Recession? What recession!

For the past several years, I have been checking my retirement account on a regular basis. Two years ago, I didn't want to look. Last year, I couldn't wait to look. Now, it's a case of "been there, done that." Lost some, got some back. Ho hum.

But that RECESSION is not the RECESSION that has been on my mind. The recession that seems to be taking up a good deal of waking time in the one on the top of my head--the recession of my hairline. My father was bald but for many years, had quite an exquisite comb-over that minimized his challenged follicles. My mother's brothers all had heads of hair (or should "heads of hairs" be more correct?) so I thought that I would be spared my father's comb-over indignation.

It's the sort of thing that kind of sneaks up on you, like a mugger in a dark alley. Of course, knowing that muggers are in dark alleys, one should not go there..... but I digress. My recession has apparently been going on for several years now so how come I was the last to see it? In my morning mirror, it didn't seem so bad. In fact, for a guy that is Social Security eligible, I thought that most people would be happy to have as much hair as me. And since I didn't appear in many photos (I'm usually the one behind, not in front of the camera), I just didn't see it. But there it is..... or should I say "there it isn't.

The good news is that my wife doesn't seem to mind. The bad news is that there is nothing I can do about it, kind of like the other recession. They are both out of my hands. At least with the economy, I can cast a vote next year but I see no viable alternatives to President Obama at the present moment. The poor guy can't seem to catch a break. But he does have a full head of hair. It makes me ponder why anyone would want to run for president, let alone be president. And come to think of it, the first president that I recall was Dwight D. Eisenhower or IKE for short. And short he was--of hair follicles. Handsome guy eh?

Recession? What recession!

So this is how it starts...

I have been thinking about starting a blog for some time.  And it appears that Google makes it simple and easy.  That's why when the blog software asked me to select a visual style, I picked SIMPLE because I am a simple guy.  No ten dollar words here, just plain old English.  So now you know what to expect.

Now that I am here and so are you dear readers (I am starting out with the assumption that there will be more than one...I guess you could call me an optimist.) what earth-shattering stuff should I write about?   Congress? Sorry, but this blog isn't theater of the absurd.  The state of education in America?  That would be a real downer for certain.  Aging?  No, this isn't about beer, wine or cheese.

Certainly all of these topics are worthy of my opinions but I think that I would like to start out by talking about civility in America.  It would be the easiest thing to blame bad behavior on the younger generations and they certainly deserve a finger pointed in their collective direction.  I won't say WHICH finger.  No, this has to do with the collective civility of our citizenry.  We are all pretty tired of seeing the flash of cell phone screens in movie theaters but from my movie-going this summer where most of the films have been seen with adult audiences, the older generation is as guilty as the teens.  When I pay my $5.75 (senior rate), I expect to see AND hear a movie, not hear the jabber of the other members of the audience.  Recently, my wife and I were in our usual theater when two older women were carrying on a conversation throughout most of the first half of the movie.  I was about to walk over that ask them to SHAD-EP but another person seated a few rows ahead beat me to it.  Good for her.  The two verbose dames acted as if they had no idea that anyone else could hear them.  Rude or stupid?  You decide.... but I think BOTH.

Such behavior in theaters recently got us to start a Netflix subscription, which has been great despite the fact the company almost doubled its rates for the same service we were receiving.  And one of the reasons why Netflix has been successful is that you don't have to experience the rudeness of people who are so self-centered that they think THEY are in the privacy of their living rooms when actually they are in a very public movie theater.  And such bad behavior is not limited to just going to the movies.  Try teaching a college class to the laptop generation...they are doing anything on their electronic device except taking notes.

So now you may have a glimmer of what I do-I am a college professor who teaches cinema studies.  It is a lot of fun but a lot of work even though people think I get paid just to watch movies.  I do, in part, but how many times can you watch Casablanca?  For the sake of full disclosure, I am much closer to the end of my career than the beginning---much closer.  And you know the top three reasons to become a teacher--June, July and August (sorry, for the old teacher's joke).  Actually, I tell those close to me who think I do nothing during the summer except play golf that I am thinking about my work 7 days a week.  And it is true, I am always thinking about new and different ways to motivate and educate my students.

I have been teaching for almost 35 years at the college level and if I average 100 students per semester, that means I have looked out on approximately 7,000 faces in my career, give or take.  And some have actually become very successful people.  I never take credit for their success. I take great pride that despite the fact that I was their teacher, many have become successful in their careers and in their personal lives.  You want know a real shocker?  Try having the son or daughter of a former student enroll in your class.  I guess I have white hair for a reason, eh?

I think that is where I am going to stop today's maiden voyage of this blog.  I don't want to wear out my welcome with you dear READERS.  But come back again and hopefully, I'll have some other subjects to get off my chest.  And since this is a blog and not an essay, it is a two way street so if you have some opinions, please share.  Thanks to Google, my two cents and your two cents actually don't even cost two cents.