2020-08: Change is Constant — Resistance is futile

Santa John’s View from the Bridge: The Evolving New Normal


by Santa John McDaniel
The View from the Bridge is an opinion piece that explores how societal changes can/will impact the future, especially as these changes apply to the Graphic-Products industry and small businesses in general.

This past Labor-day weekend was the strangest we have ever experienced. Why? Because we couldn’t celebrate it like we did in the past. No fireworks. No barbeques. No beach parties.

Then, Labor Day Monday flowing into the September 11th memorial on Friday was fascinating because of all the shocking news surrounding the current administration.

A few of you may know that my birthday is also September 11th, only it was 77 years ago.

For me, birthday anniversaries are a time of celebration and reflection; 2020 is no different.

I was born in 1943 to a newlywed. A woman grieving the loss of her husband, the love of her life, my biological father.

When I was born, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president of the United States, Churchill, prime minister of England, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito; and their generals Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, Rommel, and others were in violent discussions on who was going to rule the world.

My biological father was a systems analyst. In 1943 they were called “Time Study and Budget Analysts”. He was a victim of the traumatic times he was living in.

Within a few years my mother had remarried, and we were living in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

Our house was not brand new, but it was equipped with the latest technology of the time. We had running water and an inside toilet. We had a kitchen equipped with a double sink, an electric stove, and an ice box. The property also had a two-car detached garage with an attached chicken coop.

In the basement we had the latest — a gravity-fed coal-fired furnace, no steam boiler here. We had a coal shoot and bin. In the winter dad would shovel coal into the furnace before leaving for work. During the day, mom might have to add more coal to the fire.

When dad returned from work, he shoveled out the ash and banked the fire. There was no thermostat. We controlled the inside temperature by controlling the size of the fire, and opening and closing vents, doors, and windows in the house.

For laundry, we had a double sink in the basement. Mom would fill one sink with soap and water, the other with clear water. Using a scrub board, she would wash the clothes in the soapy side and toss them in the rinse. Rainy days, she would hang the clothes in the basement to dry. Sunny days, winter included, she would load the laundry in baskets and hang it outside in the back yard to dry.

We also had the latest in entertainment and communications. For entertainment, we had a radio, to listen to music, the Lone Ranger, and other radio programs of the day. For communication, we had a shared party-line telephone.

In the day, party lines were common. Several homes would share one phone line. When you picked up the phone to make a call, one of your neighbors may be on the phone.

Why?

OK, so why this trip down memory lane?

Change! Now, more than ever, change is accelerating. As a systems analyst, seeing how human systems are influenced by emotion is fascinating.

I was born during WWII. The house I described above is what suburban homes were like immediately following the war. For the most part, city homes in Detroit were the same except they were on much smaller lots. They also had alleys behind, and were connected to city sewers.

We all, city and suburbs, had regular deliveries of coal, for heat and hot water; ice, for Ice boxes; and milk. If you lived in the country, you had a cow or two for milk, chickens for eggs and Sunday dinner, a root cellar to keep things cool, and holes in the ground for garbage and poop.

I was blessed to grow up in the burbs, circa 1949. On January 1st, 1949, my brother Gary was born. He was the first baby born in the Detroit area and won the newspaper’s annual contest. I was 5 at the time and had great fun going around with my dad, collecting all the first-baby-born gifts.

Remembering these times is heartwarming for me. Would I ever want to return to that world? NO! It is past; it’s memories. I’ve had the privilege of living it. Once is enough.

It also helps me understand why some of my contemporaries also cherish memories of those times and think that “Making America Great Again” is returning to those times.

Conclusion

Change is Constant – Resistance is FUTILE

This too will pass – fasten your safety belts, don your masks, and enjoy the RIDE!

Our Recommendations

  1. Be at Peace
    * NO amount of worry ever changed anything in my life.
    • I can only control my actions!
  2. Calmly follow healthcare advice whenever possible.
    • Don’t worry if it’s not possible. (refer to rule 1a)
    • Don’t take unnecessary risks. (Please, no more partying at the beach.)
    • Don’t panic – according to some healthcare professionals 80 to 90% of all USA residents will contract the disease.
  3. We are all in this together.
    • Support workers in any way you can.
    • Let elected officials know we want a NONE OF THE ABOVE option on the ballot for all public offices. I believe NONE OF THE ABOVE would have won the 2016 election.
    • I have also chosen to tell my representatives, people first or find another job.
  4. Vote! – I am finishing this article Wednesday, September 16, 2020. Over the past month, little has changed.
    • We are STILL living in the worst health crisis in 100 years. Millions are sick. Hundreds of thousands are dead. More than a thousand are dying per day.
    • We are STILL facing an economic collapse that rivals the crash of 1929. Thousands of our fellow citizens are facing evictions, hunger, and homelessness. Hundreds of small businesses are closing forever.
    • We STILL have a President that is actively suppressing the vote! He won’t come to any agreement that funds the post office. Isn’t interfering with the mail a crime?
    • And we also STILL have a president and Senate that tells us to quit whining. We must please the gods of commerce. We, along with our entire families, must enter the arena of Covid-19 death and “Go to Work”. Dollars are more important than your life. Carry on. Be grateful we are doing the best we can. We don’t want to panic Wall Street.
  5. Looking to the November election, for anyone currently in office, “Tell me what you have done to improve life for the least among us” (not the billionaires)? As I evaluate the actions of the current administration, I’ve concluded it’s time to flush twice. My mother always said, “When you clean house, get rid of things that no longer serve you”. It’s time to fumigate Washington DC.

In Short

Thank you for your attention. Keep in mind that we don’t know what we don’t know. So, don’t take our word for it. Meditate and find what is right for you.

As we’ve said before, working from home may become the norm. Commuting to an office, not so much or so often. (great for reducing air pollution, not so great for oil producers and gas stations.)   

The economic transformations COVID-19 has initiated will last long after the dis-ease is brought into balance (i.e., suppressed). We consider ourselves blessed to be here to witness and help in this transformation.

These changes will favor small businesses that work from home.

Next time – Confessions of a semi-lifelong Republican; more what is Money? And alternative economic systems.

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