Ever stop and look at where you are in life and wonder how the hell you got there? If you are of a certain age, I know you know exactly what I'm talking about. It didn't seem long ago that you were a kid, or you were in college, or your kids were babies, or you were the new kid on the job, or you were a newlywed. You remember things that happened years ago as if they were yesterday and then there are other things that you should clearly remember, but you don't!
It's hard for me to believe that it was 34 years ago earlier this month that I started working at WABC Radio. Now I know I have had a lifetime of experiences there, worked with hundreds of folks over the years, been to some incredible places because of the radio station or the people I've worked with and have probably forgotten as many of my experiences as I remember, but 34 years?? No way I'd say except I can clearly look at my ABC ID card and see a hire date of 8/7/76. Wow...where did the time go?
Then there's the luckiest day of my life! Late next month, Susie and I will celebrate 31 years of married bliss. 31 years since that fateful day in September, 1979 that we both said, "I do" and started on life's greatest adventure. It's really hard to believe that we have been married for more than half our lives (well, way more in Susie's case) but we have. The houses we've lived in, the cars we've owned, the places we've vacationed, the people we've met and the things we've both forgotten are all a testament to the years we've been together. It's still hard to get my head around being married for 31 years. On one hand it seems like an unfathomable length of time, on the other it seems like a blink of the eye!
Lets not even talk about the kids! Seems like just yesterday that our first born Billy was less than 24 hours old and thought my nose was something to suck on for nourishment. Well, it may seem like yesterday, but early in November it will be 28 years! How did this little baby grow into the man he is today? Where did the years go from the days we stood out at soccer games, or traveled Long Island for Marching Band Competitions, or journeyed to Parents Weekends at college? And then there are the twins, Krissi and Kenny. From 2 tiny preemies who spent weeks in neonatal intensive care to the two 23 year old adults they are today happened in a flash. There are lots of moments you remember along the way (little league and soccer games, school plays, more marching band competitions, softball games, and lots of chauffeuring) but overall the years have disappeared. We've been very fortunate to share so many wonderful moments of their lives with the 3 of them, but still the years flew by and sometimes you just have to look at your adult children to believe how many years have passed!
I remember talking to a good friend a number of years ago about what the future held for us Baby Boomers. We were both about the same age and had parents who were the same generation and I made the point that we would never be as old as our parents, no matter what age we lived to be. That was because there was a huge gap between the way our parents grew up and the way we grew up and that difference made them grow up a lot sooner than we had. I felt that we Baby Boomers would always feel like kids, no matter how old we were! So far, I think my theory is true and as we get older I think we are indeed younger than our parents' generation were at our age. Perhaps that might partially explain why we still feel like teenagers even though the calendar, our driver's license, our childrens' drivers licenses, and our life experiences say otherwise. My point was that in our head, we'll always feel like we are 18 years old, even though intellectually we know we are anything but.
I remember talking to a friend at work a couple of years ago who was born in the same year as I was. His complaint was that he was always the youngest guy at work until he woke up one day and discovered he was the oldest! Oh boy, did I understand what he was talking about. Look, they never discovered the fountain of youth and there is no way to stop the clock on life. We are all going to grow older and the only thing we can all do is sit back and enjoy the ride. However long we end up living, life is a short ride that goes way too fast. So take each day as it comes and try to enjoy all of them. Love your family and friends, have as many experiences as you can and never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. No regrets is the way to live every day. It won't make them pass any slower, but life is too short to worry about the little things! Time does indeed fly when your having fun!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Escalator Rules...are there such things?
There has been a lot of chatter lately from several of my Facebook friends about escalator incidents. Once the topic is started, there are lots of additional comments as it seems that just about everyone has had some kind of an incident lately on a set of moving stairs! Most of them seem to center around folks (or groups of folks) who get to the top or bottom of an escalator, get off, and proceed to stop dead, totally forgetting for the moment that there are people behind them who will soon be up their collective backsides! Cell phones seem to almost always be part of the mix and the lack of ability to text and walk seems to be at the heart of a lot of the incidents, but that's not all. There are also the groups of people who seem to get off an escalator without a clear idea of where to go next and instead of stepping aside to make that decision, seem to be immobilized!
I myself have had a couple of these recently. One morning, coming up the 3 story escalator from the LIRR level of Penn Station at 8AM a young lady in front of me was too busy texting on her phone to move away from the escalator as she got to the top, forgetting that there was a steady stream of hundreds of people right behind her! She didn't stay there long before she was shoved out of the way. One afternoon I was going down an escalator when two young guys in front of me stepped off and stopped dead so that they both could share a text that one had just received. The gentleman in front of me perfectly expressed my sentiments when he said, "Tell me you two are kidding! Get the hell out of the way your jerks!" He had the size to carry it off!
Then there are escalator walkers. Now, personally I don't think escalators are designed to be walked up or down....something about the relation of the height of the steps to the width, but lots of folks obviously don't share my feelings. So, what do you do?? Do I act like I am the only person in the world or do I acknowledge that others in the world think differently than I do? So here are what I think the bare minimum should be for escalator rules:
1 - If there is a line to get onto an escalator, wait on it. Don't walk ahead of those waiting and push your way in front of someone else. We all have some place to be.
2 - Please make using the escalator your main job not secondary to talking or texting on the phone, talking with your friends, window shopping, daydreaming or whatever else might occupy you.
3 - Step on smartly and if you are one person, stay to the right so others can pass you if they should so choose (and because this is America and not Great Britain, stay to the right not the left so the walkers don't have to be part of an obstacle course).
4 - When you get to the top or the bottom of the escalator, please move off the moving stairs and out of the way if you are unsure of where to go next, or otherwise perplexed.
I think if we all followed these simple rules life would be easier for all escalator users. Who am I kidding...do I really think anyone cares? Oh well, I can dream...right?
I myself have had a couple of these recently. One morning, coming up the 3 story escalator from the LIRR level of Penn Station at 8AM a young lady in front of me was too busy texting on her phone to move away from the escalator as she got to the top, forgetting that there was a steady stream of hundreds of people right behind her! She didn't stay there long before she was shoved out of the way. One afternoon I was going down an escalator when two young guys in front of me stepped off and stopped dead so that they both could share a text that one had just received. The gentleman in front of me perfectly expressed my sentiments when he said, "Tell me you two are kidding! Get the hell out of the way your jerks!" He had the size to carry it off!
Then there are escalator walkers. Now, personally I don't think escalators are designed to be walked up or down....something about the relation of the height of the steps to the width, but lots of folks obviously don't share my feelings. So, what do you do?? Do I act like I am the only person in the world or do I acknowledge that others in the world think differently than I do? So here are what I think the bare minimum should be for escalator rules:
1 - If there is a line to get onto an escalator, wait on it. Don't walk ahead of those waiting and push your way in front of someone else. We all have some place to be.
2 - Please make using the escalator your main job not secondary to talking or texting on the phone, talking with your friends, window shopping, daydreaming or whatever else might occupy you.
3 - Step on smartly and if you are one person, stay to the right so others can pass you if they should so choose (and because this is America and not Great Britain, stay to the right not the left so the walkers don't have to be part of an obstacle course).
4 - When you get to the top or the bottom of the escalator, please move off the moving stairs and out of the way if you are unsure of where to go next, or otherwise perplexed.
I think if we all followed these simple rules life would be easier for all escalator users. Who am I kidding...do I really think anyone cares? Oh well, I can dream...right?
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The night the lights went out
So why is it that no matter how much planning you do, the impromptu events always seem to come off better? Here's a case in point....
Early Sunday evening a heck of a thunder storm rolled down our street. The sky got black, the wind started to whip, and we could hear thunder rolling closer and closer to us. There even was a tornado warning in the area, so this was going to be one heck of a storm. Suddenly a clap of thunder and a flash of lighting went off that seemed to be right over the house and then the rains came. It started pouring and shortly thereafter the lights went off. Not a big deal as it was still early and in spite of the rotten weather still light out. Only problem was there was a pot of this really nice cheese dip that the kids had been making cooling on the stove....the ELECTRIC stove! So as the rains diminish, we see our neighbor Georgia across the street get into her car. She returned about 20 minutes later with "Blackout Pizza" for us and a couple of other neighbors and the cheese dip problem went away...temporarily!
As often happens with a fast moving storm like this, in a short time it had moved on. The rain stopped, the sky cleared, and the evening sun came back out. Before long the street came back to life and as there still was no electricity, no one was glued to the TV. Our neighbor Doc next door came out to take his dogs for a walk and when he came home we went down to talk to him. Georgia came over from across the street and we thanked her for the pizza. She said that she figured everyone was in the same boat regarding dinner and when she found the pizza place with lights, she thought it was a good idea. I told her about the kids' cheese dip and about our daughter Krissi's plan to submerse it in hot water to heat it up. She said to have Krissi bring it across the street as she has a gas stove! Suddenly a plan was hatched out of nowhere!
As the cheese dip was heating, chips were being put in a bowl, cheese was being cut and other odds and ends were being gathered. Next thing we knew there was a street party commencing on the sidewalk. Plastic tables were grabbed, candles and lanterns appeared as did 6 packs of beer, bottles of wine and drinks of other varieties. As the sun set and night took over our street, a group of 20 plus neighbors gathered to celebrate the lack of electricity by candle light! Was it kismet that there was also a full moon that night throwing some more atmosphere and light on our festivities? Who knows, but as the evening went on more and more folks joined us and our shared blackout experience!
About 9:30 the lights came back on and a cheer went up from the crowd. Everyone was thankful that on another hot summer night there would be air conditioning to sleep with. It was good that the electric was back but it was also sad because I knew that what had started from nothing would soon be over...and I was correct. Within about 5 minutes the group had broken up as people gathered there collective stuff and moved back into their houses. Back to the comfort of air conditioning, the routine of TV, and the Sunday night preparations for yet another week about to start. Before we knew it, there was just an empty sidewalk with no evidence that a party had happened. An impromptu event, born out of a thunder storm and the local utility's inability to keep the lights on.
Early Sunday evening a heck of a thunder storm rolled down our street. The sky got black, the wind started to whip, and we could hear thunder rolling closer and closer to us. There even was a tornado warning in the area, so this was going to be one heck of a storm. Suddenly a clap of thunder and a flash of lighting went off that seemed to be right over the house and then the rains came. It started pouring and shortly thereafter the lights went off. Not a big deal as it was still early and in spite of the rotten weather still light out. Only problem was there was a pot of this really nice cheese dip that the kids had been making cooling on the stove....the ELECTRIC stove! So as the rains diminish, we see our neighbor Georgia across the street get into her car. She returned about 20 minutes later with "Blackout Pizza" for us and a couple of other neighbors and the cheese dip problem went away...temporarily!
As often happens with a fast moving storm like this, in a short time it had moved on. The rain stopped, the sky cleared, and the evening sun came back out. Before long the street came back to life and as there still was no electricity, no one was glued to the TV. Our neighbor Doc next door came out to take his dogs for a walk and when he came home we went down to talk to him. Georgia came over from across the street and we thanked her for the pizza. She said that she figured everyone was in the same boat regarding dinner and when she found the pizza place with lights, she thought it was a good idea. I told her about the kids' cheese dip and about our daughter Krissi's plan to submerse it in hot water to heat it up. She said to have Krissi bring it across the street as she has a gas stove! Suddenly a plan was hatched out of nowhere!
As the cheese dip was heating, chips were being put in a bowl, cheese was being cut and other odds and ends were being gathered. Next thing we knew there was a street party commencing on the sidewalk. Plastic tables were grabbed, candles and lanterns appeared as did 6 packs of beer, bottles of wine and drinks of other varieties. As the sun set and night took over our street, a group of 20 plus neighbors gathered to celebrate the lack of electricity by candle light! Was it kismet that there was also a full moon that night throwing some more atmosphere and light on our festivities? Who knows, but as the evening went on more and more folks joined us and our shared blackout experience!
About 9:30 the lights came back on and a cheer went up from the crowd. Everyone was thankful that on another hot summer night there would be air conditioning to sleep with. It was good that the electric was back but it was also sad because I knew that what had started from nothing would soon be over...and I was correct. Within about 5 minutes the group had broken up as people gathered there collective stuff and moved back into their houses. Back to the comfort of air conditioning, the routine of TV, and the Sunday night preparations for yet another week about to start. Before we knew it, there was just an empty sidewalk with no evidence that a party had happened. An impromptu event, born out of a thunder storm and the local utility's inability to keep the lights on.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Beach Etiquette
OK, here's a question for you....why is it that people love to enter your personal space...like at the beach??
So we're sitting on the beach in Ocean City, NJ early one morning recently. The lifeguards are not set up yet and there are only a few folks scattered about the beach. The tide is on it's way out, so the beach will just be getting bigger as the day goes on. As time passes we watch the lifeguards come to the beach. They drop their gear, drag the lifeguard stand to the water's edge, and position the boat close by it. As it gets later more and more people start showing up, but the beach is still by no means full or even getting full.
Suddenly we're broken out of our reading or dozing by the sound of commotion and look up (or wake up) and discover that a large group of folks with several kids has decided to take up residence for the day 5 feet to our left! Now, when the next closest person is at least 20 feet away from us, why does this family group decide to plop right next to us???
Are they the same folks who fill their plates to overflowing at the all you can eat buffet even though you can go back as many times as you want? Are they the bozos who stop smack dab in the middle of the grocery store aisle and then walk 10 feet further to read the label of a product they ultimately won't buy? Is there a group of people who's task in life is to annoy the rest of us...and are they on their summer vacation in Ocean City?
No sooner are the adults unfolding chairs and opening umbrellas then the kids start digging and throwing sand close to 20 feet in all directions! Do the parents say anything? Do they even notice?? Of course not! Why is it these people always seem to find us? Be it the screaming kid at the beach, the baby who disrupts everyone's dinner in the the restaurant, or the loud overbearing person who always gets waited on before you just because he's such a pain, they seem to be more and more a part of our life.
Come on folks...how bout we all work together?? Lets try to remember the Golden Rule (you do remember hearing that, right? Do unto others, etc) and realize that your actions in this world impact many others. How about we all look around before we act and try to give a damn about someone other than ourselves. I know...dream on, right? Well, I can ask, no?
So we're sitting on the beach in Ocean City, NJ early one morning recently. The lifeguards are not set up yet and there are only a few folks scattered about the beach. The tide is on it's way out, so the beach will just be getting bigger as the day goes on. As time passes we watch the lifeguards come to the beach. They drop their gear, drag the lifeguard stand to the water's edge, and position the boat close by it. As it gets later more and more people start showing up, but the beach is still by no means full or even getting full.
Suddenly we're broken out of our reading or dozing by the sound of commotion and look up (or wake up) and discover that a large group of folks with several kids has decided to take up residence for the day 5 feet to our left! Now, when the next closest person is at least 20 feet away from us, why does this family group decide to plop right next to us???
Are they the same folks who fill their plates to overflowing at the all you can eat buffet even though you can go back as many times as you want? Are they the bozos who stop smack dab in the middle of the grocery store aisle and then walk 10 feet further to read the label of a product they ultimately won't buy? Is there a group of people who's task in life is to annoy the rest of us...and are they on their summer vacation in Ocean City?
No sooner are the adults unfolding chairs and opening umbrellas then the kids start digging and throwing sand close to 20 feet in all directions! Do the parents say anything? Do they even notice?? Of course not! Why is it these people always seem to find us? Be it the screaming kid at the beach, the baby who disrupts everyone's dinner in the the restaurant, or the loud overbearing person who always gets waited on before you just because he's such a pain, they seem to be more and more a part of our life.
Come on folks...how bout we all work together?? Lets try to remember the Golden Rule (you do remember hearing that, right? Do unto others, etc) and realize that your actions in this world impact many others. How about we all look around before we act and try to give a damn about someone other than ourselves. I know...dream on, right? Well, I can ask, no?
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