Cereal on bananas or Up the Down Staircase

Cereal on bananas or Up the Down Staircase

 Bel Kaufman died on July 25, 2014. She was 103. Born in Germany and raised in the Ukraine she learned English at age 12 and emigrated to the United States. She graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College and earned a master’s degree in English from Columbia University.

The New York City Board of Examiners consistently refused to give her a license to teach because of her Russian accent. She worked for years to overcome this and ultimately got her license. On the side she worked as a writer. In 1965 she published a novel that became a major film and turned her into a celebrity: Up the down Staircase, - “a portrait of a young city school teacher battling a soul-crushing bureaucracy and a blizzard of inane rules.”

Each of us likely has an up-the-down-staircase impulse that surfaces from time to time. Just something that says go against the grain. For me the impulse is to put cereal on bananas. 

The bananas on cereal rule learned as a child is not embedded in concrete.

Cereal on bananas

A little extra fruit.

Cereal on bananas - Up the Down Staircase

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It's embarrassing

I begin each day with coffee, English muffin, and the local newspaper, The Island Packet. It is a ritual I began when I retired a couple of decades ago. Former Chief Justice Earl Warren started his morning paper with the sports section because it is “about winners” and the front section is “about losers.” I wade right in, however, and take on the front section, then sports and end with the comics and feel good stories.

Today, before I left page 7 of the 10 page front section I felt embarrassed for our country and personally down hearted that we have in many quarters not advanced much in the last 50 or 60 years. Discrimination, hate and meanness still reverberate throughout many segments of society.

In Oxford, Mississippi, members of a fraternity hung a noose and old confederate flag on the statue of James Meredith, the first black to enter the University of Mississippi in 1962. The offenders have been kicked out of the fraternity and the fraternity chapter has been suspended indefinitely by the national organization. While the response is good, the basic act itself is vile and contemptible.

Down in Texas, the rock guitarist, Ted Nugent, on the campaign trail for a gubernatorial candidate publicly called President Obama a “subhuman mongrel.” Later as protests arose he went on a radio station to apologize – not to the President – but on behalf of “much better men than myself.” Obviously, referring to the candidate with whom he was stumping for votes. Such insults are the stuff of meanness, hatefulness and stupidity. They demean all of us and are unworthy of Americans.

And then there is the Arizona legislature, which it is fair to say, leads the country in anti-immigration legislation and other progressive acts called for in the 21^st Century. This time gay rights are the focus of the legislative ire.  Over “shrill objections” of Democrats and three Republicans, a bill has been passed, and is on the governor’s desk, which allows business owners with strongly held religious beliefs to deny service to gays. (It doesn’t say how to identify gay people.) Opponents of the measure said it was clearly designed to allow discrimination against gays. Governor Jan Brewer’s decision may come next week. The business community considers the bill another “black eye” for the state, and a major distraction as Arizona prepares to host the Super Bowl next year. Reportedly four companies have put on hold plans to open facilities in Arizona until they see if the bill becomes law.

And this is just three stories on one day. Tomorrow it will be something else. It is embarrassing.We are better than this; if only we would act it.

What I would like to see...

Just once I would like to see the President express a bit of public pique or even anger with the Russians. President Obama has not responded aggressively, so far as I know, to Russian President Putin's statement that Russia will not hand over Edward Snowden. Unless you have been sleeping on the moon you must know Snowden has released U.S. classified information to the world and has been indicted for his violation of American laws. If he is returned to the U.S., he would be tried in Virginia and if convicted could be sentenced to a term in a federal prison. 
Granted Russia does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. Since Snowden is at the airport in Moscow, however, the Russians could put him on a plane to the U.S. He has no passport and whether he has a visa or not is immaterial. 
So what shape could President Obama's displeasure take without turning U.S. - Russia relations into a 1950's Cold War era nuclear standoff? He could recall the American ambassador to Russia for consultations. He could call in the Russian ambassador in Washington and give him a dressing down.  He could order a halt to whatever commercial, social or cultural exchanges are set up for the next six to twelve months. (President Carter cancelled American participation in the 1980 Olympics in Russia.) This might put a crimp in some Americans' interests, but a little hard ball from time to time would do wonders for the national psyche.
You might ask if Mr. Snowden is worth all this. It is not only about  that blabbermouth. It is about our country, our laws and the right we have to expect cooperation from other countries and officials. Granted, President Obama has to play the long game and prudence dictates he take these humiliations in silence. Waiting to get even, however, is not in the American tradition. Such pettiness at a later date would be looked upon by the rest of the world as third-graders getting even over a playground argument. So, for just once, I would like President Obama to let Mr. Putin and the world know he is p****d off. It might not do any good for U.S. - Russia relations, but it would make me and - I believe - a lot of other Americans feel good. It might lead Mr. Putin to sit up and take notice, and it would put the rest of the world on notice.

(Complete blog here.)

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Franke Flyer

The FRANKE FLYER arrived in the Trailside lobby on the day after the annual national holiday completely without fanfare.  It just showed up. A copy was hung on the bulletin board (like stockings by the Christmas fire) and extras were laid on the table to be taken at will by any resident.

This is another example of how residents in Franke at Seaside want to know what is happening to whom, where and when. Why being optional. It brings to mind the effort our former neighbor Ned Hogan put forth to get a bulletin board in Trailside (and ultimately in the three apartment houses.) Ned started putting notices on the walls of the elevator, scotch taping such items as came to his attention and needed (in his opinion) to be distributed. There was of course, the usual objection (someone always objects to something) but resistance gave way and this lead to a bulletin board on an easel in the lobby for a couple of weeks. It became a major hit in the Trailside lobby so much so that it was hung on the wall and remains there, although Ned has moved on to his new home somewhere in Texas.

I thought a similar bulletin board in the Burges Center near the in-house community mail rack (not USPS controlled)  would be a good idea. But the one that went up has a lock on it and is used only for “official” notices. My original thought was how can a cottage dweller tell others what is on his or her mind? What if a cottage dweller wants to sell a sofa, buy a used sauce pan, or donate a computer? How would they get the word out? Print flyers and distribute them to every slot in the community mail boxes. Not very cost effective. Would a resident’s bulletin board be tacky?

Sometimes we have to relax and live a little. Instead of fretting about what something might turn into, why not let it happen and see where it goes. If it gets out of control it can be corrected. In all too many ways we are besieged with information and someone’s idea of what is news. All around us there are daily and weekly newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, newsletters, books, radio and TV, the internet, gossip, and plain old verbal mischief (aka:BS). The information age is upon us ad infinitum. All of this is information coming down on us. It is not information going up or among us. It does not satisfy the un-yielding urge, the passion if you will, to communicate among each other.  

Long live the FRANKE FLYER. May it flourish and one day takes its rightful place alongside the printing press, the computer and the wagging tongue.

  

The art of talking...

"What makes a good conversationalist has changed little over the years. The basics remain the same as when Cicero became the first scholar to write down some rules, which were summarised in 2006 by The Economist: 'Speak clearly; speak easily but not too much, especially when others want their turn; do not interrupt; be courteous; deal seriously with serious matters and gracefully with lighter ones; never criticise people behind their backs; stick to subjects of general interest; do not talk about yourself; and, above all, never lose your temper.' But Cicero was lucky: he never went on a first date with someone more interested in their iPhone than his company." (Excerpted from "How to have a conversation," John McDermott, Financial Times -online, March 9, 2012.)

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George Carlin dies

The media are reporting this morning that George Carlin the standup comedian who pushed the envelope for more than 50 years has died following health and heart problems. I enjoyed George's adult humor over the years and will miss seeing his occasional HBO specials. His case over the "seven words you can't say on television" went to the U.S. Supreme Court who ruled the words were indecent but not obscene. He delighted in doing a monologue on that subject and those words. One of his recent amusing, sarcastic comments was: "Doesn't it strike you as mildly ironic that most of the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to fuck in the first place?"

One man's (blank).....Redux

Viewers added these to the catalog of One man's (blank) is another man's (blank):
One man's junk is another man's treasure. (2 nominations).
One man's right is another man's wrong.
One man's beginning is another man's ending.
One man's charity is another man's love.
One man's solution is another man's dilemma.
Does anyone know what you call these phrases?

One man's (blank) is another man's (blank).

A blog had this recently: “One man’s blog is another man’s message,” and it got me to thinking about this phrase “One man’s (blank) is another man’s (blank)” and I wondered how many such phrase’s are out there. Here are some I have heard (quote marks ignored):

One man’s terrorist is another man’s patriot.
One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
One man’s loss is another man’s gain.
One man’s addiction is another man’s profit.
One man’s woman is another man’s tryster.

If you have others please send them to me and we will add them to the list. If you don’t wish to comment here e-mail them to archinsc@knology.net and I will post them anonymously.