9/11 - 21 Years Later

It was 21 years ago today when our world changed forever. In the initial aftermath of 9/11, we were left feeling shocked and frightened. We didn't quite understand what was happening. Nor did we know how extensive the attacks would be. 

As the day unfolded, we began to hear the stories about the tragedies and the heroics. It was quite hard hard to digest. So many emotions were running through us. I remember simply feeling numb. I was waiting to wake up from this nightmare. But as the day went on, as much as I tried to deny it, I was fully awake...

Today, we now have a generation of young adults who were too young to remember the impact of that infamous day. Many weren't even born yet. I assume that most of them are, at least,  aware of what happened. But there seems to be an emotional disconnect with them.

Amazingly, American pride has somehow become controversial among "Generation Z". Simply displaying your American flag can now generation calls of bias and divisiveness. What was once a source of unity has somehow been transformed into a political lightning rod. How did this happen?

Just this Friday, one of our local high schools canceled "Red, White & Blue Day" because too many people found it offensive. That's right, a display of American pride is now offensive to some Americans. The event was supposed to serve as celebration of American pride as well as a remembrance of the events of 9/11. It was scheduled to occur during the school's Friday night football game. It was ultimately changed to a Hawaiian themed night. I'm not really sure how Hawaii ties into a Friday night football game in Pasadena, Maryland. But there you have it.

The community immediately responded by organizing a makeshift parade of cars, trucks and motorcycles. Each proudly displaying American flags and other patriotic decorations. The assembly gathered at a large open lot and then proceeded to drive past the high school football field with horns a-blowin'. While some of the Hawaii crowd might have been annoyed, The First Amendment was on full display for them to witness....

I can't quite wrap my head around all of this. Even if the sight of anything that's red, white and blue does somehow bother you, why do you feel the need to cancel it for so many others? After all, this is America, a country where individual freedoms were once celebrated. But today, there's an immediate rush to shut down any opposing views. This cancel culture has to stop.

So many people, of all backgrounds, have fought and sacrificed to make America what it is today. And yes, it is great. I give the ultimate thanks to members of our military and the first responders who do so much unsung work that most people never know about. These are real American heroes.

The images of 9/11 still haunt me to this day. I will never forget how I felt. I fought back the tears when I toured Ground Zero several years later. The personal stories from the survivors were heartbreaking. But the resolve that America showed in the aftermath was extraordinary. While I hope that we never experience anything like it again, I wish there was a way to harness the emotion that we all felt on that day. 

Today, perhaps more than ever, we need to find a source of unity that brings us together as a country once again. We can certainly disagree. and we will. Who knows? Maybe we can find an amiable middle ground. But somewhere along the line, we need to find a way to once again celebrate the place we all call home. 

kw

Back in the Day - The Clothes

Every generation goes through various fashion trends. And inevitably, those things that you now think are so cool will become outdated and unfashionable...

Back in my day, the guys had it pretty easy. A few pair of Levi's blue jeans and a various array of T-shirts would round out about half of the male wardrobes. The T-shirts usually displayed a popular rock band or beer logo. A lone collared "golf-shirt" might be found in the back of a closet for that special occasion.

The classic rock look of the 70's eventually gave up some fashion leverage to the New Wave movement. This ushered in the preppy look of pop-top collars and pleated khakis. I guess this was about the time we were introduced "parachute pants". I never quite understood these. Were they actually made of parachutes? I don't know. They were essentially made of some kind of plastic/nylon material. In the summer, they acted as a sauna for your lower extremities. In the winter, they offered only an ultra-thin barrier between your legs and the outdoor elements. But amazingly, someone probably got very rich by marketing these things to the teen masses of the early 80's. Maybe it was the same guy who brought us the Pet Rock, who knows?

The 80's also ushered in the era of designer jeans. Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, and of course, Jordache found their way into the department stores where teenage girls eagerly lined up to buy them. Some of the guys bought them as well. I remember one of my good friends showing up for a pick-up football game wearing a pair of these things. I can't remember the exact brand name but they had this bold, decorative stitching design on both of the back pockets. My first reaction was, "You gotta be kidding me. Who the hell plays football in designer jeans?" But he insisted on joining the rest of us who were decked out in generic sweatpants. Every time the guy went up for a pass, I was waiting for the fashion paparazzi to jump out from behind a tree to capture the moment. 

And unlike the loose, saggy jeans of today, the jeans of my generation had to be worn skin tight. I can't imagine how many young men experienced sterility issues due to this. And the girls faced their own issues simply getting into their jeans. My pliers were always absent from my toolbox because my sisters would steal them. Why? Because their jeans were so tight, they couldn't zip them up the conventional way. So, they had to lay flat on their beds and use to the pliers to pull up on the zipper. Most of the girls from the 80's looked like they were poured into their jeans.

Somewhere around this time, the ripped jeans made their way \onto the scene. I remember seeing rock bands wearing them. The late, great Eddie Van Halen comes to mind. Before long, these methodically torn garments were readily available in all of the clothing stores. I never bought a pair of these. I always thought it was ridiculous to pay for a pair of jeans that were defective right off of the shelf. But amazingly, these things are still popular today.

I also remember seeing these oversized "balloon" pants. I don't even remember the name of them. A lot of the muscle-bound gym guys would wear them. They were often designed with zig-zag patterns and weird colors. A pair of gigantic clown shoes would have been the perfect accessory. They were absolutely ridiculous looking. Of course, I would never say this back then. Getting your ass kicked is bad enough. But getting your ass kicked by a guy in multi-colored balloon pants is too much for anyone to absorb. These pants were emphasized to nth-degree when MC Hammer hit the scene with his "Can't Touch This" video.

I believe it was also the 80's that introduced us to "leg warmers". Another item that I never quite understood. A leg warmer was basically a giant sock that covered a woman's lower leg. I'm not sure if their calves really needed an extra layer of warmth. But I guess you can never be too prepared.

For a brief period, neon-colored clothing became a trend. Although the colors were unflattering, they definitely made you stand out in a crowd. If you were going for the "late night road crew" look, this would do it for you.

Through it all, I've pretty much remained a traditionalist. Although the size has increased over the years, I still wear the standard Levi's jeans and assorted t-shirts. Fashion trends come and go but the basics never seem to go out of style.....

kw

Back in the Day - The Heat

As we wind down another summer here on the East Coast, we have definitely had our share of heat and humidity. Although you always expect summers to be hot, it's always a bit of a shock when you leave the comfort of an air-conditioned room and into the hot, damp oven of the outdoors.

Today, it's not uncommon to postpone activities due to the excessive heat. If a building's air conditioning system is broken, it almost always results in shutting things down and sending up the Bat Signal for the HVAC crew. This is especially true for schools...

Kids (and most adults) today have literally been conditioned for climate-controlled classrooms. And I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with that. After all, we're in the United States of America in the 21st century. But when I was a young kid back in the 70's, air-conditioned classrooms were the exception and not rule. And somehow, I survived and I'm here to tell you about it.

Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't exactly pleasant sitting in a 90-degree classroom. I can remember sitting at my wooden desk with sweat rolling down the sides of my husky head. And this was before the teacher even mentioned anything about a pop quiz. By lunchtime, the classroom was transformed into a sea of perspiration-glazed desktops. And trust me, there was no one wiping these things down with any kind of disinfectant at the end of the day. I imagine that we had the auto-immune system of a cockroach by the time we got to the sixth grade.

If you were lucky enough, your teacher would bring a large oscillating fan into the room. It essentially blew warm air in your direction with every 90-degree turn. It didn't really cool you but at least it helped to control the sweat flow. I would sometimes find an excuse to get up from my desk and walk in front of the fan to get a bonus blast. Of course, if I stood in front of the fan too long, it would draw verbal ire from my classmates. And the teacher would intervene by saying, "Mr. Wilson, please take your seat!" 

When I went home after school. things didn't get a whole lot easier. You see, our house was not equipped with air conditioning either. The only salvation came in the form of an occasional breeze that made it's way through the open windows. We also had a damp cellar that would offer a temporary refuge. But the cobwebs and scurrying insects did not make it an ideal cooling place. I can also remember putting my head in the freezer to get a few seconds of relief.

Hardly anyone had central air conditioning in my neighborhood. However, many of my friends' homes were cooled with portable window AC units. Most of the houses in the neighborhood were small rowhomes. So, an average size window unit could do a decent job of cooling things down. I lobbied my Dad to go this route but he wouldn't bite. But he did eventually install an above-ground swimming pool in the back yard. This quickly became our go-to summertime refreshment source.

I would also spend a fair amount of time at the local library to keep cool. The Enoch Pratt Free Library was located just a couple of blocks from my home. They had a reading area with large comfortable chairs. I would find an interesting book or magazine and spend the next couple hours soaking in the climate-controlled air.

Catching a movie was also a way to cool off for a couple of hours. But, of course, going to the movie theater costs money. And money was tight back then. Although the movie itself wasn't too expensive (I almost always opted for the reduced-price matinee), the assortment of concessions could really put a dent in your wallet. As a husky boy, I just couldn't sit through a 2-hour movie without a sugary soft drink and a gigantic tub of buttered popcorn. I was fortunate to have a movie theater just a few blocks from my house. I went to see "Jaws" about a dozen times. Yes, it was a great movie. But the comfort of the movie theater was just as much of a lure.

Many of the neighborhood kids played baseball in the local Little League. You would sweat profusely while fielding your position in the summer sun. The sweat would act as a magnet for the infield dirt that would inevitably get kicked up. Gatorade wasn't a big thing bag then. So, the only salvation for your thirst was a warm Coca-Cola from the concession stand at the end of the game. And when you finally made it home to take a bath, the tub quickly took on the resemblance of an orange mud puddle. Even after draining the tub, the substantial amount of orange grit scattered the tub floor. You basically had to give the tub a bath when you were done. And then, before I even made it downstairs, I was already sweating profusely again! It was a never-ending cycle!

Trying to sleep in the summertime was also quite a challenge. Since heat naturally rises, the upstairs in my parent's house was always at least fifteen degrees warmer than the downstairs. I had a large window fan in my bedroom window. My parents tried to convince me that by running the fan in reverse, the warm air would be pulled out of the house. I would always try to argue that it was futile effort because we were essentially exchanging warm inside air for warm outside air. But they wouldn't buy it and I was left to sweat myself to sleep.

Air-conditioned cars were a real luxury back in the day as well. In most cases, the only "air conditioning" came in the form of warm air blowing through the dashboard vents. If you ever see an older car, you'll notice a series of slots between the hood and windshield. This is were the outside air entered for the "vent cooling".

Fast forward to modern day....

It's hard to imagine dealing with the heat in these situations anymore. Air conditioning is almost standard in every building and automobile. And even though I still fondly remember those hot days of my childhood, I have no desire to relive them. Stay cool, my friends. Stay cool...

kw

A Brief Journey Through Thyroid Cancer

The Diagnosis

It started off as a routine check-up with my primary care doctor. My former doctor had recently retired and this would be my initial visit with my new doctor. I had heard a lot of good things about him so I was eager to meet him. He walked into the room and we exchanged salutations. He immediately started going over my health history and then moved onto the usual check-up procedures. Toward the end, he started to feel around my neck and then asked, "How long have you had this lump?"

My immediate response was, "I didn't know I had a lump."

He seemed a bit concerned and then proceeded to schedule me for an ultrasound. A week or so later, I had the ultrasound. When the results came in, they were determined to be "moderately suspicious". So, a follow-up biopsy was scheduled.

As I prepared for the biopsy at my local hospital, I joked with the medical staff. The doctor assured me that I had nothing to worry about since 99% of these biopsies come back as benign. I told him that I was not worried at all and just wanted to get the procedure over. I was more concerned about getting home and cutting the lawn before the pending rainstorm got in the way.

The doctor put a topical numbing solution on the area of my neck where the biopsy would take place. After a few minutes, he inserted a probe/needle through my neck and into the "moderately suspicious" lump. He explained what he was doing as we both watched on a nearby monitor. The entire process only took a few minutes and it was totally painless. As we said our goodbyes, one of the staff members wished me good luck. For some reason, it struck me as odd. After all, I had a 99% chance of a good news, right? Why would I need luck with those odds?

A week or so later, I get an email alerting me that I've got a new notification in "My Chart" (a personal online medical chart from my healthcare provider). My test results from the biopsy were in. I logged into My Chart and opened the message that contained my results. As I scanned the report, I was shocked to see "cancerous" in the description. I thought, "This can't be right." Although it was a bit shocking, the idea of actually having cancer seemed so far-fetched. So, I showed the result to Tina. She looked at me with a concerned face. But she advised me to stay calm until I talked it over with my doctor.

The only comforting thing here was that I received this news via an email. My thought was that you can't be told that you have cancer through an email. It's just so impersonal and callous. There had to be some kind of mistake. I planned to talk it over with my doctor in the morning. 

Well, before I made any phone calls, Tina was already on it. I heard her on the living room phone blasting the doctor's office about the way this news was delivered. They apologized and assured her that the doctor would be calling me sometime before the end of the day.

Later that day, I was in local Lowe's store when I got the call from the doctor. As I walked to a quiet spot in the yard tools section, he delivered the official news. Yes, I had thyroid cancer...

He apologized for the way I received the initial news. He explained that he had never gotten a copy of the lab results. The results were simply aotomatically uploaded to My Chart before the doctor even got a chance to review them. Isn't modern technology great?

As thoughts raced through my mind about the treatments and the ultimate endgame, I casually asked the doctor, "So, what's the next step/"

He calmly responded, "We're going to remove your thyroid gland. You'll take a pill that will essentially give you everything that your thyroid produced. And there's an excellent chance that you'll have a full recovery. We'll have you meet with the surgeon and he'll get things scheduled asap."

And that was that...I went into the Lowes thinking I would eventually be laughing about a misread email. But instead, I walked out of Lowes with the Big C...

The Surgery

I met with my surgeon at his office in downtown Baltimore. He was very thorough in his explanation of everything and he had great sense of humor which helped comfort me. He advised to me to get the surgery done sooner rather than later, so we planned on a date within a few weeks. He said the surgery came with a 95% success rate of clearing me of cancer. I joked by saying that the biopsy guy gave me better odds than that and look how that turned out. 

I asked about the risks of the surgery itself. Of course, he covered the anesthesia part and how there's always a slim chance that I won't wake up. This sounds ominous but I've been told the same thing prior to every surgery. He also said that there's a very slight change that the nerve that controls my breathing could get damaged. This would result in me having to breath with a trach tube for the rest of my life. Now, this really freaked me out. For a brief moment, I was ready to just take my chances with the cancer. But the doctor assured me that this was extremely rare. Assuming that there would be no complications, the surgery was scheduled as an out-patient procedure.

A few weeks passed and the surgery date finally arrived. I was expectedly nervous. Tina had just started a new job so my bother-in-law, John offered to take me to the hospital (by the way, I can count on this guy for everything). John picked me up at the agreed time and we made our trek to Baltimore. Once we got to hospital, I went through the normal check-in/prep procedures. An operating room nurse came in and spoke with me. She was very nice and answered all of my questions. Later, the anesthesiologist came in and explained his duties to me. Before long, I was being strolled down the hallway towards the operating room. Once I got there, there was a bit of small talk and then before I knew it, I was out.. 

I woke up a few hours later in the recovery room. As expected, I had a bit of a sore throat. This was more likely due to the breathing tube being inserted during the surgery rather than the surgery itself. I was also having a really tough time talking. It was actually exhausting to even try to speak a few words. So, I pretty much just nodded when anyone spoke to me. I looked into a nearby mirror and inspected the incision on my neck which was secured by a series of steri-strips. It was actually quite a bit longer than I expected. My understanding was that it would be roughly an inch and a half. But this thing was about four or five inches. Surprising, it was as tender or painful as I anticipated.

The hospital staff gave me my post-op instructions and before long, I was being wheeled out to the front of the hospital where John was waiting with his car. 

As I got into the car, I managed to utter, "Hey man, my throat really hurts so I don't want to talk."

John responded, "No problem. I won't say a word."

The ride out of Baltimore was a bit uncomfortable due to the abundance of pot holes and the overall bad road conditions. Each bump brought a slight grimace. But I made it home it one piece and prepared to relax for the remainder of the evening.

The Recovery

I took the following week off of work. I pretty much spent the week on my back porch reading and watching the birds feast on my various bird feeders around the back yard. I only needed to take the pain meds for a couple of days. From then on, it was just my new thyroid medication and a two-week supply of calcium supplements.

Although the pain was very minimal, I was still struggling to talk. Each word was a real effort. But things seemed to be improving every so slightly with each passing day. John pointed out that I now sounded a lot like Clint Eastwood. 

The scar from the incision is fading nicely. With time, you probably won't even be able to tell it's there. Regardless, it is totally concealed by a wearing a regular T-shirt.

A couple weeks after the surgery, I met with the surgeon for a follow-up visit. He said that there were two nodules on my thyroid gland that turned out to be cancerous. But he was able to remove all of it. All of the surrounding tissue appeared to be cancer-free. so, I would not have to go through any additional treatments. I mentioned the issue with my voice. The doctor said that this might be due to some bruising/swelling around the vocal cords or voice box. Since it seems to be getting better each day, I'm optimistic that my voice will fully recover. Until then, my friends are loving the fact that I'm quiet for a change.

There will be a follow-up in the near future with an endocrinologist. He will make any necessary adjustments to my thyroid medicine (Levothyroxine). I'm hoping to that he can tweak it to increase my metabolism so I can finally drop some of those unwanted pounds. But I know that it probably won't be that easy.

Summary

So, in the timeframe of a couple months, I went from being diagnosed with cancer to being totally cancer-free. I kept myself busy in the interim. so it was over before I really had a chance to absorb it. I'm told that these type of thyroid problems mainly occur in woman. But I guess I'm special. Or maybe I'm showing my feminine side, I don't know. Nonetheless, I am happy that it's over and that it was relatively quick and painless.

In closing, I would recommend that everyone get regular check-ups with their primary doctor. My doctor was right on top of this and I am grateful for his prompt concern and action. I have talked about the importance of regular colonoscopies in the past and this is no different. If these cancers are caught early, the survival rate is very high. So, don't neglect seeing your doctor. Ok, I'm done lecturing.

Looking forward to many more years with all of you...

kw

Preventing The Next Tragedy

I am still trying to digest the events that occurred in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday. 

I can't even begin to comprehend what would possess someone to walk into an elementary school and open fire on innocent children. Pure evil is the only thing that comes to mind. No matter how bad of a day someone is having, what did these kids have to do with it? 

The terror that these children had to endure is unfathomable. And the torture that their parents are now going through is something no human being should ever have to experience. Even the hardened police officers, who have seen their share of bad scenes, could not possibly prepare for this kind of callous brutality.

I don't care where you stand politically, I think we should all agree that this needs to stop. It's so disheartening that, we as a country, can't even come together after a massacre of elementary school kids. What's happening to us?

Things will likely never go back to normal for the good people of Uvalde. But they will eventually get back on their feet with the help of their tight and caring community. After watching some of the interviews, I see so much compassion from the people of Uvalde. We could all take something away from that. And I hope we will....

As I move on, I will tell you straight up that I believe strongly in the Second Amendment. Along with that, I'm also a strong proponent of common sense and getting to the root of a problem.

It's easy to blame the gun in these tragedies. A gun can be a deadly instrument. But the gun does not fire without human intervention. Should stricter gun control laws be enacted in certain jurisdictions? Perhaps, but that's a discussion for another day.  Maybe we need to dig beyond the surface to examine what possesses a human to use a gun (or any other object for that mater) to commit these heinous acts of violence. 

I grew up in the 70's and 80's. And although there might have been a few, I honestly don't remember any school shootings. And back then, the gun control laws weren't as strict as they are now. So, why the dramatic increase in gun violence now?

It's quite evident that today's society has become almost numb to the random violence that's plaguing this country. On any night of the week, my local news cast usually spends the entire first segment reporting on the current episodes of mayhem in the area. What used to seem outrageous now seems routine. It's truly sad...

We can't ignore the impact that social media has had on today's youth. We all did embarrassing things as kids. Yeah, some of your friends might have witnessed it and you got ribbed for a little while. But eventually, people forgot about it. Today, everyone immediately pulls out their cell phones and records the moment. And then they upload it for an eternal life in cyberspace. You now face humiliation from people all over the globe.

This leads right into cyber-bullying. Look, we all grew up with bullies. It was never pleasant but at least you were usually only dealing with one bully. In the best cases, someone came along and chopped the bully down to size and then life was good again. But it doesn't work that way in the cyberworld. Let's say a kid comes from a really poor household and wears raggedy hand-me-down clothes because his parents can't afford new ones. Some entitled asshole can now take a photo and post it on Facebook or Snapchat which opens up the floodgates on the poor kid. 

The news media itself is huge part of the problem too. They are in business to attract viewers and boost ratings. Fanning the flames of divisiveness has proven to be a great way of achieving these goals. The media pits us against one another continuously. 

And we certainly can not overlook the abundance of bad or absent parenting. Too many kids today are either too entitled and severely neglected. How many times have you heard of a 10-year-old being shot in the street at two in the morning? The question that immediately comes to mind is, "Why is this kid out on the streets at 2 am?? Where in the hell are the parents?"

And on the flip side, you have the entitled kids who have no idea of how to cope with anything. They have never learned about responsibility or real life. When they enter their late teens and reality starts to set in, it's too much to handle. So, they often respond by having a mental break down. Sometimes, it's self-destructive. Other times, too many times, they lash out at others.

With all of this being said, there is never any excuse for opening fire on a group of innocent people. Especially a group of innocent children. If anyone feels that they're reaching that breaking point, I really hope that they would seek the support and guidance that they need. And we as a society can definitely do a better job. Maybe we can be a little nicer. Maybe can help someone up instead of kicking them when they're down.

I am not a great public speaker and I'm certainly no phycologist, but I do talk to random people everyday. And I hear all kinds of stories. I've laughed with people and I've cried with people. You never know what a person might be going through until you open up a dialogue. I truly believe that a few words of encouragement can make someone's day. And who knows? It might even save their life. Or many others...

My heart goes out to the people of Uvalde. May you find the strength to carry you on to a better day...

kw

Traffic Jam Jimmy - A Baltimore Icon

Every morning pretty much starts off the same way for me. After a quick shower, I complete my wake-up routine by sipping on a cup of coffee while catching up on the latest news via WBFF Fox 45. Aside from the news and provocative investigation projects, I always liked the chemistry of the news team. Right in the middle of it was their beloved traffic reporter, James "Traffic Jam Jimmy" Uhrin.

Jimmy was a long time employee of Fox 45, beginning his career there in 1974. One of his most iconic roles was playing "Mondy - The Sea Monster". Anyone who grew up in Baltimore knows that Mondy was the trusty sidekick of the legendary Captain Chesapeake. I have so many great memories of rushing home after school to catch the beginning of Captain C's show. 

Jimmy eventually moved onto other things, ultimately landing his role as Baltimore's most adored traffic reporter. With his unmistakable "Bal-mer" accent, he brought us the latest traffic updates sprinkled with his unique brand of humor. He had a natural connection with the audience. It was like you were spending time with an old friend.

Jimmy was a fixture in the community. With his fluffy white beard and jolly demeaner, he was a natural to play Santa Claus. Every holiday season, Jimmy would don his Santa suit and then head out to local hospitals to deliver Christmas gifts to sick children. This exemplified who he was...

It's only fitting that it's been a cold, rainy weekend as we learned yesterday that Baltimore's beloved Traffic Jam Jimmy passed away at the age of 65. This is a tremendous blow to the whole community. I watched his co-workers struggle to get through the newscasts this morning. It was heartbreaking because you could feel the pain of their loss. The love that that they had for Jimmy was fully evident. And from the outpouring of comments on social media, it's obvious that the entire Baltimore feels the same.

There are certain people who can light up a room. And Jimmy Uhrin was certainly one of those people. I never personally met him but I feel like he was an old buddy. His charismatic personality reached way beyond the TV screen. On a recent interview, I saw where Jimmy said that he was honored because someone once told him, "You know, Jimmy, you remind me of Captain Chesapeake." There's no doubt that Captain C would have been proud of the way Jimmy carried on his legacy.

My morning coffee won't be the same without Jimmy's traffic report and comforting banter. I'd like to thank him for all of the smiles over the years. He was one of a kind and will be sorely missed by so many. My deepest condolences go out to his family and co-workers. He will never be forgotten...

kw

Roe vs. Wade - The Leak

When it was leaked last week that that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) was debating on whether to overturn Roe vs. Wade decision, it quickly sent ripples around the country. No matter where you stand on abortion, I think we can all agree that it's one of the most contested "hot-button" issues of our time. 

I am not here to debate abortion in itself. But instead, I'd like to talk about the residual impact that the recent leak and potential overturn will have.

To start things off, let's go back to the early 70's when the original Roe v. Wade decision was decided. It began with a woman from Texas named Norma McCorvey. In 1969, Norma became pregnant and decided to have an abortion. The problem was that Texas did not allow abortions at the time  unless the life of the mother was in jeopardy. So, Norma hired a couple of attorneys and filed a lawsuit against her local District Attorney, Henry Wade. Her argument was that Texas's abortion laws were unconstitutional. The case was brought before the district court in her area of Texas and the court ruled in her favor. The state of Texas immediately appealed to the SCOTUS.

In 1973, the SCOTUS, citing the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, in a 7-2 decision, ruled that a woman had the right to choose whether she wanted to have an abortion. It was a landmark decision and to this day is still hotly debated. By the way, you might be wondering who "Roe" is in all of this. Well, it's none other than Norma McCorvey herself. "Jane Doe" was the legal pseudonym that was used by McCorvey for this case.

Of course, there are a lot more details to the case but I tried to break it down it down in a nutshell. So, now that we have a basic background of Roe v. Wade, lets fast-forward to present day.....

I was actually quite surprised that there was even a discussion by SCOTUS about overturning Roe v. Wade. No matter which side of the fence you're on, the original ruling has been on the books for nearly 50 years. Why now? And how or why was it leaked? 

There is the political angle that can not be ignored. Joe Biden's approval ratings are pretty low and many political pundits, including a lot of Democrats, expect the Republicans to gain quite a few seats in the upcoming mid-term elections. The leaking of the potential overturn has certainly energized the Democratic masses. And as you would expect, the speculation about what "the conservatives might do next" is running rampant across the liberal networks. So, there is indeed a political advantage to be gained in all of this.

And let's look at how the actual leak is being viewed by opposing sides. The Supreme Court is supposed to be a sacred and trusted institution. So, having an insider spill the beans is something that we haven't really seen before. You might think that this breach of trust would be frowned upon by all. But in our current Divided States of America, that is not the case. While conservatives are calling the "leaker" a traitor, liberals are embracing this person as a hero.

Now, when you get right in the mix of the abortion debate, pro-choice women will usually stand firm on the "my body, my choice" argument. Therefore, the take is that men really shouldn't have any say in the matter. In itself, it seems like a legitimate argument.

However....

What about men who identify as women? Do they now have a place in this argument? 

There is also the debate about when life actually begins. Some people believe that it begins at conception. For argument's sake, let's say that this is true. Shouldn't there now be another person considered in the abortion decision? Of course, an embryo or fetus is not really in a good spot to defend itself. So, their battle is fought by the Pro-Life crowd.

And going off a bit in another direction, why does the "my body, my choice" argument only apply in the abortion argument? For instance, COVID vaccines were forced on countless Americans. Why wasn't a choice entertained in that scenario? I don't want to get into a vaccine pissing debate. I'm just using it as an example how many people view the choice argument as hypocrisy.

If Roe v. Wade is somehow overturned, it would not "outlaw" all abortions. At least, that's the way I understand it. It would simply put the decision back into the hands of the States. In a state like California for instance, it probably would not have a big effect. But in Republican controlled states, women who desired an abortion might have to travel to another state to have the procedure done. Like everything else, there are two ways to view this. On one hand, if a woman is going to have an abortion anyway, why make her travel 500 miles to do it. On the other, there's the argument for a state's right to govern their own populations. I'm aware that this onion has many layers, so let's just leave things on the surface for this discussion.

One could also argue....Why overturn a progressive decision that was made in 1973? If the Roe v. Wade decision gets overturned, isn't it like setting us back 50 years? And more specifically to the current situation, like I mentioned earlier, why now? With record gas prices, soaring inflation and a potential World War brewing in the Ukraine, do we really need to deal with this now? 

It will be interesting to see where all of this leads. Will the "leaker" eventually be revealed? And was his/her motivation strategically planned with a political goal in mind? Or was this simply designed to distract us from something much bigger?  I don't have any of these answers but I have a feeling this one is going to stick around for a while...

kw

Back in the Day - The Arcade

Once upon a time, in a land before the X-Box, kids ventured out of the comfort of their homes and to the video arcade. The arcade housed all of the popular video games as well as a few scattered pinball machines. Bustling with activity, these arcades could usually be found in the local shopping malls. 

The first arcade-style video game that I remember was Space Invaders. Quite primitive by today's standards, people would line up to take a shot at these marching terrestrials. More games like Galaxians, Donkey Kong and Punch Out quickly followed. Before long, the local arcade was alive with an assortment of buzzes, bells and flashing lights.

It generally cost a quarter to play any of these games. So, most arcades had a machine that ate dollar bills and regurgitated quarters. If you were halfway decent on the games, five bucks could buy you a few hours of virtual excitement. By comparison, it now costs me about $100 to let my grandkids go crazy at Dave & Busters for a couple hours. Back in the day, 100 bucks would have bought me a day at Hershey Park, a movie ticket and a couple hours at the arcade.

I remember this one time when someone dropped a "stink bomb" inside of the local arcade on a crowded Friday night. These "stink bombs" were basically a small plastic vial of  liquid stench. We used to refer to it a "skunk piss". You would drop it on the ground, step on it and then wait for the reaction. The smell could be best described as an overload of putrid rotten eggs. The scent came quick and it came hard...

When the smell was unleashed in the arcade on that Friday evening, countless video games were instantly abandoned. It was kind of like Chernobyl, but on much smaller scale. People immediately rushed to the exit door, desperately trying to grab a breath of fresh air in the open area of the mall. The odor was so bad that even the poor guy on the Punch Out screen was left dazed and confused. They had to open all of the doors of the arcade and let it air out for about an hour before anyone could return. Every had a good laugh about it back then. But if something like that happened today, they would have had the Haz-Mat team onsite immediately and they would have shut the entire mall down.

There were bragging rights associated with the early video games. So, if you had one of the top scores, you were invited to type in your name and it would be displayed for all challengers to see. I was never that good on these games but I wanted to impress my friends. So, I would power off the game and then power it back on before I played it. This would wipe out all of the high-games and ensure that I was the top dog when my game ended. You might call it cheating. But I look at it as my introduction to "thinking outside the box".  

I remember one guy getting really pissed because his high game was wiped out. He was actually ready to fight. He had a super impressive high game. I can't remember exactly but it was something like 10 million points or something. Well, he comes in and sees his top score replaced by 1500 points by some asshole named "Tank Arm". I hear him ranting and raving, "Who the f*ck is Tank Arm?!" (My friends gave me the nick name "Tank Arm" because of my "Bull-in-a-China Shop" approach on the basketball court). Well, I never admitted that I was the current owner of the top score. The guy was really coming unglued and I didn't feel like  getting my ass kicked over a game of Missile Command.

When the Nintendo game console was introduced, the old-school arcades began to fade away. Kids could now play their favorite video games in the comfort of their own homes. And they no longer had to worry about stink bombs and people stealing their high game scores. But they'll never feel that unique dose of excitement that always seemed to follow the kids of my day...

kw

Back in the Day - The Car

When kids approach that transitional age of sixteen, their main objective is to secure a driver's license. This is their introduction to independence. No more waiting for Mom or Dad to drive them to the mall or movie theater . They can simply jump in the car and drive themselves there. This, of course, is only possible if they actually have a car to drive.

Most of the kids of my generation relied on their parent's car during their initial driving days. So, you didn't see too many young drivers sitting behind the wheel of a Corvette or Shelby Mustang. Your first ride was usually an older sedan like a Ford LTD or a Pontiac Bonneville. It really didn't matter what you were driving just as long as you were driving.

My first ride came in the form of my mother's 1977 Ford LTD II. It actually had good amount of style for "your parent's" car. And as a bonus, it came with air conditioning. I know it might sound surprising to today's kids, but back in the day air conditioning was not a guarantee. This was mainly due to the extra cost of AC. The average wage was much less than today's standard and many people passed on the AC option because it was a luxury that they just couldn't afford. 

My Dad's 1972 Chevy pick-up truck didn't come with AC. So, on those hot summer days, you rolled the windows down and surrendered yourself to the blast of 95-degree humidity that immediately followed. There was also a small wing window that you could open to precisely direct the air to you. And if you really wanted to feel the full effect, you could open up a vent via the dashboard heating/cooling controls. Air was pulled in through vents just below the outside windshield and delivered to the cabin of the vehicle. It was the direct opposite of traditional air conditioning. Imagine sitting atop your home's outdoor AC unit. It was very similar to that. But it at least there was air flow...

Today's new cars usually come with great sound systems that need no upgrades or alterations. But the cars of my youth usually came with a basic AM/FM stereo. The stock speakers were cheap and could easily blown out if you cranked Led Zeppelin past "5" on the volume knob. So, the first thing you did after getting your car was head down to Luskin's (the self-proclaimed "cheapest guy in town") to shop for a new Kenwood cassette deck and set of JBL speakers.

Cars didn't usually come with power windows. So, in order to roll the window up or down, you had to crank a handle that was located near the inside door handle. Rolling down the passenger side window required you to lean across the interior of the car and awkwardly turn the window crank. The first time I got a car with power windows, I felt like I had moved up a notch in the social class. Then one day, the motor burned up on my driver's side window and the party was over. I remember having to open up my door to hand money to toll booth operators or McDonald's drive-thru cashiers. And I always felt the need to explain that the power window was broken as if they couldn't figure it out.

And there were no GPS's back in the day. If you were lost, you might have to rely on a paper map. When I started my first field service job, I worked in the Washington DC area. I usually had a large paper map strewn across the front passenger seat. At every red light, I would pick it up and try to determine where my next turn would be. Of course, there was also an option to stop and ask someone for directions. But I was forever haunted by that scene in National Lampoon's  "Vacation" where Chevy Chase stops off in Chicago to ask directions to Wally World. No thanks, I'll stick with my map.

The seats of most cars back in my day were made of either cloth or some type of "fake leather" vinyl. On a mid-summer day, the vinyl would get hot enough to fry an egg. Many times, while wearing shorts, I would plop my husky ass into the driver seat only to immediately jump out when the seat delivered a 3rd degree burn to the back of my leg.

Some other luxuries that weren't always available back in the day were automatic transmissions, power steering and power brakes. These are things that we really take for granted today. The dashboard of some of today's cars resemble a the cockpit of jet compared to the cars of yesterday. Most of these items are standard options on today's vehicles. Of course, with all of these nice features, the price of today's new cars have increased dramatically over the years. Most of today's cars cost more that the average home from my childhood. 

Who knows, maybe 50 years from now, kids will be telling stories about how they drove cars with combustible engines and rubber tires. Perhaps they'll remember a time when you actually drove a car instead of flying one. You never know....

kw

Back in the Day - The Television

The television is a wonderful marvel of technology. It's the window to the world for most people. Whether you're a news junkie, a sports fan or a drama queen, there is plenty of entertainment that awaits you with a simple push of a button.

But back when I was a kid, things weren't quite as robust. For instance, the wireless remote control was not an option. If you were lucky enough to have a remote, it was usually in the form of a small corded device that allowed you to turn a rotary dial to switch between channels. The cord was only about six feet long so it was basically worthless. So, if I was sitting across the room and wanted to change channel, I had to march my husky ass over to the TV set and physically turn the channel selector. I guess you could view it as a form of exercise for a coach potato.

And tuning to a new channel could sometimes be a challenge. I grew up in Baltimore City where cable TV didn't become available until the mid-80's. So, you often had to turn the main knob to the desired channel and then use fine tuning knob to filter the "snow" out of the picture. There was a true art to it. The three main network affiliates out of Baltimore (WJZ, WBAL and WMAR), as well as WBFF, came in very clear. But it took a little effort to get the two Washington DC channels in tune (channels 5 & 20). Eventually, my Dad bought one of those large rotating antennas for the roof and my fine tuning skills were no longer needed. I simply turned a dial on an electronic box which spun the antennae on the roof until the picture was nice and clear.

We didn't have on-screen channel guides either. So, if you wanted to know the programming schedule, you had to flip through a paper TV guide. You could get a basic one in the Sunday morning newspaper. Or you could opt for the gold standard and buy the official "TV Guide" at your local convenience store. 

Another issue with the TV's back in my day was that the screen was quite small by today's standards. The standard "big screen TV" had a 25-inch screen. This was usually the main TV that could almost always be found in the family room. When I was about 11 or 12 years old, my Dad scored a cheap black and white TV with a 13-inch screen. I talked him into letting me have it for my bedroom. Although some of today's Smartphone's have a bigger screen, I couldn't have been any happier. To be able to watch the latest episode of "Starksy & Hutch" on my own TV was very satisfying.

Years later, I began to make friends with kids who lived in the suburbs. This was my first experience with cable TV. This was around the time when MTV (Music Television) first hit the scene. As a huge music fan, I was so jealous of my Anne Arundel County friends who had 24-hour music videos at their disposal (I often joke about it now by saying. "I'm so old that I can remember when MTV actually played music videos"). 

Along the same line, I was a huge baseball fan and I was especially fond of the Baltimore Orioles. I used to watch every game that I could. The problem for city folks like me was that the local TV stations would only broadcast the away games. So, when the O's were playing at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, I would either have to attend the game personally or catch it on my transistor radio. Although I have great memories of listening to Chuck Thompson and Jon Miller deliver the game to me through that small radio, it wasn't quite the same as seeing the action with your own eyes. Cable TV provided a solution to this through a new channel called "Home Team Sports"...

My good friend and former bandmate, Jimmy, used to invite me to his house in Brooklyn Park, which happened to be just over the city/county line. As a fellow O's fan, Jim's Dad would already have the television tuned to "Home Team Sports" by the time I got there. I always had a great time watching the game with Jim and his Dad (By the way, Jim's mom would sometimes join us when we would switch over to MTV. I remember that she was especially fond of Journey's lead singer, Steve Perry. When she heard the beginning of "Separate Ways", she would instantly appear in the living room proclaiming, "There he is! There's my guy!").

Eventually, Baltimore City got their own version of cable TV. In the early 80's, we were introduced to "Super TV". It really wasn't that super, but it was better than nothing. If I remember correctly, the cost was around $25 a month. In return, you got one "premium" commercial-free channel that started at 7 o'clock sharp each night and ran until sometime around midnight. It usually amounted to two or three movies a night. Compare that to Netflix today....

Super TV also offered "adult programming" that came on late at night after the regular movies ran their course. Of course, there was an extra fee for this option. I tried to convince my Dad that these spicy movies might help me through my biology class but he wasn't buying it. The Super TV people were pretty slick though. They gave you just enough to peak your curiosity. Although the late-night movies were not clear and the colors were all distorted, you could still make out the shapes and body motions. So, there was little doubt as to what was going on. It was like watching an X-rated episode of  "The Smurfs". Of course, this is only what I've been told....😜

The television platform has evolved in so many ways since my childhood. I used to have four our five stations to choose from. Today, I have so many options that my thumb has developed arthritis from all of the channel switching. We also have DVR's, video-on-demand and ultra high-definition screens. Such a long journey from that 13-inch black and white television.....

kw

Back in the Day - The Telephone

I knew that it was inevitable....I have finally reached that stage of my life where I'm transitioning into my father. It's not necessarily a bad thing. But I can remember my Dad replying to my whining with "Back when I was a kid..." 

So, falling right in line with that linear succession, I've decided to start a series of "Back in the Day" stories about random things of my childhood. Today, I'll describe what it was like to make a phone call during my youth. So, find yourself a seat and please silence your cell phones...

First off, there were no cell phones back in the 70's. At least none that the average working man could afford. We had to rely on the lone landline phone that usually rested next to a La-Z-Boy recliner somewhere in a cluttered living room. Privacy and silence were usually not an option as my parents would be seated nearby watching the latest episode of "Gunsmoke". To get any privacy at all, I would have to stretch the handset cord until it was tight enough for a circus performer to walk across. It was actually quite dangerous as an unsuspecting individual could be clotheslined by the makeshift high-wire. I often wondered how many people needlessly decapitated as a result of this...

I'm not sure if OSHA had any hand in it, but eventually we were introduced to cordless phones. You could walk around the whole house without the nuisance of the phone cord. As you walked further away from the "base", you would pick up increasing static on the line. It was the early predecessor to enter a bad cell area.

Another issue with my early childhood phone was that it had a rotary dial. This required you to put the tip of your index finger into one of the numbered holes of the dial and turning it to the right. If you had a high-digit number like 987-9679, your finger would actually get sore by the time you connected with the person on the other end (Decades later, the sore index finger would give way to the arthritic "smart-phone thumb"). Everyone rejoiced when the push-button phones entered the market place.

As the technology became more affordable it was common for families to have multiple phones in their homes. All the phones were usually on the same landline. So, if you picked up another phone during an active phone call, you could have multiple people on at the same time. It was the early version of a conference call. One the downsides was that someone could easily eavesdrop on your conversation without you knowing it.

Caller ID wasn't around back in the 70's. So, when the phone rang, you had no idea who was calling. It could be the "Publisher's Clearing House" calling to tell you you had won a million bucks. Or it could be the school principal calling to tell your parents about your latest disciplinary issue. Interesting enough, the telemarketing craze wasn't as prevalent back then. But prank calling was quite common. We used to get into mischief by calling random people and laying out lines such as this:

"Hello sir, this is Joe from the ABC Refrigeration. We're conducting a free courtesy check-up on your appliances. Is your refrigerator running right now?

Of course, when they answered "Yes", we would respond with "Well, you'd better catch it before it gets out of the house!"

It was stupid but as young adolescents, we thought it was hilarious. My good friend, Mark, was a natural in this field. He could really lay it on! I would be on the floor laughing so hard that it actually hurt! He was so convincing, he could sell screen doors to a submarine company. (Although, he wasn't directly involved and it wasn't technically a prank call, Mark introduced us to the epic "Francis J. Haynes vs. The Phone Company" interchange. It ranks up there as one of the most iconic telephonic battles of all time. It's every bit as entertaining as the "911 Deer" call.)

The only affordable "mobile phones' back then came in the form of a phone booth. For a quarter, you could make a make a phone call to anyone within the same area code (back in the day, "301" was the default area code for the Baltimore area. It eventually transitioned to "410"). The benefit of the phone booth was that it would diminish the street noise so you could actually hear the person on the other end of the line. The downside of the booth was that it could be gross. They often wreaked of urine and there was no telling what kind of bio-particles you'd see clinging to the plexiglass walls. You would have been advised to carry a can of Lysol if you were a regular user of these phones.

Another common problem with the public phones is that the handset was often missing. People would randomly rip the handset off, leaving a few stray wires in it's place. You would sometimes witness someone taking out their frustration by beating the handset against the metal phone housing. It was kind of funny and frightening at the same time. 

We used to rely on a big, bulky phone book back in the day too. I'm not kidding, this book was probably about four or five inches thick and it contained almost every name and phone number in the whole Baltimore area. It's not like today where you can Google a name and get an instant response. With the physical phone book, you had to thumb through countless pages to find a number. It could actually be educational for youngsters because the names were in alphabetical order. Although the phone books have been pretty-much obsolete for at least a couple decades, the book was still being delivered to my house until a couple of years ago. I would literally retrieve it from my front door step and walk it over and deposit it into the recycling bin. 

Today, the landline has become almost obsolete. Smartphones have transitioned into an extra appendage that, amongst many other things, also make phone calls. Young people today will never know the challenges that we faced back in the day. As a nostalgic reminder, I still have a fully-functioning rotary-dial phone hanging on my garage wall. 

With all of this being said, there were some good points of those old school phones. First off, you couldn't carry them around with you, so you never had to worry about losing them. And, aside from maybe a few phone numbers, they didn't store any personal information. And most importantly, people were not addicted to them.

kw

Failing The Future

The layers of the rotten onion are slowly being peeled away from the longtime failures of the Baltimore City school system. While this problem has been occurring for decades, it is finally getting it's due exposure largely due local TV station WBFF's "Project Baltimore" By the way, have you ever noticed how most city "leaders" largely ignore anything asked or initiated by WBFF? Hmm....

One of the most eye-opening examples came last March when it was revealed that a student at Augusta Fells Institute only passed three classes in four years. Although this student failed various classes, he was still allowed to graduate to the next level of each class. But perhaps the the most outrageous revelation of all was, even with his dismal .13 GPA, the kid was still in the top 50% of his class! So, more than half of the other students were worse off than him! *

And it was recently discovered that 75% of all students at Baltimore's Patterson High School are reading at an elementary school level. Some are at a kindergarten level. Of the 628 students tested, only 12 were reading at their grade level. No, that's not a typo.**

Of course, defenders of the school system will try to act surprised and pretend that this is something new. COVID restrictions and virtual learning are convenient excuses. But anyone who really believes that this problem has only been around for two years has their head buried in the sand. 

Since the overwhelming majority of Baltimore's students happen to be African-American, you have to wonder where the NAACP or BLM is on this issue. How many young black lives are being ruined by the current school situation? Why no outrage? Do these kids' lives matter?

The school system definitely deserves their share of the blame. When the dust settles, I'm sure that it will boil down to money. It almost always does. When big money is involved, you will inevitably find corruption.

But the parents of these students need to own some of this too. If parents were fully in tune with their kids, it's hard for me to believe that they wouldn't recognize these learning deficiencies. And if they are recognizing them, they really don't seem to care. If you're the parent of 12th grader who can't recognize that your kid can't read, you're part of the problem.

Gather up folks, it's story time.....

Once upon a time there was a bright young lady who aspired to become a school teacher. She went to college and got her degree in Education. She was on her way to make a difference in the world. Well, she landed her first teaching job, which just so happened to be at Baltimore City elementary school.

Upon arrival, the first thing she noticed was that the kids were a bit unruly. As the initial days rolled on, traditional classroom activities were routinely disrupted by random outbursts and physicals altercations. Things escalated to the point where even the young teacher became the victim of these assaults. The worst case being where she was almost choked unconscious by one of the more ambitious students. 

On any given day, there were a fair amount of empty desks due to students being out on suspension. But even the students who were present didn't seem to have a big interest in learning about prepositional phrases or compound fractions. The teacher did the best she could, but she was set up for failure by the whole system. Let me tell you why....

When it came time for report cards, she appropriately failed the majority of her students. However, when school administrators heard of this, they immediately told her that this was unacceptable. Even though the kids did not pass the required tests to justify a decent report card, the teacher was told to pass the kids anyway. Hmm, sounds a lot like the problem at Augusta Fells and Patterson, huh?

When it came time for Parent-Teacher Conference Night, the young teacher looked forward to discussing the academic issues with the kiddie's parents. Well, to her surprise and disappointment, no parents showed up! 

It was really too much to take for the young teacher. It was heartbreaking for her to see how these young lives were being ignored. She had no support from the school system nor the parents. She was up against a wall, They didn't prepare her for this in college. She eventually got frustrated and put her teaching career on hold. She would eventually land in a better place. But sadly, nothing has changed for the Baltimore City students she left behind....

And even before this happened, I met another young lady who experienced a similar situation. She happened to be working as a receptionist at the time I met her. She revealed to me that she had a teaching degree. I instinctively asked why she was answering phones instead of teaching. She told me that she had been physically assaulted by her students (more than once, by the way) and she made the decision to leave the profession. Think about that for a minute... teachers are leaving the profession because of safety issues. 

These are actual stories that were directly told to me by two former teachers....

Baltimore City has many problems and the downward spiral continues. There's little doubt that the lack of education is largely responsible for many of these issues. Without an education, your odds of success are severely limited. And without parent involvement, you really have no odds. It's a sad situation. And until people at high levels are held accountable, expect it to continue...

kw

* City student passes 3 classes in four years, ranks near top half of class with 0.13 GPA | WBFF (foxbaltimore.com)

** Maryland Governor calls test scores exposed by Project Baltimore 'disgraceful' | WBFF (foxbaltimore.com)

School Closings and Virtual Learning

Once upon a time, I was a young kid growing up in Baltimore City. It was far less dangerous back then. Or at least it seemed that way. And even though most of our families had two automobiles, we pretty much walked everywhere. And this included our journey to and from school each day. 

For me, it was roughly a one mile walk to Ben Franklin Jr. High School. As I walked southwest on Patapsco Avenue, this initial part of the trek was downhill and then midway it bottomed out and you began ascend. So, technically, I did indeed walk to/from school uphill in both directions.

Similar to the mailman, we often walked to school in all types of inclement weather. The rain would wreak the most havoc. By the end of our journey, we looked like we had swam to school. The bulk of the day would be spent drying out. I would try to find a heat source somewhere in the classroom to dry my coat. With any luck, the rain would pass by the time the dismissal bell rang at 2:30.

Snow could be a challenge too. But there was something about the snow that made it seem less grueling. It was kind of like watching TV while you're exercising on a treadmill. Baltimore City was a place where the schools hardly ever shut down for bad weather. While every other jurisdiction in the whole state of Maryland would close their school systems, the City schools were always open and on time.

Today, a mere mention of snow flurries on a Sunday will shut the schools down until mid-week. I have even seen local school systems shut down due to rain or wind. And with the COVID outbreak, many school systems have decided to go to "virtual learning". This is basically where the kids stay home and pretend to do school work for six hours a day. But what really took the cake for me recently is when I learned that "virtual school" was closed due to a forecast of snow! Ironically, it never even snowed. And even more perplexing, is that it's a virtual class! The trip to "school" consists of walking down the steps and into the living room! There is no traffic to deal with and, unless someone left their toy Slinkee on the staircase, the odds of slipping were pretty low.

Due to all of the impromptu closings, I understand that most of the school systems will now be in session until the end of June. If they keep cancelling school due to rain, summer break will be reduced to the Labor Day weekend. But then again, with virtual learning does it even matter if the kids are in "school" or not? It kind of reminds me of Charlie Brown's virtual teacher, Miss Othmar ("Wah-wa-wa-wa-wa"). But at least Charlie and the rest of the Peanuts gang were in an actual classroom.

These random closings and virtual "learnings" will inevitably have an effect on the intellectual growth of today's kids. Unfortunately, I don't think the outcome is going to be good. Kids need to be in a class room with a real teacher with other kids. I still have close friends from my childhood days. It's depressing to think that many of today's kids are being denied the opportunity to forge these longtime friendships.

I am not a big fan of anything "virtual-ness". Whether a virtual meeting in the business world or a Zoom meeting with distant family members, it's pales in comparison to face-to-face interactions. While technology has advanced and made things easier, it didn't necessarily make things better. The importance of social skills can't be underestimated. If people, especially young people, never interact with anyone on the outside world, how will they ever develop these skills? 

Bottom line, kids need to be in a school made of bricks and with hallways, a gymnasium, a large cafeteria and an auditorium. But mostly, it should  have real teachers in real classrooms filled with real students. And it should only be closed when it really snows....

kw 

Meatloaf - A Larger Than Life Performer

The first time that I heard "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" I was just a young boy. I really didn't completely understand all of the double entendres of the song. But even in my naivety, I knew that there was something extraordinary about it. I remember seeing a performance of the song on my parent's 25-inch console television. I can't quite remember the name of the show. But this was years before MTV, so I'm guessing that it was "America's Top 40" or something like that.

The song began with this infectious guitar riff and then transitioned into a familiar boogie-woogie progression. The vocals were delivered by this large man who looked like he could play offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers. He wore this half-buttoned tuxedo shirt which would soon be saturated with sweat. The guy had a stage presence that was immediately noticeable. He traded off vocals with a young woman as the song progressed. The banter between the two of them pulled me even deeper into the song. 

The lyrics of the song told the story of a young man's intimate quest for the affection of a young woman. The entire episode took place inside of the man's car. He was willing to do or say almost anything to get his way. The woman was about to give in but there was a commitment that had to be agreed upon first. And this is when the guy began to have second thoughts....

As the guy contemplates his final decision, legendary baseball announcer Phil Rizzuto chimes in to give us the play-by-play. It was a brilliant segue!

After the woman continued to pressure the guy, he eventually responds with, "Let me sleep on it." I still laugh out loud every time I hear that line. It is pure comic genius!

In the end, the guy gives in and agrees to stay with the woman forever. And before long, he's "praying for the end of time". Another great line!

The lyrics along with the energetic performance was an instant masterpiece. I immediately wanted to watch it again. But this was in the pre-DVR days so I had to wait to catch it on the radio, And every time I've heard it since my boyhood days, I instinctively reach for the volume knob. It remains one of my all-time favorite songs. Although vastly different, I rank it right up there with "Bohemian Rhapsody" in regards to epic songwriting and storytelling.

Of course, the main performer of this classic song is none other than Marvin Lee Aday, who is better known to the world as Meatloaf. Whether he was debating with Ellen Foley in "Paradise" or he was playing a part in a film, his passion could always be felt. He was a bona fide rock star from day one.

Unfortunately, Meatloaf left us yesterday at the age of 74. He accomplished so much as an artist and performer. His 1977 "Bat Out Of Hell" album is one of the best selling albums of all time. He has appeared in many movies and TV shows. One of his earliest but most memorable roles was "Eddie" in the "Rocky Horror Picture Show". And, of course, he also played a rather interesting character in "Fight Club".

And here's something that a lot of music fans might not know...Meatloaf appeared on Ted Nugent's "Free For All" album, delivering lead vocals on several songs. He is universally admired and respected by everyone in the music world. But oddly enough, Meatloaf is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How is this even possible?? 

When you mention the word "meatloaf", I'll bet more people think of Mr. Aday than the actual food product. That's what I would call making an impact. Thanks for all of the memories, Meat. I will continue to reach for that volume knob every time I hear that familiar guitar intro....

May you rest in eternal peace....

kw