By Fred Owens
This is a variant on the theme of summer vacation. This one is about the Worst Summer Job I Ever Had.
In
the summer of 1965, I came home from the excitement of freshman year at
St. Michael's College to the crashing boredom of suburban Chicago. My Dad said not
to worry, I have work for you. My folks published a fishing magazine. It
was a cool business and they made a good living. Dad worked at the
office about ten minutes walking from the house. He did the publishing
and editorial chores. Mom worked at a desk on the back porch and kept
the books. We Owens children got drafted into various chores. They
didn't have to spell it out -- "You get to eat, you get to live, and you
get to go to college, so here's the job."
Circulation
work. The mailing list. 12,000 names and addresses in a stack of
binders over a foot high. In 1965 the Post Office decided that you had
to have a zip code on every address or you would lose your second-class
mailing permit. So they handed me the zip code directory which weighed
about ten pounds. I started with Abbot and Anderson, one address at a
time. Look it up in the directory, write it down on the binder. Look up
the next address. I think it took me more than six weeks to finish.
Boring? This was the dark underbelly of a family business.
But necessary. Dad said never argue with the Post Office, you don't have a choice.
Actually, since that summer of 1965 I have had other boring jobs. It happens. You get used to it after a while.
Do the Right Thing
The
title of Spike Lee's 1989 masterpiece is actually a question. What is
the Right Thing? This is a profound moral question that we all face.
I
need to see it again. There was Mookie the first time and he was right.
Then Mookie the second time and he was wrong. Now I'm ready for Mookie
the third time..... It's a pretty good movie that keeps you wondering
whether Mookie was right or wrong.
Why Read Moby Dick
Why Read Moby Dick
is a slim volume written by Nathaniel Philbrick. He has read the novel
12 times. I have read it twice. We both love it. The book answers the
question, but I have not needed any encouragement. Like those long
so-called divergent chapters about whaling technology -- they're the
best part of the book. And so politically not correct. This book is
about killing whales. We don't do that anymore.
California Senator Kamala Harris for President in 2020
Harris
might run. We'll get a decision from her after the November election.
One friend told me Harris had little experience since being elected to
the Senate only two years ago. But she was Attorney General of
California for six years. That's a tough job.
I
hope she runs. She has the grit and the stamina. She has the smile and
the laugh. Not the charisma, but she engages well with a crowd. She can
work a rope line and give a good speech. Women will vote for her because
she's a woman. Men will vote for her because she's good-looking. Young
people will vote for her because she's only 53.
She
speaks for Dreamers and immigrant families. Her career is not touched
with scandal. She can win against Trump. She will not scare away the
moderate Republicans who don't want to give Trump another chance.
She
grew up in Oakland, attended Howard University and then law school. Her
parents are both immigrants -- father from Jamaica, mother from India.
She is married with step children. She had an affair some years ago with
Willie Brown who was married at the time -- imagine how her life will
be examined for stories like this if she runs for president.
Kamala Harris is well-known and liked in California. Let's see how she does when she visits Ohio and Pennsylvania.
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