Bits and Pieces

Life Goes On: My dad would have been 111 years old yesterday, January 6th. He made it to  87 in 1998, just shy of his 88th birthday due to complications of two falls. Life continued on after his passing. Twenty-three years of events and developments he would have had trouble understanding. The pandemic he would have understood; he witnessed the 1918 flu pandemic as a child of 7. He was an engineer and would be amazed at the advancements in electronics. He would have been shocked by the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021. Shocked and dismayed. He would have marveled at the advancements in healthcare. He would have been disappointed at the distrust in government in 2022. A critic of government most of the time, he still trusted it and its authority. He participated in the system and had a basis of trust in it. He could see its operations up close and personal. He saw the human side of governance and its many trials and tribulations.

No such allowance for differing opinions today! No; violence looms large in our modern America fueled by vast numbers of people too lazy to understand the process and understand complex issues. They remain ignorant by choice. The rest of us are held in jeopardy because of their stupidity. I think dad would have been utterly shocked.

Trust in Government: I know my public service was small in comparison to others, but I did serve on a suburban city council for four years, and seven years on the local Park Board of Commissioners. I worked in public jobs as well: HOA on-site manager for two HOAs; president and executive committee member of the local chamber of commerce; managing editor of the local weekly newspaper; 18 years on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. There were other stints in full public view, but the whole of the experiences taught me that real people do real jobs for the benefit of others. Those others also represent emerging generations and unfolding history and discoveries which affect the public. This work is difficult and complex. The people working in these jobs labor greatly to understand and choose policy and organizational options continually. In collaboration with others, they move us all forward.

These are people like you and I who deserve our respect and trust. Together they do our work as best they can. They do not deserve distrust and suspicion from the body politic. Just place yourself in their shoes and ask yourself, “What would I do in their place?” Let the complexity weigh heavy on your mind and know that countless others are ready to pounce on your every word, fair or not. Better to trust and get involved with the process.

Getting Serious about Public Health: the pandemic should have demonstrated to all of us that we are all in this together. Your health affects mine. Mine affects yours. People with different medical conditions are affected differently from you and me. This is a complex matter that deserves attention and deep study to magnify our understanding of what is going on. Second guessing experts in their fields of study and professional depth, is oversimplifying matters to the point of making the guesser look and be stupid.

The experts among us have provided ample direction on what we are to do to avoid being infected by the COVID virus and its many strains. We are told to get vaccinated if your doctor agrees. We are told to wear masks in public; we are advised to limit our exposure to large crowds and even moderate social gatherings. We are urged to wash our hands and keep our surroundings as clean as possible. These actions work. We have seen the results. We have also witnessed what happens when the directives are not followed. Vast infection rates soar. This was especially true after Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday gatherings.

The only good thing is that Omicron variants of COVID-19 are modest and survivable. But we remain the tool of transmission to those weaker than us who may easily suffer major health threats and death. Avoiding that takes us being responsible and adopting the behaviors suggested above.

If we don’t, we threaten major consequences for others including our own family members. What we choose to do with our own bodies and health may be one thing, but it is indelibly connected to the fate of many others. That is not your or my freedom to dabble in.

If you choose not to, then you should isolate yourself from everyone else. Only then do you have the choice.

January 7, 2022

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intimacy

As we mature, we become deeply involved in relationships. Some of this is basic family relations – siblings, parental – and the like. Next is friends who enter our homes and we theirs. Neighbors, classmates, mutual hobbyists and so forth. Then we develop friendships that go much deeper. We comfort one another when we are hurting physically or emotionally. We discuss the matters of life and learn much more about ourselves and each other. We can even anticipate how others will react to various situations and stimuli. Good friendships do not spread to everyone we know. No, good friendships are special, close and deeply personal. We focus attention and brainpower on these few friends. Some special relationships focus on specific topics of interest and importance. Yes, we have specialized friendships. Most common. But one day, we get to know one person very well. An emotional connection forms with deep roots. A need to know the person more fully expands in personal ways. We sense this b...
Read more

Bits & Pieces

Pie: Apple pie more specifically. With Thanksgiving just passed, many of us enjoyed a good apple pie. Sure, there was pumpkin to accompany the turkey, but in our family multiple pies are offered in the holidays. Apple is surely one. Pecan, pumpkin and others, too. But I almost always choose apple. When I was in college, I was asked what kind of pie did I eat most often. In front of my mom, I answered apple, because I was always looking for a pie as good as mom’s own. Of course my mother was pleased, but it was a true statement just the same. When I was married, Ann’s pie was darned good. Her mother’s recipe. But we fiddled with the recipe until it took on its own generational name, and boy, was it good! Today I still order apple pie for dessert because I am always looking for a great pie to challenge our family recipes. I rarely do find such a prize. Do others do the same? Do you search for a great pie of choice, continually? If you do, what’s your story? Why do you do this? ...
Read more

Remembering Tom Sherlock

Tom Sherlock died on Wednesday, April 3rd. He was 65 years old and did not survive a heart surgery. That was his unexpected end and sad enough. But there is more to his story. Tom joined Dan Schuyler and George Safford to create what became the Village Chronicles, a weekly newspaper serving Warrenville, Illinois. That paper expanded to serve Winfield and then West Chicago. The paper published for eight years and built a good reputation for itself. Tom served the paper in several ways. He was our information technology guru, provided hardware and software to support the paper's operations. He was our sole bookkeeper, accountant and financial manager. He designed our distribution process and provided office space for meetings and layout and typesetting. His efforts supported the work of 32 volunteers who wrote and reported on the communities we served.  The newspaper broke even financially most of the time, but it was a struggle. Tom managed to find money to keep the newspaper afloat...
Read more