Thoughts of a Common Man

Television commercials are getting to be wildly offensive, no? The toilet paper commercials are absolutely wild. “Everyone poops,” is the main theme behind one of them, and then a couple of red bears wipe their behinds, and dance. Toilet paper has never made me dance unless there isn’t any left on the roll and the basket that holds the extra rolls is also empty. Worst feeling in the world: Making someone bring you a roll. My brother used to leave it 3’ outside the door and make me hop to it. Then, last night we watched a 90 second commercial about a man’s bent manhood. They demonstrated by showing crooked carrots. The downside of all of it were Penile fractures or non-functioning sperm. “Why am I watching this?” I asked halfway through. “If you were having such a problem wouldn’t you see a doctor anyway? Why would you have to be persuaded by a commercial?” “No clue,” Kathy said. And of course there are the commercials that show a guy or gal on a bike, or climbing a mountain, all smiles...

I’m an optimistic guy by nature. I also open my eyes and immediately go through the anticipated schedule on any given day. Yesterday, I slept a little longer - was 07:00 when I opened my eyes - knew I could stay in bed and read the news of the day because it was Saturday. Started with a story on the baseball lockout. It’s so aggravating to me. The one sport I love isn’t going to start the season on time. Why? Who the hell knows??? Who even wants to read about it? Not me. So, I stopped on the update about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. How does that not make one sick? Death and horror in a far away land because Putin is a mad man. The article I read was a discussion about some of those in politics here saying positive things about the mad man. I quit reading about that too. Next up was an uplifting piece about how we are going to pay more at the pumps and at the grocery store. Corporate greed being the culprit. None of that was being bantered about… …instead it was all about who is to...

Went out to dinner last night. A quaint little diner where they serve fish on Friday. I had broiled fish and it was great. Clam chowder too. We also got a bit of a show. There were three guys seated at the counter and despite the fact they finished up, they sat there just talking. One guy talked and talked and talked. He even sang a few bars of Maggie May and man, Rod Stewart wouldn’t have been happy. But he started spreading wisdom regarding Covid. “I went to a party with four guys. They were all vaccinated. I’m not. They all got Covid within five days. I still haven’t got it! I’m the only guy not vaccinated. I say the vaccination causes Covid.” One of the other guys was skeptical. “I’m telling you! The vaccine makes your immune system weak and next thing you know, you get Covid.” They talked about it for a few more minutes, but soon enough the conversation shifted. “All this political correctness is going to ruin us,” my new favorite diner guest said. “Used to be you could say the sl...

Victor is a great worker. He’s also a good dude. I kid him all the time about being from Siberia, but he is actually from Ukraine. He has lived here in the United States for more than 20 years, but he still has an accent. When he got here, I spent a lot of time trying to teach him about OSHA and construction safety. He’d been in the business over there for a long while, but their safety rules were a tad less than what we have here. A few years back, we spoke about his home land. “I miss being there,” he said. “I worry for everyone because it’s so unstable there, but I built a life here.” Thankfully, things stabilized and he felt better. Not today. And the thing is, I felt sick all day yesterday. Most of America seems indifferent or wants to blame Biden. Hell, some people are actually rooting for Putin. It’s absolutely insane. Tucker Carlson started his show by saying that Putin didn’t do anything to him. That’s like saying that Jeffrey Dahmer was a pretty decent guy because he didn’t k...

There’s just a week left in February and so far I haven’t had as much rage as usual. It’s the worst month of the year. Not even close.  1). The weather is lousy - I’ve screamed “F*€£!” a few mornings this month, but we’ve had a couple of 40 degree days mixed in. And I did have 4 days of better than 80 degrees, so… 2). Sports is in a lull. Football ends in the first week. Baseball has decided to eat itself, and the NBA while being mostly unwatchable, is taking a break. The Olympics, you ask? I watched the Russian who failed the drug test skate, and a couple of curling matches. Doesn’t feel right to root for Russia (I’m not a Republican) and curling is God-awful. 3). Dark and Grey It’s dark when I leave the house. Dark all day because there’s no sun and dark when the work day ends. There’s no way through it until the time passes. Go forward through the dark to the other side of it because that’s where the light is. 4). Training I spend a lot of time doing a lot of talking in front of...

We are hearing a lot about enraged and confrontational airline passengers. I was of the belief that most people get smashed at the airport bars and then they lose their sensibilities when they board the plane, Maybe it’s more than that. I had a 6 a.m. flight scheduled for Monday. I hustled out of bed at 4:00 and jumped in the shower. I heard my phone beep…signaling an incoming text. At 04:05! It was from United: “Your flight is delayed until 08:00 as the crew came in late and needs more rest time.” I went back to bed for another hour of sleep. Then I thought about my connecting flight. (Yeah - no straight flight to Boston!) Another beep. “We re-booked you on a flight that will arrive in Boston at 1 p.m.” “I was supposed to be there at 09:30!” I still needed to go, but all free minutes built into the trip were gone.  “Whole day is going to be a race,” I thought.  Didn’t get back to sleep. The first flight out was delayed again. On the second flight we all boarded the plane and ...

 “Hell, there ain’t no more, now there’s just again.” A great line on aging. We don’t see much for the first time. Now it’s just again. And I read something somewhere. The author explained that the struggle is continuous. Over and over. Until we leave this world. Now there’s just again. The dishwasher clogged. For a few days, I cleaned the dishes by hand. Then my brother-in-law swung by and fixed it in five minutes. Two washes later, the water didn’t drain again. And it’s a never-ending stream of such annoyances. Struggle. I landed in Boston and made my way to Cape Cod. There was an exit for a scenic spot where photos can be snapped. Thought about it… …didn’t have time. And the first time I made it to the Cape I was like it excited. Now it’s just again. It’s a shame that there aren’t a lot of ‘firsts’ left. At work I’ll get a call: “Got a question for you.” I don’t even get anxious if it starts that way… …been doing this so long that there aren’t any new questions. Now there’s just...