“Oy Vayes Meer!”
That is a popular Yiddish expression, with the “Oy Vey” part of it even portion of a phrase.
And although I don’t have a tremendous knowledge of Yiddish—I do know some words and expressions—the thing I love about the Yiddish language is that anyone can pretty much make out what the word or phrase means simply by the way it sounds.
And when one says, “Oy Vayes Meer!” or even just “Oy,” you know what the expression means, whether you are Jew or non-Jew, black or white or yellow or brown, or whatever your background is.
It is a phrase of dismay, something like, “Oh woe is me!”
It is a phrase that when uttered, pretty much sets the table for an explanation, because if you say “Oy Vayes Meer,” you better have one handy.
And as I look at the presidential election fiasco, all I can say is—
“In the year 2525
If man is still alive.
If woman can survive, they may find.
In the year 3535
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies.
Everything you think, do and say, is in the pill you took today.
In the year 4545
Ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes.
You won't find a thing to chew.
Nobody's gonna look at you.
In the year 5555
Your arms hanging limp at your sides.
Your legs got nothing to do.
Some machine doing that for you.
In the year 6565
Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife.
You'll pick your son, pick your daughter too.
From the bottom of a long glass tube. Whoa-oh
In the year 7510
If God's a-comin, he oughta make it by then.
Maybe he'll look around himself and say.
Guess it's time for the judgment day.
In the year 8510
God is gonna shake his mighty head.
He'll either say. I'm pleased where man has been.
Or tear it down and start again. Whoa-oh
In the year 9595
I'm kinda wonderin’ if man is gonna be alive.
He's taken everything this old Earth can give.
And he ain't put back nothing. Whoa-oh
Now it's been ten thousand years
Man has cried a billion tears.
For what he never knew,
now man's reign is through.
But through eternal night.
The twinkling of starlight.
So very far away.
Maybe it's only yesterday.
In the year 2525
If man is still alive.
If woman can survive, they may find.
In the year 2525 … “
Yup, I had to get that in from yesterday I guess.
I own no rights to the lyrics of Zager and Evans’ song “In the Year 2525,” but they seem to be so appropriate right now, so I had to include them here.
And that’s because we are truly in the year 2525, or at least where the lyrics have put us, with this presidential election, and the probable mess we will experience perhaps for days, weeks and maybe even months.
Did Joe Biden win?
Did Donald Trump win?
Did Joe Biden lose?
Did Donald Trump lose?
Heck, I don’t know.
Third base.
Lest I put up the entire Abbott and Costello “Who’s On First” routine, the whole thing is a mess.
With mail-in ballots still coming in and legal in some states to come in for days, and with the accepted, actual voting thisclose, and with the fate of Pennsylvania still up in the air, and with legal challenges coming from the president and surely to come from Biden if certain votes aren’t counted—
Goodness, I am out of breath about this whole thing.
But as I look at what happened—and what may yet happen—I feel that we have to take things for what they are.
No matter who wins, and who loses, I will still put on my pants the same way each and every day.
I am not going to change my routines, because the smaller picture is that most Americans will still proceed as they have done during the Trump presidency, the Obama presidency … heck, through the Eisenhower presidency, the first one where I was alive for.
The bigger picture is that a lot will change with a new administration in charge, if it gets to that point, but the smaller picture—and the one that we can see up close and personal—is that I am going to still wear the same clothes, I am not going to change my hairstyle, and I am not going to change the foods that I like to eat because we are going through all of this turmoil at the top.
So unlike some absolutely crazy people who have bitten their fingernails down to the nub because of this tumult, I am just going to look at it as the mess that it is, political theater to the hilt, and just sit back and take it all in.
But that doesn’t mean that I won’t say the following about the whole shebang, because I know that I will.
“Oy Veyes Meer!”
“Oy Veyes Meer!”
“Oy Veyes Meer!”
Three times might not even be enough.
That is a popular Yiddish expression, with the “Oy Vey” part of it even portion of a phrase.
And although I don’t have a tremendous knowledge of Yiddish—I do know some words and expressions—the thing I love about the Yiddish language is that anyone can pretty much make out what the word or phrase means simply by the way it sounds.
And when one says, “Oy Vayes Meer!” or even just “Oy,” you know what the expression means, whether you are Jew or non-Jew, black or white or yellow or brown, or whatever your background is.
It is a phrase of dismay, something like, “Oh woe is me!”
It is a phrase that when uttered, pretty much sets the table for an explanation, because if you say “Oy Vayes Meer,” you better have one handy.
And as I look at the presidential election fiasco, all I can say is—
“In the year 2525
If man is still alive.
If woman can survive, they may find.
In the year 3535
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies.
Everything you think, do and say, is in the pill you took today.
In the year 4545
Ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes.
You won't find a thing to chew.
Nobody's gonna look at you.
In the year 5555
Your arms hanging limp at your sides.
Your legs got nothing to do.
Some machine doing that for you.
In the year 6565
Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife.
You'll pick your son, pick your daughter too.
From the bottom of a long glass tube. Whoa-oh
In the year 7510
If God's a-comin, he oughta make it by then.
Maybe he'll look around himself and say.
Guess it's time for the judgment day.
In the year 8510
God is gonna shake his mighty head.
He'll either say. I'm pleased where man has been.
Or tear it down and start again. Whoa-oh
In the year 9595
I'm kinda wonderin’ if man is gonna be alive.
He's taken everything this old Earth can give.
And he ain't put back nothing. Whoa-oh
Now it's been ten thousand years
Man has cried a billion tears.
For what he never knew,
now man's reign is through.
But through eternal night.
The twinkling of starlight.
So very far away.
Maybe it's only yesterday.
In the year 2525
If man is still alive.
If woman can survive, they may find.
In the year 2525 … “
Yup, I had to get that in from yesterday I guess.
I own no rights to the lyrics of Zager and Evans’ song “In the Year 2525,” but they seem to be so appropriate right now, so I had to include them here.
And that’s because we are truly in the year 2525, or at least where the lyrics have put us, with this presidential election, and the probable mess we will experience perhaps for days, weeks and maybe even months.
Did Joe Biden win?
Did Donald Trump win?
Did Joe Biden lose?
Did Donald Trump lose?
Heck, I don’t know.
Third base.
Lest I put up the entire Abbott and Costello “Who’s On First” routine, the whole thing is a mess.
With mail-in ballots still coming in and legal in some states to come in for days, and with the accepted, actual voting thisclose, and with the fate of Pennsylvania still up in the air, and with legal challenges coming from the president and surely to come from Biden if certain votes aren’t counted—
Goodness, I am out of breath about this whole thing.
But as I look at what happened—and what may yet happen—I feel that we have to take things for what they are.
No matter who wins, and who loses, I will still put on my pants the same way each and every day.
I am not going to change my routines, because the smaller picture is that most Americans will still proceed as they have done during the Trump presidency, the Obama presidency … heck, through the Eisenhower presidency, the first one where I was alive for.
The bigger picture is that a lot will change with a new administration in charge, if it gets to that point, but the smaller picture—and the one that we can see up close and personal—is that I am going to still wear the same clothes, I am not going to change my hairstyle, and I am not going to change the foods that I like to eat because we are going through all of this turmoil at the top.
So unlike some absolutely crazy people who have bitten their fingernails down to the nub because of this tumult, I am just going to look at it as the mess that it is, political theater to the hilt, and just sit back and take it all in.
But that doesn’t mean that I won’t say the following about the whole shebang, because I know that I will.
“Oy Veyes Meer!”
“Oy Veyes Meer!”
“Oy Veyes Meer!”
Three times might not even be enough.
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