Classic Rant #403 (December 13, 2010): He Did It!

Please don't misinterpret this rant as an act of bragging.

It is not.

As you know from one of my rants some time ago, my son is a runner. Completely out of the blue, he decided he wanted to run track, my wife and I gave him our blessing, and he ran middle school track and won a few races.

Now that he is in high school, everything is much tougher. He has had a somewhat bumpy time adjusting to high school life, whether it is academically, socially, or otherwise.

He is a special education student with a learning disability, but that does not stop him from giving 100 percent in everything he does.

He also wears a brace for scholiosis.

My wife and I are amazed at the strides this kid has made, and we, at the same time, are nervous about the long road he still has to travel down.

Well, I want to tell you that he ran his first race as a high schooler this weekend.

I think he ran a longer race, but he couldn't tell me because he wasn't sure.

That's understandable for him. It certainly wasn't the sprint races he ran in middle school, that we know.

What was the result?

He lost. He lost big time.

He came in last in his race.

Sure, I would have liked him to win it, or at least have beaten one of the other boys he ran against.

But you know what? My wife and I are satisfied, and very proud of him for competing.

We know he did his best. He is not yet acclimated to longer runs, and he doesn't know how to pace himself.

But not to worry. He will overcome this.

This was a kid who loved sports but wasn't very good at them.

Then, his back problem was diagnosed, and he has made incredible strides in that regard.

He must wear his brace seven days a week, 24 hours a day. He can take it off while showering, or while participating in athletic events. But he knows he must wear it at all other times.

He has never given us a single problem about wearing the brace. He got into his mind that this would help him, and it has.

Since wearing the brace, his back has straightened out to be much more in line with the rest of his body, and it has enabled him to do things we could only have dreamed about months ago.

Finishing first or last, or somewhere in the middle, is not that important.

He is already a winner as far as my wife and I are concerned.

The sky is the limit for this kid, and we wish him well in his second high school race, which is after school today.

We will be proud of him no matter where he places.

Rant #1,748: Holiday, What Holiday?

Well, if you didn't already guess why I am here on the Labor Day holiday with a new Rant, I guess you can figure it out by this post today.

Yes, I labor on Labor Day.

My place of work is open, and for what reason, I don't know ... in actuality I do know, it is to satisfy someone's maniacal ego, that person's indifference to family life, and well, just to give us enough time to do what we are supposed to do, extra time that we really don't need to do what we are supposed to do, but it gives the person ordering us to come in extra days to "fots around" with what that person is supposed to be doing.

Yes, that is a lot of gobbledygook, but read it again, and maybe it will make sense.

The bottom line is that myself, my co-worker, and someone else is here because another someone else had decided that work is more important than the Labor Day holiday, work is more important than a day to spend with our families.

So I don't labor too much, at least here, I am going re-post Rant #797, dated September 3, 2012, because it pretty much sums up how I feel right now.

Here it is:

"Today is Labor Day.

Most of you who are reading this have the day off from work. You can frolic with your family, have a barbecue, and enjoy yourself on the unofficial last day of summer.

I can't. I have to work today.

Yes, I labor on Labor Day, and I am not too happy about it, to tell you the truth.

Sure, we get the day back to us as a "makeup" day later when we need it, but laboring on Labor Day when everyone else is off is a pain the neck, adding to the pinched nerve in my neck that I already have.

I have read the "Dennis the Menace" comic strip seemingly since I could read, and today's panel pretty much summarizes how I get into my own mind that working on Labor Day isn't that bad.

Dennis tells Joey and Margaret the following:

"What's so good about Labor Day? We don't get presents and there's nothin' special to eat."

That is about the only way I can get through this day.

And by the way, my wife is working, too, so the day isn't the best day of the year in my household.

Not by a long shot.

So while you are swimming, barbecuing, watching a baseball game, or taking it easy, think of me and my plight.

No, I don't think you will, but evidently, the world doesn't stop on Labor Day."

The only difference between three years ago and now is that my wife is not working this Labor Day, but our son is, but whatever the case, yes, I labor on Labor Day, and during the past 20 years-plus at my current job, I have labored probably 16 times on Labor Day, so the day is like a faux holiday to me.

Actually, there is another major difference this year: I have a lot of vacation time coming up, what with going to Korea and a cruise, and I can tell you that I won't be thinking of work during any of my time off, that's for sure.

So have fun as you set off on your day today.

I will have fun today too. What that fun is, I really don't know, but I will make the day fun, because there is no other way to do it.

Speak to you tomorrow.

Classic Rant #402 (December 10, 2010): Give Him a Hand!

This entire week, I have written about things out of my past, such as my Little League days, the Altamont tragedy, the untimely death of John Lennon and the possible closure of my old public school.

It’s always nice to look back on things. Sometimes, time has a way of making things better, but with the stuff I wrote about regarding Altamont and Lennon’s death, time has only made these things look even more horrible.

Now we have another trip into nostalgia, to an incident that may or may not have happened.

Jim Morrison was posthumously pardoned yesterday for a 1969 indecent exposure conviction in Florida. Morrison, a Florida native, was appealing the conviction when he was found dead in a Paris bathtub in 1971 at age 27. The pardon came a day after he would have turned 67.

Outgoing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist asked for the pardon, which the Clemency Board granted unanimously. Crist said he doubts Morrison actually exposed himself during a rowdy March 1, 1969 concert at Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium. The surviving members of The Doors supported the pardon.

At a hearing on the matter, Crist called the conviction a "blot" on the record of an accomplished artist for "something he may or may not have done."

He said Morrison died before he was afforded the chance to present his appeal, so Crist was doing that for him. Board members pointed out several times that they couldn't retry the case but that the pardon forgave Morrison.

"In this case the guilt or innocence is in God's hands, not ours," Crist said.

Funny, I thought the offending body part was in Morrison’s hands.

It gets even more bizarre. Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist for the legendary band, said the incident “never actually happened. It was mass hypnosis.”

Only in America …

Rant #1,747: Labor Day

Well, the end of the summer is evidently here, because we are now fast approaching Labor Day weekend.

Even though the calendar actually says that we have a little less than three weeks for summer to actually come to an end, we have it drummed into our minds that once Labor Day comes, the summer is over.

It isn't, but it is the last major holiday within the summer season, so I guess we can get away with Labor Day being the end of summer.

Lots of people will be taking off today, have off on Monday, so they have a nice, compact, four-day weekend to recharge their batteries.

Even if you just have the regular three days off, you have some extra time to relax, think and enjoy yourself with a barbecue, a ball game, or simply to spend some more time with your family.

It has, actually, gotten slightly cooler in my neck of the woods, so at least right now, we aren't pushing the 100 degree mark as we were earlier in the summer, but are only pushing the 80 degree mark, so it is a little more comfortable, and yes, it does tell us that the seasons are changing.

In many parts of the country, the kids have already gone back to school, and in other parts of the country, that day is coming.

So many of us have already abandoned the beach for the classroom, and I guess it is a rude awakening that summer cannot last forever.

Labor Day celebrates you and I, the labor force of this country, the people that make this country the great place that it is.

Whether you belong to a union or you are totally on your own, you helped build this country, make this country what it is, and on Labor Day, we celebrate our work force, still the greatest work force in the world.

And whether you work 9 to 5, 8 to 4 or are part timers, Labor Day is a day that we can all take a bow, because we have all done a good job.

And for the unemployed among us, yes, you work, too, you worked, you lost your job for one reason or another, and you work to find another one that is suitable for your talent.

You take a bow, too, and that goes for retired people, who worked their butts off and now are experiencing the pleasures of not having to go to work every day.

You have earned that right.

So all and all, Labor Day is one of our best holidays, because it celebrates US.

Have a great Labor Day, and yes, you will hear from me on that very day, on Monday, and there is a reason that you will hear from me on that holiday.

And I think that if you think hard enough, you just know why you will hear from me on Monday.

I will give you a few days to figure it out.

Classic Rant #401 (December 9, 2010): Gone, Gone, Gone

Well, another relic from my childhood is evidently on line to go up in smoke soon.

Not really in flames, but you will see what I mean as you continue to read this.

My old public school, P.S. 30, Rochdale Village, South Jamaica, Queens, New York, has been put on the list as a school that might be closed by the New York City Board of Education soon. Evidently, it has fallen on very hard times, and its academic and disciplinary performance have fallen as a result.

New York City has been closing schools for years, many in minority areas such as the one that P.S. 30 resides in.

Under the current city administration, if a school doesn't meet certain standards, it is earmarked for closure. It doesn't matter what it did in the past. Its current record is all that counts, and evidently, P.S. 30's current record stinks.

But I remember P.S. 30 when it was a brand new school in a brand new neighborhood, a mixed-race school in a brand new mixed-race neighborhood that had all the promise that any new school in New York City in the 1960s had.

There were three schools in the Rochdale Village development: P.S. 30, P.S. 80, and I.S. 72. P.S. 30 was, by far, the best school of the three.

All the schools had dedicated teachers and students who generally wanted to learn. But P.S. 30, being the first of the three schools to be built, was something special. It was the educational backbone of this new community, and it served its community well during those early years.

Prior to the school being built, we had temporary classrooms, some within the massive apartment buildings themselves. It was a pain to go to second grade in those classrooms, but all we had to do was count the days, and our brand spanking new school would be open.

We had such wonder during those days, but 46 years later, it looks like it is crumbling.

And it isn't the only school that is falling down in New York City.

Dozen of schools in New York City have been earmarked for closure. What this generally means, and will probably mean in P.S. 30's case if this plan goes through, is that the kids already in the school will continue to be taught, but no new students will be accepted. Once the final class graduates, the school is turned into an annex school, where various pods of learning, featuring specialized guidance, are created.

I know that the school and the area are not what they once were, but how I hope that P.S. 30 can remain open as it has always been! It wasn't my first public school--before we moved to Rochdale, I went to Flushing, Queens' P.S. 165, a school that is decades older than P.S. 30 but remains open and viable--but P.S. 30 is where I have many of my earliest school memories.

Miss Marlowe, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Plevin, Mr. Borgstead ... gosh, I even remember my teachers!

Whether open or closed, I will always remember that school. I wish it the best.

Rant #1,746: What's Trending Now?

In this Internet age, things and people that nobody paid attention to become big news online, for some unknown reason.

Take the "Trending Now" area of your Yahoo home page.

If you open your day by going straight to that page, you know that they list 10 people or ideas that are trending "now," which I take to mean people are looking up on the Internet "now."

I think a lot of what is trending "now" is based on things that you, yourself, just happen to look up, or maybe these are things that are paid for to Yahoo to trend, but whatever the case, "Trending Now" has been a constant source of amusement for me.

Right now, at exactly 4:33 a.m. in the morning, my "Trending Now" area lists the following:

Yes, I kind of chopped off the list a little bit, but this is what my "Trending Now" area lists right now.

I have no idea who Brittanee Drexel is. Let's see ... hers was a sad story. She was a spring breaker who was reportedly raped and then had her body thrown to the alligators, or so it was said to be by some very shady characters.

I also have no idea who Nick Viall is. Let's see ... did he break up with Jen Saviano of "The Bachelor?" I could care less.

There are some other fairy interesting things on here, including WWE Wrestler John Cena, the current face of the sport, Drew Barrymore, whose popularity I really could never quite figure out, Burger King, which I eat on occasion, and the Buffalo Bills, New York State's only real team (don't tell the Jets and the Giants that they don't play in New York).

But other than that, there really isn't anything on this list that really strikes my fancy.

And then the very next time you go to your Yahoo home page, the list changes, as so:

And once again, I have no idea who Jacqueline Lauita is, but that Nick Viall character remains on the list.

I must not be too hip.

This is all a load of nonsense, but I guess you can say that it is fun nonsense.

Does anyone really care what is trending? Are these people and ideas that we really care about?

I don't think so, but it must grease the palms of whoever runs this section of the homepage.

We really determine our own trends, and I know that recently, I have looked up people like Petula Clark, and Nancy Sinatra, and I also looked up when the oral vaccine for polio was first given to children in New York City (I still can't figure out if it was 1961 or 1962, but whatever the year, I did get it as part of a sugar cube).

Why aren't those things on the "Trending Now" list?

Who knows, but look what just popped up--another list of "Trending Now" subjects:

It is now 4:47 a.m., so in the span of just 14 minutes, I have had at least three "Trending Now" lists.

It just shows how silly this whole thing is.

But at least this time, there is no Nick Viall on my list.

Just in the nick of time, I guess.

Classic Rant #400 (December 8, 2010): Lennon Remembered

Incredibly, today is the 30th anniversary of the death of John Lennon.

I, for one, can't believe that so much time has passed since his passing.

I remember the night well, as probably most Baby Boomers do.

In my case, I was what they now call multi-tasking in my room at home back then. I was 23 years old, had my first real job in New York City, was going to school to earn my graduate degree, and was tired as hell from a typical workday.

I was watching TV and recording music for my friend, who was going to graduate school in North Carolina. He had complained to me that the radio stations down there weren't very good, so I was putting the latest sounds on tape for him to listen to.

I had just finished putting Yoko Ono's "Walking On Thin Ice" on the cassette, when the program I was watching (which I don't remember), on NBC, was interrupted.

Chuck Scarborough, who to this day remains the news anchor at local Channel 4 here, came in with his booming voice and said something to the effect of, "We have received word that John Lennon, the former Beatle, has been shot. We don't know much more about this now, but Lennon reportedly was shot right outside his residence. We will have more on this later."

I was in shock, but of course just a few minutes later, I heard the words I didn't want to hear, when Scarborough came on again and said, "We have it from reliable sources that John Lennon was shot and killed just outside his Dakota residence. A gunman has reportedly been apprehended. More later."

I had stopped taping after the Ono song ended, and I immediately put on the radio part of my stereo.

Every station--and I mean every station--was playing Beatles music--both on AM and FM--except one.

The original WKTU, the city's top station at the time and which played disco and little else, continued in that mode.

I found this, and still do for that matter, incomprehensible. That station showed its true colors that night.

Anyway, the next days and weeks, all you heard about was Lennon, Lennon, and more Lennon.

Tributes poured in from everyone from everywhere.

There was the memorable scene in Central Park, where young and old gathered for a remembrance of the former Beatle. This was covered locally by Channel 7, and I watched it. There was nothing but silence from the crowd. It was eerie.

I carried my pathos to work on that Monday after Lennon's death.

I remember that one of my co-workers, probably in his late 40s or early 50s, questioned me about why I seemed to be so down in the dumps. I explained it to him, but I know he didn't get it. This was a guy who was born in the late 1920s or early 1930s, and I don't think there was any way he could fully get it.

Lennon was truly the first hero of my generation who died in such a violent way. Sure, JFK, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy preceded him, but we looked up to them as kids. They weren't really from our generation.

Lennon was. And through the "yeah, yeah, yeahs" and "Imagine," he had plenty to say about a lot of things.

Sure, I didn't agree with him on a lot of the things he said and stood up for.

But he was what he was--a man whose success put him in a situation that was almost otherworldly.

He found his peace in New York City, and ironically, he found the end to his life there too.

He seemed to be a nice guy underneath it all.

I am sorry he is gone.