Racism is an extremely dynamic concept that we vastly over-simplify. Racism lives in a person’s head and in their heart. And no one knows what lies in another person’s head or heart. Yet, we so quickly and casually throw the word “racist” at one another that, at this point, it has entirely lost its meaning. There’s no way to know, but I just don’t believe there is anywhere near as much racism in the world as some would have you believe. Call me optimistic. For one thing, it’s got to be very difficult to be a racist. There’s always…
A tip for naming your child
Certainly, you’ve heard of Les Schwab. The tire shop. So many people just take it for granted that the name is French. But it’s actually the name of the guy who started the company: Lester Schwab. Obviously, he shortened it to Les Schwab. Having heard this, my first thought was the breaking of one of the most well-known rules of naming your child: Never give your child a first name in which the sound at the end of that name is the same sound as the beginning of your last name. Like Les Schwab. When you do that, people…
The magic of Christmas
Christmas represents a lot of amazing things to a lot of people. There’s obviously the religious significance. There’s the joy and warmth. There’s the charity. The kids. Gift-giving. Gift-receiving. But to me, it’s the closest the West, if not the world, gets to a true feeling of unity. It’s the one day of the year when we level the playing field. Everything shuts down. Everyone tries to find time with friends and family. It’s the truest experience of peace we see over a span of 365 days. Or so it used to be… This morning, I went for an…
The move toward thoughtlessness
Christmas is here once again, and people all over are struggling with both what to get their friends and family, but also telling their friends and family what they’d like to receive. By my observation, there used to be a much higher bar around being thoughtful with a gift. Sure, everyone has people for whom they just get something because they are at a complete loss, or just don’t have the time to give it the thought they want. But the bulk of the gifts we end up giving go to people we know fairly well. So there should…
Driven by anger
Look at some of the famous politically active liberals – Chuck Schumer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, David Hogg, Nancy Pelosi, Rachel Maddow, Michael Moore, Bernie Sanders, Al Gore… to name a few. One trait they share is anger. They seem to be always angry. They never seem to be enjoying themselves, and they’re mad when you’re enjoying yourself. They never seem to be musing about the blessings of living in the United States. So long as someone is suffering in any way, they’re miserable. I think this is, in a twisted way, admirable. It’s born out of empathy and a desire…
One good thing about cell phones
At least we now have a better idea about what percent of people are prone to addictive behaviors. (Nearly everyone, as far as I can tell…) Now we just need a solution to it.
Stop… and then go
When I’m approaching a stop sign at a four-way intersection, and someone is already stopped at one of the signs to my right or left, I’m expecting them to go after they’ve stopped. But instead, too often those people wait until you stop at your stop sign before they go. Yesterday, I was driving up to a four-way stop sign intersection. As I was approaching, there was a car on my right already stopped at their stop sign. I was hoping they’d move on so that when I stopped at my stop sign, I could just go right away….
You don’t know the meaning of the word “offended”
I used to say I can’t be offended. When would try and choose their words with me, I would reassure them they couldn’t offend me. To be offended, to me, meant you were bothered by meaningless or careless words someone around you said. It was a sign of weakness. Thin skin. Then one day I looked it up. Turns out it means to feel upset, annoyed, or resentful. I guess I’m really offended all the time. And it’s usually because of all the people I see or read about who go out of their way to be offended by…
Why we tell kids they’re great
Before every child was issued a smart phone, kids used to go out and explore on their own. Instead of watching other people create and have experiences, they would have their own. When kids get out of the house, they either get with their friends (or sometimes go it alone), and head into an adventure. It’s not always an amazing, movie-worthy adventure. Sometimes something small or minor happens. Sometimes, it’s not really memorable at all. But it’s the sum of all these experiences – the conflicts, little victories, tiny defeats, attempts to talk to others, the unique, seemingly meaningless…
What if Jesus Christ comes back, but his message goes to spam?
Yesterday, I found an email in my spam folder from none other than Jesus Christ… I’ve worked a lot with email marketing over the years, and have certainly received my share of it since 1994. But I can’t believe I’ve never seen an email from Jesus Christ before. With a second coming in the offing, and all of the mass and instant communication channels available at this time, I wonder how he will announce his return. Would it be via Twitter? First he’d have to establish a base of followers. Same with any social media account. But by simply…