches. And the five richest families -- the Waltons, Kochs, Marses, Cargill-MacMillans and Lauders -- saw their wealth soar 2,484% since 1983. [HuffPost]
* Wuhan lab’s classified work complicates search for pandemic’s origins (WP)
* California Has a Plan to Pay the Back Rent for Low-Income Tenants. All of It. -- The state is poised to embark on an ambitious, complex effort to cover the unpaid rent of low-income renters who struggled during the pandemic. (NYT)
* Record-high U.S. house prices, tight supply weigh on sales (Reuters)
* Retail workers are quitting at record rates for higher-paying work (WP)
* Johnny Paycheck sang "Take this job and shove it" in 1977. Today, it may well be the mantra for the post-Covid workforce. Getting "back to normal" in the American jobs market won't cut it for everyone. Especially in retail and hospitality, where "normal" was an army of low-wage workers juggling two or more part-time jobs to pay the bills. The past 15 months has been a reckoning for everyone. The pandemic forced families to re-order their health, family and work obligations. Schools closed. Child care and elder care was disrupted. Congress came to the rescue, opening its purse strings to prevent a coronavirus recession from becoming a depression. The year of extra jobless benefits and stimulus checks Congress authorized gave millions of workers breathing space for the first time. Today, as the engine of the American economy revs back to life, it's not as simple as plugging workers right back into the jobs they left. (CNN)
* Medicaid Enrollment Surpassed 80 Million, a Record, During the Pandemic -- The increase points to the program’s growing role not just as a safety net, but also as a foundation of U.S. health coverage. (NYT)
* In Oklahoma, the 1995 bombing offers lessons — and warnings — for today’s fight against extremism -- While Republican leaders focus on “both sides,” many Oklahomans are alarmed to see terrorist Timothy McVeigh’s far-right ideology spread in the state he attacked. (WP)
* When U.S. law enforcement officials need to cast a wide net for information, they’re increasingly turning to the vast digital ponds of personal data created by Big Tech companies via the devices and online services that have hooked billions of people around the world. (AP)
* H. Heather Shaner, one of many Washington lawyers assigned to defend accused Jan. 6 insurrectionists who can't afford to hire an attorney, has found a way to educate her clients about the U.S. history their teachers may have glossed over. She assigns books and movies, opening them to slavery, racism and other ugly chapters. "I’ve learned that even though we live in a wonderful country things still need to improve," one changed client wrote to a judge ahead of sentencing. [HuffPost]
* U.S. judge tosses most claims against Trump in clearing of Lafayette Square -- Dabney L. Friedrich of Washington called allegations that federal officials conspired to enable a photo op of Trump holding a Bible too speculative. (WP)
* When It Comes to Big City Elections, Republicans Are in the Wilderness -- The party’s growing irrelevance in urban and suburban areas comes at a considerable cost, sidelining conservatives in centers of innovation and economic might. (NYT)
* India e-commerce rules cast cloud over Amazon, Walmart and local rivals (Reuters)
* Biden to address high crime rates, a political peril for Democrats (WP)
* Native Americans decry unmarked graves, untold history of boarding schools (Reuters)
* Appeals court blocks federal judge’s ruling to overturn California’s assault weapons ban (WP)
* What special relationship? Canada grimaces amid hail of U.S. trade blows (Reuters)
* Attacked and Vulnerable, Some Afghans Are Forming Their Own Armies -- With U.S. troops leaving, the Taliban advancing, and a steady collapse of security force bases and outposts, the Hazara and other ethnic groups in Afghanistan are raising militias. (NYT)
* Taliban fighters took control of a key district in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province Monday and encircled the provincial capital, police said, as the insurgent group added to its recent battlefield victories while peace talks have stalemated. (AP)
* Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be listed as ‘in danger,’ U.N. body says (WP)
* As Seagrass Habitats Decline, Florida Manatees Are Dying Of Starvation -- The mammals were removed from the endangered species list in 2017, but algae blooms and overdevelopment have killed 46,000 acres of seagrass, leaving manatees without enough to eat. (NPR)
* Soon, the NCAA as we know it will no longer exist. Good riddance. (Opinion/WP)
* Experts Encourage Americans To Start Thinking About What Form Of Government They’d Like To Try After Democracy Crumbles (The Onion)
***
"Take This Job and Shove It"
Song by Johnny Paycheck
Written by David Allan Coe
I ain't working here no more
My woman done left and took all the reason
I was working for
You better not try to stand in my way
As I'm a-walkin' out the door
Take this job and shove it
I ain't working here no more
For now on fifteen years
All this time I watched my woman
Drownin' in a pool of tears
And I've seen a lot of good folk die
That had a lot of bills to pay
I'd give the shirt right offa' my back
If I had the guts to say
I ain't working here no more
My woman done left and took all the reason
I was workin' for
You better not try to stand in my way
As I'm a-walkin' out the door
Take this job and shove it
I ain't workin' here no more
The line boss, he's a fool
Got a brand new flattop haircut
Lord, he thinks he's cool
And that sucker, he's gonna' pay
Lord, I can't wait to see their faces
When I get the nerve to say
I ain't working here no more
My woman done left and took all the reason
I was workin' for
You better not try to stand in my way
As I'm a-walkin' out the door
Take this job and shove it
I ain't workin' here no more
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