Vignettes of The Wordwright - Episode Two

I have not been elected to this office (The Wordwright) but I have simply appointed myself to be a speaker, a builder of words, a critic (I occasionally publish a paper called KRITIKOSITY, which is etymologically Greek for "a critic or critical writer") and, as you can tell from the photo on the banner or masthead of this website I am not a young man (unless you are 95 years old). I was born in 1932 and having this great opportunity of expressing myself in this medium is only one of many areas that my wife and I have recognized as TRANSITIONS.

In the nearly 55 years of marriage the changes we have seen are nearly legion but realistically speaking it might be best to concentrate on a smaller number of transitions. A few items that will be mentioned in this section of THE WORDWRIGHT will most likely take more than one episode so be prepared for a "to be continued" type notation but hopefully these will be honest vignettes of not only our lives as two individuals but perhaps you can substitute your life and claim these observations, experiences and circumstances as your own.

For a minute or two think about the changes (transitions) around you. Body Art – there are few things about my body (as I believe God made it – it is fearfully and wonderfully made) that I would honestly want to change. Surely some exceptions exist. Back to my photo in the banner – that’s really what I look like, or did about five years ago. But why I would want to put an earring on my ear, or poke a piece of metal through my lips, nose, or cheek is just not my "cup of tea". If you have any of these on or in your face – it’s your face and that is where my "business" ends. Tattoos could be included in these personal observations. Women, especially young women, seem to have been caught up in adorning their already beautiful bodies (and what woman is not a beauty to most or certain men?). Putting a very attractive (usually) piece of tattoo artistry on one’s back where you cannot even see it blows my mind – I am used to seeing what I bought or chose to be mine, and unless one uses at least two mirrors, whatever is on our backs is simply not in our range of vision. Again – that is none of my business. All these are simply comments from another generation.

From the personal body we go to the economy or Money Matters. All through my growing up years a customary expression was "so much down and so much a month." Buying our house 41 years ago was the biggest investment in our lives and the longer we paid on our house the more it became ours (that’s deep isn’t it, grin, grin); but the truth in all this is the longer we regularly paid a fixed amount the principal decreased but interest took up most of the payment until the "interest and principal" started changing places. As we neared the end of our mortgage contract we could actually double our payments and get closure quicker – and thus save some money otherwise just being spent on interest charges. In brief, in the beginning of such loans your payments were swallowed up by the interest but eventually, because the interest was based on the amount of principal left, as that was gradually reduced less was paid on interest. Today they want us to believe you can buy something with NO MONEY DOWN! Hummm? How long are the payments going to last? How much are the payments? What is the interest? We won’t talk about that – just buy it and "join the club" of those whose payments are astronomical compared to the $66 monthly payments we made on our house! Buying a car today comes close to double what was paid for a house 41 years ago. And one of the basic philosophies today is "CHARGE!" (and this is different from what Colonel Theodore Roosevelt cried as he went up San Juan Hill on horseback on July 1, 1898!). Maxing out credit cards is routine in some circles. Fiscal responsibility is a mirage today. But people our age were not raised that way. TRANSITIONS – remember, that’s the subject for today.

What other generations have experienced in transitions is hidden in the minds of those who have refused to share such data. Some historians may help us know what was done generations ago but consider communication alone – the printed word. Having been a commercial artist, printer and rubber stamp maker for my "career life" these fields alone have changed so dramatically and drastically that a comparison to the Dark Ages or further back are not out of order. The words you are reading were typed (that’s a euphemism for sure—there were no levers or two reels of a cotton ribbon on the machine used to put these words together) on a Thursday afternoon in the last week of March. When you read them will depend on how long it took to finish this piece and how quickly they were dispatched to the website and how proficiently I followed procedure to "publish". It will take SECONDS more than it will be MINUTES. THINK. Such communications contrasted to ten, twenty, fifty years ago are like "giant steps". How do we adjust to this kind of transition? C-Span enables us to SEE our congressmen and senators (both men and women) as they speak before their respective "houses". We can see their blunders, frustrations and humanity in a way our fathers and grandfathers never dreamed possible.

A man on the moon is old hat. Look around. Nearly every major business has a satellite dish on the roof providing stats, directions, prices changes, market reports, etc. and their home offices can know precisely what amount of merchandise was moved since the previous 24 hour (or sooner) report was made. I saw a postal worker "wave a remote" around the inside of a mail box the other day. Her comment when I asked what she was doing, was "Now, Columbus knows I checked this box." The remote she waved in that box would be placed in a holster or dock and automatically data is electronically sent to their regional headquarters. She said "they know everything we do".

Where do we go with all this transition information? That depends. The family, the church, the city, the state, the country – the whole world needs to be considered and what we make of such transitions or how we deal with them could well affect the way we live or choose the way we live. Has it always been this way? Yes and No. We have always been personally responsible but today’s technology and electronic machinations have changed our lives and society so much that it behooves us to be much more alert than any generation before us. How do you see it? I am all ears. If you have some suggestions (other than "get lost") I would respectfully invite your comments. If no such comments are forthcoming, come back in a few hours or days and hopefully there will be some more helpful specifics about transitions.

See you then, THE WORDWRIGHT.