Tag Archives: New Year’s advice

For the New Year

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Pundits are splashing us with rivers of ink to emphasize how crucial 2020 will be in determining the future of, well, pretty much everything. I’m not a pundit, but I do have some thoughts on the new year.

This sign offers good advice, albeit ungrammatically:

With the intense emotion floating around, “defensive boxing” seems like a good skill to have. Will you “learn to boxing” in 2020? I probably won’t (too conflict-averse), but I will obey this sign’s orders:

This is no time, I think, for “sitting or standing on the barricades,” and not only because it’s easy to fall off. I’ve resolved to educate myself, decide which side of an issue I’m on, and cross barricades whenever I can. I may even storm a few, but peacefully.

Realistically, here’s the sign I know I’ll follow:

You, too, will “do what you’ve got to do, to get through it.” I mean, what choice do you have?

Happy New Year to all!

Advice for 2019

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A recent trip to Seattle showed me that (a) people who live in cities can, in fact, be courteous and (b) Seattle’s courtesy is reflected in its signs and (c) I have a need to find deeper meaning in everything I see.

The first two signs come from the zoo and the third from a performance space near the Space Needle. All reflect good advice (and manners) to adopt in the new year.

Zoo rule #1:

Simple, but effective. Also perhaps unnecessary, because the chain-link fence around the porcupine makes touching the animal possible only for someone with very tiny hands, which are usually attached to very short arms, which the animal is smart enough to avoid. But the principle is sound: Don’t put yourself in situations where you’re bound to get hurt.

Zoo rule #2:

The wolf pack behind this sign looked bored, and no human was howling. Thus I know the sign is effective. I don’t know whether it’s there to protect the wolves or the keepers from annoying wolf-imitators. Larger point: Be who you are, and don’t intrude on someone else’s pack.

Another boundary-related caution, set on an empty stage surrounded by a Food Court:

Moral: If it’s your turn, go for it. If it isn’t your turn, don’t.

And from me, sign-less: Have a peaceful, happy 2019!