Do You Feel Secure?

It used to be keys. You car had a key to the door to get inside. The same key also started the car. There was a key to the trunk and maybe the glove compartment but not the engine hood? Your house had a lock on the door but once inside there were no locks. At the office your desk might have a lock but no one used it.

To travel a long distance you bought a ticket and climbed on a bus or train or plane with nothing but a piece of paper.

Occasionally a policeman on a horse or in a cruiser would go buy wearing a badge and a pistol with a smile. To pay your water bill or get a driver’s license or watch your public officials pass laws, you could just walk in any door, just like going to the grocery store or school.

Everyone felt secure.

Today the automobile is the size of a tank and requires an MIT degree to open the door. The flashing lights on the dashboard allow you to set your course, turn on your entertainment, talk to a another person not traveling with your, check all your autos safety modes and track your every move like an airplane. Still automobiles get stolen.

The house now has the security cameras and lighting of a prison that can be accessed from your phone. Family can only access password login locks and any deviance from the norm will alert the security patrol who will come running with guns drawn. The barking dog is no longer needed for the yard is fenced and locked.

Businesses will have security badges and guard who will approve or deny your entrance. Even elevators will require a security swipe.

Then there are the metal detectors.

A metal detector is an electronic instrument that detects the presence of metal nearby. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal inclusions hidden within objects, or metal objects buried underground. They often consist of a handheld unit with a sensor probe that can be swept over the ground or other objects. If the sensor comes near a piece of metal this is indicated by a changing tone in earphones, or a needle moving on an indicator. Usually the device gives some indication of distance; the closer the metal is, the higher the tone in the earphone or the higher the needle goes.

Another common type is the stationary “walk through” metal detector used at access points in prisons, courthouses, and airports to detect concealed metal weapons on a person’s body.

When I got my last job, there were picketers walking around the building. These were people who were being replaced by technology and their union didn’t agree with the companies’ decision.

On my first day I was escorted to the Personnel Department, having a black and white facial photo taken and a colored laminated card (the size of a credit card) with a typed profile of my name, date hired, social security number (?) and signed by a company officer. This card had to be shown to a guard in the lobby when entering the building. The color of the card would allow me to enter another part of the building, also guarded, where another color was not allowed. After a while the guards recognized your face and would wave you through. You could show your library card and get through security. There was never a check of what was being brought into or taken out of the building. I know.

Cameras started appearing in the hallways and some restricted areas. Some uniformed guy would sit and watch multiple monitors of people walking back and forth putting a newspaper together.

Technology changed names and photos to bar codes that had to be swiped to open the door or get onto an elevator. There was still a security guard but they were more to instructing a reader where to get additional editions or play a classified ad.

My first experience with a metal detector was a city hall. It may have been jury duty or paying my property tax but inside the door was a metal frame I had to walk through. A guard pointed to a plastic tray to empty my metal in before being scanned, to be retrieved on the other side. Sometimes it would get my watch or glasses or belt buckle but no one ever asked about my 10” switchblade knife. Don’t know if they picked up fillings or gold teeth?

Now it is just another adjustment in life to feel secure.

At the Tummy Temple there are door scanners to catch people filling a cart and trying to walk out without paying. There are cameras everywhere and part of the congregation try to avoid them. The security guards wear blue aprons and have special bar code card that approves or disallows your cart full of nutrition. There is even a special patron bar code card that has your profile and gives discounts and special deals, but doesn’t know your social security number or age (I think?).

Next week, a new president will take his pledge to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. These occasions every four years have always been an open-air party with citizens and visitors watching parades and listening to bands and celebrating a new CEO of the country.

This year Camp Washington will be a walled city. Helicopters will be hovering. Army troops will be patrolling the perimeter. American’s will be hunkered down at home, watching their small screens and avoiding uncontrolled illness and possible violence. Is this the ‘New World Order’?

Do you feel secure?

Reading

 

Turn off your electronic devices. I’ll wait.

Now with all of this free time on your hands and none of the visual and oratorical distractions, find a nice soft chair near a good light, warm lap blanket, steamy drink and pick up a book.

Remember books?

Those things that are sitting up on the shelves you have to dust all the time. Those things you have been moving from place to place through your life. Those things you purchase with hopes of reading but just put them away for another time.

Well the time is now.

As we all know, a book is nothing more than letters. Letters that together make words that lined up to make sentences. And sentences grouped together to make paragraphs.

These paragraphs assembled can relate ideas or teach or just entertain. The best will be repeated and cherished. Others will be skipped over and forgotten.

Depending how the editor, proofreader, publisher combine the author’s thoughts and grammar techniques the results may become a classic read and re-read for years to come.

One can get lost in the words printed on the page. They can describe places never before seen or people and places never ventured. Books can tell you where we came from, what we are made of, who we share the globe with and what is out there with the clouds and stars. They explain why we do what we do, either in technical scientific jargon or unknown characters that are read interacting in commonality to the present.

Some books even have pictures!

Have you ever attended a book party? Several gather together and discuss their reactions of a book. Each might read a passage and what they felt the authors intent was in the writing, while have a bottle of wine and cheese.

We can’t get people in the same room anymore so I guess these have to go digital.

Didn’t I say to turn off all your electrical communicational devices?

Try this.

Read a book… out loud.

Read either to yourself like you did when a kid following the syllables with you’re fingers sounding out each word…

Or

Read to someone else.

You read to your kids to put them asleep?

People enjoy being read to. That is basically what actors (celebrities or personalities) on the tube do. They are only reading what someone else has written. They are not real cowboys or news reporters or even presidents. They are just reading off the script.

Get one of the people who are isolated with you, find them a nice comfortable space close enough to hear your voice from socially distant and open the book.

Page one.

It doesn’t matter what the book is about. The reading is about your presentation.

Pacing the words, taking pauses, changing pitch in your vocal reproduction of what your eyes are reading is all part of the experience. If the listener has already read the book, they will enjoy your interpretation to the words like a sequel.

When your eyes get tired be sure to mark the spot so you can return and see how the story ends.

MOB Mentality

 

A mob is a group of people. Sometimes termed a rabble or throng or horde. There are flash mobs and cash mobs (see Black Friday shoppers below) and lynch mobs.

The term ‘mob’ normally relates to a noisy, disorderly or riotous crowd engaged in lawless violence. The word ‘mob’ can also denote a criminal organization also known as the mafia.

People in a crowd often act differently than they do when they’re alone. In a big group, people might laugh louder, feel braver, or get angrier. Sometimes a crowd/mob can even become dangerous.

Some years ago, at the end of a sports event, fans would spill onto the field, pitch, or floor to celebrate their team’s victory together. It is a form of bonding under a brand. This attachment to strangers is also seen in clubs, churches and probably best utilized in the military. Patches, hats, jackets, banners designate those who want to be associated with the team or organization or political point-of-view.

After high fives and some boisterous chants and singing, they part ways to join again for the new group activity.

Yet now at the end of the game or party or election, the groups spills out into the streets and are joined by others who have followed the results and want to participate. The spontaneous excitement can evolve into frenzy and thus criminal activity due to mob mentality.

A pre-planned desire to accomplish goal by mob rule may organize a crowd at a certain designation and a specified time. If approved by the locality, the crowd can peacefully protest stating concerns and voicing the group’s feelings. If the crowd wishes to cross over the line to unacceptable behavior then looting or vandalism or worst may take place and society will deal with the individuals as a ‘mob’.

If a mob bent on a destructive purpose faces another mob bent on a counter destructive purpose, it is called ‘war’. War may have some survivors but there are no winners.

As we tap away on our keyboards, stating our comments and agreeing or refuting others with fact/fiction, are we not creating a mob? We profile ourselves by our favorite teams, our schools attended, our occupations or skills. We identify ourselves by our family, location, organizations and religious beliefs. We associate ourselves with someone else’s writings and will follow like lemmings.

Crowds, groups, congregations or gatherings can create wonderful projects like gardens or barn raising using helpful productive outcomes instead of anarchy that does nothing but leave trash for someone else to pick up. Some will note that the Boston Tea Party was done by a mob. Technically there have been mobs in labor movements. There have been mobs in racial equality movements, women suffragettes, and anti-war demonstrations. There have been shootings and people have died for their beliefs. This is not Beatlemania.

With a global pandemic threatening life with every intake of air to the political divide, the future is uncertain. Life is always uncertain. Will we become clustered into a rabbit hole fed by fearful fueled conspiracy theories and misinformation or listen to investigated irrefutable facts presented seriously by trained journalist without entertainment, only time will tell.

Before you speak…think about what you are saying. Would you say that to your priest? Would you say that to your grandmother?

Before you act…think about how your action will affect others. Golden rule. Sometimes you can’t take it back.

It is your decision.

Party

 

A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration of a special occasion. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing or other forms of entertainment. In many Western countries, parties for teens and adults are associated with drinking alcohol such as beer, wine, or distilled spirits.

More occasionally (though often in politics), a party can also simply refer to a group of people with a common objective.

There are large parties called Balls. There are banquet parties, birthday parties, surprise parties, dinner parties, garden parties, cocktail parties, tea parties, reception parties, soirées, dance parties, block parties, costume parties, Christmas parties, baby shower parties, pool parties, mixers, wedding parties, housewarming parties, beach parties, farewell parties, office parties, cast parties and after-party parties.

That was so last year.

Today a party is scheduled as a Zoom meeting. Instead of a handwritten card with an R.S.V.P. request in the mail, you get an email that might get lost in the scroll.

You don’t have to go out to get your hair or nails done because all those stores are closed so you have to do-it-yourself. You can order a new outfit but the deliver may not arrive in time. You certainly have to purchase new shoes.

The host doesn’t have to decorate except for a small space in a room. A green screen or a backdrop will hide any imperfections to your décor. The bathroom won’t require cleaning. A spread by a catering service will not be necessary for no one can reach through the screen to sample. The bar doesn’t even need to be stocked.

The host has to make sure, once all the guests arrive, the microphones are not muted and the cameras are on. This may take a few minutes and some IT assistance.

Now that everyone is logged in, let the party begin.

Unlike a ‘regular’ party where everyone is talking at the same time, one person should start the conversation and each comment at their designated time as not to confuse the sound quality. Just like talking on a telephone. For those having difficulty hearing, they may need to wear headphones.

The ‘new’ parties will be difficult to make a toast and clink glasses together. If it is a birthday party, everyone can blow but it won’t extinguish the candle. Virtual hugs and kisses are the best it gets.

Since each of the guest is still at home they can be interrupt by the children or dog at anytime. Also the sounds, like the toilet flushing, can create a laugh.

Some of your guest may want a quieter more personal conversation with another guest. They can create another FaceTime or email on the side. If this happens they should mute the Zoom party so as not telling everyone in the ‘virtual room’ romantic secrets.

If music is played for background ambiance, beware. Others may not like the song and start playing their own favorite tunes. This could create a new mash-up style or just increase the noise. Everyone can hop around but slow dancing with one another is impossible.

Like every party, the ‘virtual’ gathering may mix the right elements or become a disaster. If time is reserved, then the party will end at a certain time.

 If one of the guests indulges too much and gets a bit tipsy, everyone can watch. Luckily they won’t have to drive home drunk because they are already home.

This is just the next step from where we were headed. How many parties or dinners from the old days were held with people in the same room but all on their devices.

Sign off in 3-2-1

Crush

 

Crush is defined as a brief but intense infatuation for someone, especially someone inappropriate or unattainable. Unlike crushes and states of infatuation, love truly sees and accepts their object of affection. Love is an intense feeling of deep affection. Love is patient, love understands, and love is forgiving

Crushes are rooted in fantasy and tend to happen when you don’t know much about a person but idealize what they are like. If you get closer to your crush and develop real-life experiences and a sense of reciprocity, the crush can develop into something more.

But for most of us, crushes don’t evolve into something that needs medical attention, so you don’t need to worry too much. Crushes are a very normal, healthy part of human experience. The next time you fall for someone and think, “I can’t get (fill in space here) out of my head!” you have brain chemistry to thank for that!

It might sound harsh, but it’s actually totally normal: everyone has their own unique set of dating deal-breakers, and it’s OK to lose interest in a crush (or even a long-term partner) if you discover something about them that you simply can’t overlook.

In reality, according to psychologists, a typical crush usually lasts for four months. If the feeling persists, what you feel is what we like to call, “being in love.” But before we start freaking out, let’s get real. Science is one thing, but it can’t measure someone’s feelings and make it a statistic.

Crushes are driven by some hugely powerful brain chemistry, which completely wrecks your judgment, and sweeps all your doubts and fears away. So as a crush really kicks in you’re powerless to stop it. Which is how people start affairs, risking everything for something completely irrational.

When you have a crush on someone, the stress and reward systems in the brain are activated, which are “associated with stimulation, action, and revving up the mind and body in some manner”.

A crush is more personal than idolizing or coveting. A crush is usually private, a comment in a diary, a ‘take your breathe away’ moment that only your know. If pictures are posted up on the walls and all your friends hear about your obsession, it may become a problem of stalking or other unhealthy fixations.

One can go through hundreds of lives, meeting and greeting people for the first time and they are soon forgotten. Some may become close enough to invite over for dinner, attend your wedding, borrow your lawnmower and reminisce over a tall drink on a hot summer evening. There are others who at a certain point in your life are important but wander off and lose touch with so others take their place.

Yet every now and then, there is this other person. For whatever reason, this person can’t be forgotten.

Sometimes there is just a brief passing, sometimes there is just a connection at a distance, and sometimes there is a conversation where every word is poetry.

Sometimes they know they are a ‘crush’. Sometime they don’t. Sometimes you don’t know you are the ‘crush’.

The ‘what if?’ of having a crush stirs the endorphins possibilities?

The next step is flirting, attempting to get your crush’s attention. If it doesn’t work, the crush may fade as just another dream.

Systemic

 

Seems everything we do is ‘systemic’.

The systemic approach refers to an analysis method; a way to handle a complex system with a global point of view without focalizing on details. It aims for a better understanding of complexity without simplifying reality too much.

Culture is Systemic. In systems theory, systems are interrelated, interconnected parts that create a whole. There are patterns of behavior, deeply rooted structural systems, which are beneath the waterline.

All cultures are dynamic and constantly changing as individuals navigate and negotiate the beliefs, values, ideas, ideals, norms, and meaning systems that make up the cultural environment in which they live.

Systemic refers to something that is spread throughout, affecting a group or system, such as a body, economy, market or society as a whole

System is a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole a number system such as a group of interacting bodies under the influence of related forces a gravitational system.

A system is a group of interacting or interrelated entities that form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and expressed in its functioning. Systems are the subjects of study of systems theory.

Systematic racism, systematic injustice, systematic inequality, systematic misogyny, systematic xenophobia, systematic prejudges, systematic intolerance, systematic homophobia, systematic intolerance, systematic stupidity. There is a system behind everything because there is a history behind everything.

We don’t come into this world angry. We don’t come into this world greedy. We don’t come into this world religious. We come into this world a blank slate and must be taught.

We are taught to walk and talk and eat and hate.

Just In Case

 

Well here we are. Another year is starting. Do I need a calendar? Just in case some event is happening that I must remind myself of. Should I have a watch to keep track of time just in case I might miss it?

A new year comes around every 365 days with all the possibilities and opportunity of the unknown. No promises or guarantees lay ahead. The script hasn’t been written yet.

We may wander into this year a bit less intrepid due to last year. Our caution is duly noted for the uncertainty of tomorrow.

Maybe we should carry a rabbit’s foot for good luck. It is only an amulet but if it makes us feel better? Four leaf clovers, horseshoes, ladybugs are all symbols of good luck through our mythology.

Do you toss salt over your shoulder if you spill some? Do you knock on wood? Do you avoid stepping on a crack?

None of these actions will insure good luck but just in case, it couldn’t hurt.

So here we are in a brand new time. We’ve opened the door and can’t go back.

Just like waking up every morning brings a new adventure, so does turning the calendar. Your computer already knows what year it is. Don’t worry if it is Monday or Sunday. It is a new day. Another chance to accomplish dreams, venture into the uncharted, experience the time each breath brings and you don’t need to bring along a Sharman.

Will this year have disasters and untold misery? Will this year bring new friendships, visions of wonder, rewards waiting just over the horizon?

There will be new people who will join us while others leave. There will be cold dreary days so we can appreciate the warm sunshine. There will be songs from birds and children, if we just stop and listen.

Life is an adventure. Enjoy the ride.

See you tomorrow; Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.

 

PS. That good luck charm wasn’t so lucky for the rabbit.