fanny pax and the ethic of service
as i was standing in the station, waiting for my train to come back to the house, i noticed a flash. a run-of-the-mill DC tourist: i heart DC t-shirt, check. digital camera, check. bag with smithsonian logo containing something overpriced, check. fanny pack, check.
it was this digital camera that caused the flash that made me notice her. it’s the height of tourist season in DC. the school children have finished their state tests, so the schools have to figure out how to make sure they don’t tear down the walls for the month-and-a-half of not-much-to-do until they’ve done their 180 days. so, they come to DC wearing matching t-shirts. they sort of fade into the background.
but this one, i noticed. (more…)
unitarian guilt.
i want to talk about unitarian guilt.
background: i think there is a degree of truth to the statement that there are two types of people – intellectuals and people who get things done.
i think most UUs are in the first category. i, however, am in the second category. or truthfully, more like the bridge between the two. i think it’s one of the ways that i am one of the people the world needs because i translate between the eggheads and the people who make decisions. happily i get paid for that. but it doesn’t make me wish less that a) the eggheads would think about their audience more (or realize that their audience is people who make decisions rather than other eggheads) and b) there were more people who choose to do what i do and do it well.
therefore, i feel a lot of guilt because i can’t do everything. (more…)
henry ford and the demise of the community of compassion.
henry ford is responsible for the reddening of the US map. that damned assembly line gave us cars, televisions and bubble-wrapped lives.
people are friendlier in DC than they are in Atlanta. not because of the quality of their friendliness, but because of sheer quantity. (more…)
