Angela, we miss you

The Way We Were, performed by Barbara Streisand

Mmm. Mmm.
Memories, light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories of the way we were.
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we give to one another
For the way we were.
Can it be that it was all so simple then
Or has time rewritten every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me would we? Could we?
Memories, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter we will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were.



Angela, you have been gone for one year, and we miss you dearly.

Vicki has never had a friend like you and she never will again. You were always there for her, and Vicki knew that she could share anything with you at any time. If she ever needed anything, you would come to San Diego from Arizona as soon as humanly possible, and she was always welcome to visit you in Arizona. I thought of the above song because both of us and our family have so many great memories of you and your wonderful family.

Funny memories: Vicki remembers how the two of you went on a cruise to Ensenada from California many years ago, and you ended up being situated with a large group of lesbians because the people who booked the cruise just assumed that you were one of them. The lesbians would see you together for meals and, noticing how you were so close, just assumed that you were lesbians, telling you, "Isn't it wonderful being a lesbian and sharing your innermost thoughts with another woman." You would tell them, no, we're not lesbians, and they would keep telling you, it's OK, you can come out of the closet now, we are your sisters and we are there for you. Finally, you and Vicki got tired of hearing it, and said to them, OK, you're right, we are lesbians, it's just hard for us to talk about. After that, you and Vicki had a great time hanging out with the sisters, and experiencing (from a distance) the joys of being a lesbian!

Memories of our kids' childhoods: Our kids remember hanging out with your kids, Bobbie and Stevie, from the time they were little, in Torrance. We had so much fun walking around the Torrance neighborhoods with enough candy to feed about twice as many kids, with your kids greeting every neighbor with the words, "Happy Halloween," and putting a smile on the face of everyone who met them. You and I and Vicki would walk, it seemed, for miles and enjoy watching such a cute group of kids having such a good time. Our kids got to know you so well that for some reason, they were always afraid of you (even though I can't remember your actually yelling at them no matter what they did.) I just think you had a commanding presence which immediately inspired the respect of everyone who met you.

Sad memories: Vicki flew to Phoenix on the date that you died and found that your extended family from California was crowded around you and down the hallway of your room in the hospice, to the point where, as she entered your room, Vicki felt that it was as if the Red Sea was parting for her. Everyone in your family told Vicki that Angela waited for Vicki to arrive before you passed, and when Vicki kissed you goodbye on your forehead, that you died soon thereafter. I cannot think of a more stirring goodbye that anyone could have, and I know that no one deserved it more than you.

You would be happy to know that we know have an old dog, Cookie, who follows Vicki everywhere and is her loyal companion, no matter what. She is always there for Vicki, she cries whenever Vicki is gone, even from the room, and she even sticks her paw up for Vicki to hold when she feels lonely. Vicki can take Cookie for walks first thing in the morning, when the weather is chilly, and the day is young, and she can enjoy a type of quiet companionship with her that she cannot have with anyone else, including me.

Angela, there will never be another one like you, and I really wish you could be back again, even for one moment, to share your life with us, and be there for Vicki.

Happy Birthday, Zook

Mama Tried, by Merle Haggard

The first I remember knowin' was the lonesome whistle blowin'
And a youngun's dream of growin' up to ride.
On a freight train leavin' town, not knowin' where I was bound
No one changed my mind, but mama tried.

One and only rebel child from a family meek and mild
Mama seemed to know what lay in store
In spite of all my Sunday learnin'
For the bad I kept on turnin' and mama couldn't hold me anymore.

And I turned 21 in prison, doin' life without parole
No one could steer me right, but mama tried, mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleadin' I denied
That leaves only me to blame cause mama tried.

Dear old daddy rest his soul, left my mom a heavy load
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes
Workin' hours without rest, wanted me to have the best
Oh she tried to raise me right, but I refused.

And I turned 21 in prison, doin' life without parole
No one could steer me right, but mama tried, mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleadin' I denied
That leaves only me to blame cause mama tried.

Happy birthday, Zook (David). You would have been 45 this year, and all of us in San Diego still cannot believe that you aren't here anymore.

I included the above song, Mama Tried, because you provided it to me on a tape you sent me of a Live Grateful Dead concert, circa 1971. At the time, I frankly did not pay a lot of attention to the tape, but, like most of the approximately one hundred tapes you gave me, I came to enjoy it over time, much like a fine old wine. In fact, I played this one so many times that (like so many of the other great tapes that you gave me), it wore out over time. However, I am happy to say that I found a copy of this song, and now I have a CD of this album, which I play all the time.

To me, this song is about two things: expectations and disappointment. I know that this song meant a lot to you. In fact, I think that you may have played it on your acoustic guitar the last time I saw you, in July, 2008.

I know that you had high expectations of yourself (and others), and, like me, you found that often reality did not meet your expectations. Like me, the profession you chose was not your first choice, but you simply shook off the negativity of not pursuing your original career option, and you instead found that you could build a successful working life and home life anyway. I think all of us go through the ups and downs of having high expectations and searing disappointments, and persevering through them, and I know you worked very hard in difficult conditions so that you could feed your family.

Let me give you a quick update on what you have missed, since I know, if you were still around, I would have heard your strong opinion about these things:

• The Padres--They have had an amazing year, since they were picked to finish last in their division, the National League, major league baseball, and, all in all, were in line to be probably one of the worst teams in the history of organized sports. At one point they were ahead by over six games over the Giants. I know that if you were here, you would have predicted their demise, and said the whole thing was a fluke, based on good pitching and a few timely hits and bounces of the baseball. And, of course, as the Padres seem to be burned out, and are now behind the Giants in the Western division, you would have been right.
• The Chargers-Yikes, if you had seen their first game in Kansas City, where they were ran up and down the field in terrible weather conditions, and were handily defeated by a team that they have owned for a long time, you would have laughed your head off and said, the Chargers suck once again. And, unlike me, you maybe could have watched their second home game against Jacksonville since, out in Dayton, Nevada, you would have had a chance of seeing a game that is being blacked out in San Diego due to crummy ticket sales.
• Music--I never realized, during your life, how much my sons Alex and Josh discussed music with you, in person, during the July 2008 cruise, and via email and blogging. The kids bring up, all the time, things that they went over with you about music. Recently, when we were discussing Subterreanean Homesick Blues, by Bob Dylan, the kids said they had discussed the version of this song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and you said that you thought it sucked. Josh regularly blogs about music, in his latest blog, which is, of course, dedicated to you.
  
• Your musical interests and knowledge were quite diverse and amazing, and you were always generous in taking the time and making the effort to provide me your mixtapes of probably up to a hundred different artists. Also, you had the creativity (and the courage) to regularly record new songs and make videos of them on You Tube. At your funeral, where the videos were playing on a screen in the front of the room, more than a few people were moved to tears as they saw your moving portrayals of your hopes, dreams, and joys.
• The Tea Party--You would not believe how these nut-jobs are all of a sudden winning primaries against established Republican candidates. I am sure that by now, you would have done extensive blogs and probably recorded some more songs about how those tax hatin', gun-tottin', immigrant despisin', extremists are now in a position to win some Congressional seats unless the country wakes up, in the general elections, to see how if these folks get in power, God help us (pardon the irony, Sarah P)

We lit a yahrtzeit candle last night, in your memory, David.

Thanks for all that you taught us, and for all of the memories we have of you.

Rest in peace.

Black Peter

Lyrics to Black Peter :
All of my friends come to see me last night
I was laying in my bed and dying
Annie Beauneu from Saint Angel
say "the weather down here so fine"

Just then the wind
came squalling through the door
but who can
the weather command?
Just want to have
a little peace to die
and a friend or two
I love at hand

Fever roll up to a hundred and five
Roll on up
gonna roll back down
One more day
I find myself alive
tomorrow
maybe go
beneath the ground

See here how everything
lead up to this day
and it's just like
any other day
that's ever been
Sun goin up
and then the
sun it goin down
Shine through my window and
my friends they come around
come around
come around

People may know but
the people don't care
that a man could be
as poor as me...
"Take a look at poor Peter
he's lyin in pain
now let's go run
and see"

Run and see
hey, hey,
run and see

It seems hard to believe that Zook (David) has been gone for one year. I have known that this day was coming for a long time but it still seems unreal to me that such a tragedy could have happened to such a larger than life person. I believe that Zook cited this song in what turned out to be one of his last blogs when he learned for the first time that his health was in serious jeopardy due to a serious aorta defect.

One of the hardest things to accept about death is that yes, life goes on without you. In fact, I just thought of a story that someone told me how, no matter how important you may think your existence is, what your existence really amounts to is the same as a hand in a glass of water. When I asked this person what she meant, she said that it means that when you put your hand in the water, and then take it out, at first the water swirls around your glass for awhile. Then....it slows down. Then, ever slower....Then, just a small shimmering of activity. And finally, after awhile, the water will just sit there in the glass...as if you never existed.

David was definitely someone who did not just stir the glass of water that represents life. He spilled it, threw it, shook it, even threw the glass against the wall, shattered the glass, and even did substantial damage to the wall!

I would like to think that if one of us had an inkling that this catastrophe was coming, we could have spoken to him, and, just maybe, been able to postpone such a cataclysmic event. But then again, would David have listened? Knowing David, he probably would have been doubtful, or even laughed at any of us for even making such a suggestion. Nevertheless, it's still nice to at least wonder about such a question which will never be answered.

Using the above Grateful Dead song as a reference point, I think that all of us who knew David could agree that David definitely was able to have "a little peace to die" and "a friend or two I love at hand" before his untimely demise. In reading the uplifting and happy parts of his blogs, and viewing some of his more emotional musical performances, such as his last performance, "I Wanna Fly," performed just hours before he died, we can view an artist who very much enjoyed his craft and poured his soul into his writing and performances. He also spoke at length of how he loved to play guitar and laugh into the wee hours of the night with some of his guitar-playing colleagues whom he had known since his college days.

Knowing that Zook had at least some genuine moments of extreme happiness, despite the darkness he seemed to fight throughout much of his life, can bring comfort to all of us who still cannot believe that he has been gone for one year.

Cell phone stores

Happy New Year, everybody! My son and I visited a local ATT wireless store yesterday, to exchange his now dying cell phone for a new one.

Cell phones! What an amazing invention! When Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, rolled off the inflatable mattress in his swimming pool, the middle-aged man, speaking to Benjamin, told him: "Remember one word: plastics." If this movie were happening today, he would tell him to remember one thing: cell phones. If you build it (a cell phone tower), they will come: People using cell phones for good things (staying in touch with their friends, wives, and kids); for immoral things (making dates with their girlfriends and boyfriends, so they can cheat on their spouses or significant others); bad things (setting up terrorist plots or criminal enterprises); violent things (detonating IEDS or explosives); and stupid things (texting people you don't really know to discuss things you don't really care about so you can waste time which don't really have to avoid having to do things which you are supposed to be doing). It's enough to make Alexander Graham Bell turn over in his grave.

I have learned some interesting facts about cell phone stores:

1. Terminology: When your phone that you purchased within the last year or so starts to fall apart, and you need to get a new one, the cell phone company will tell you that you need an "upgrade." Does an upgrade mean that you will get a better phone? No, not exactly, it just means that the phone you will now get, if you are cheap (like me), and you want the least expensive phone possible, is simply one that works, which makes it an "upgrade" to the phone which you are returning, since that phone is one that does not work any longer.

2. Customer convenience: You might think that bringing in a dying cell phone, taking out its brain (the SIMM chip), and transplanting the brain to a new body, in a new cell phone, would be a fairly simple experience. On the contrary, nothing is simple about it. Also, if you don't save your phone numbers into your SIMM chip, you may be in for a nasty surprise, which is that all those phone numbers that you spent all that time saving into your phone are, poof, gone forever.

3. The waiting game: When you walk into the store, they will ask you to sign your name to a piece of paper, and then you wait. The interesting part of this is that you may find that somebody, whom you do not recognize, will walk up to you, address you by your first name, and then ask you to go to the counter to talk to a customer service rep. You might wonder, how do they do that, presuming that you are not a celebrity whom is instantly recognizable. My son convinced me that after you sign the piece of paper, and walk away, somebody takes careful notes about your appearance, and then records those notes next to your name. So, in my case, they probably wrote down something like "Old fat guy with glasses who looks like he is bored out of his mind."

4. The two boring TV screens: What is really annoying about this is that unless you want to spend your waiting period wandering the store looking at the phones that you can't afford or the exciting accessories that you don't need, you can watch two gorgeous TV screens that are facing some reasonably comfortable chairs. Just think of what you could be watching: live or recorded TV shows, sporting events, the news, weather channels, or other exciting TV fare. Fuhgetaboudit! This particular store features two screens, one with a few seconds of Dexter, from Showtime, a few brief shots of movies made many years ago, and the other with a few seconds of sports figures including Kobe Bryant and Serena Williams showing off their shots, both sets featuring never-ending tape loops. If there is a more efficient way of torturing your customers, I would like to see it. The cell phone store therefore ensures that by the time you get to exchange your phone, your are really bored and angry.

5. Don't trust your customer: When you finally get your phone, after it's tested and turned on, you get your rebate form, (allowing you to, someday, get a debit card, which is actually a credit card and which you will, if you remember, use to buy groceries so that every cent of the card is used up since, obviously, the cell phone store is hoping that you will give up by then, allowing them to make the extra $50 that you are owed), you get your phone, your phone bag, and your sales receipt, you might think, OK, touchdown, that's it, I am done!

Wrong. What this store does is that the cell phone rep holds on to the bag, the cell phone, the rebate form and the rest of it, and he or she walks out from beyond the counter and escorts you out of the store, opens the door, and hands you the bag, thus ensuring that your shopping experience is ended with you, finally out of the store. You might wonder, what is their motivation for this, sudden, wonderful treatment after the last thirty minutes or so of suffering?

Maybe they think you want to come back to the store and repeat the whole experience? Doubtful.

Maybe, they are in effect, apologizing for making you suffer through this whole ridiculous experience? Probably not.

Are they showing off to the other customers in the store how devoted they are to you? Probably not a bad idea, but also doubtful.

This may seem paranoid, but the most likely reason is to make sure that once you have the bag in your hand, you are out of the store, and do not have a chance to stuff your bag with some post-Christmas gifts, such as cell phone chargers, ear buds, and other items that are worth $100 or less. How about walking off with the cell phones themselves, that could cost $100 and up? No, the cell phone store shows, for once, some intelligence here, since this valuable merchandise is beyond reach to the customers, since it is accessible only to employees armed with the proper passcodes.

So, does any of this make sense? No, especially, since, with all of our available technology, one would think this could be something that could be done much more efficiently, instead of being such an amazing waste of resources, time and effort. So, next time you need to go to a cell phone store to "upgrade" your phone, make sure you bring a book to read, or an IPOD to listen to. Perhaps that way, you won't be able to think of how unnecessary this experience has to be.

In memorium-Angela Roque

I would like to say a few words about the passing of our friend, Angela Roque, who passed away on September 24. Angela, who is pictured here with her kids, Bobby and Stevie, when they were little, was a wonderful friend of ours for many years.

She was a warrior who battled a particular nasty type of cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, for over fifteen years. When she first told us that she had cancer, she did not show any fear or resentment about being struck with a such catastrophic disease at the young age of 37. She simply faced up to all of the frustrations and pain of having to deal with this disease with courage and dignity at all times, whether it was having to deal with chemotherapy, radiation, and a Pandora's box of drugs, therapy, doctor's office visits, and hospital stays.

In her mind, there was never a question of if she would beat cancer, it was just a question of when she would be done with it. Her doctors told her that her case was hopeless years ago, but she would time after time, shrug off their negative feedback, keep her chin up, and fight the disease. Her situation was particularly cruel because she was told many times that the disease was in "remission," but although many of us might equate "remission" with defeating the disease, it would just come back one more time, over and over and over. And Angela's reaction would, of course, be to just shrug her shoulders, and tough it out once again.

Angela raised her two kids on her own, managed to earn a good enough living to always send her kids to good schools, and live in good neighborhoods. Her kids have grown up into being handsome and intelligent young men, who are both earning a good living, and building families of their own.

When we heard that Angela had once again entered the hospital, in Phoenix, about six weeks ago, we had learned to subscribe to her way of thinking, which was that, of course, she would just beat this thing one more time. Only after she had been there for a month did we realize that this, finally, would be a battle that Angela, for the first time, might not win.

When she passed away last Thursday, she again showed strength and dignity. In fact, when my wife, Vicki, who considers Angela one of her closest friends, arrived at the hospital in Phoenix, at about 7 pm, after flying there from San Diego, Angela finally succumbed, at the young age of 51, a mere twenty minutes later. Everyone in Angela's family who was there told Vicki that Angela hung on to life until she got there, and I truly believe that this is what happened.

Angela's strength and courage are what marked her life, and made her a role model for all of us. She was a true warrior, and we will all miss her greatly. She will truly be a hard act for any of us to follow.

Happy birthday, Zook!

Sugar Magnolia, by the Grateful Dead

Sugar magnolia, blossoms blooming, heads all empty and I don't care,
Saw my baby down by the river, knew she'd have to come up soon for air.

Sweet blossom come on, under the willow, we can have high times if you'll abide
We can discover the wonders of nature, rolling in the rushes down by the riverside.

She's got everything delightful, she's got everything I need,
Takes the wheel when I'm seeing double, pays my ticket when I speed

She comes skimmin' through rays of violet, she can wade in a drop of dew,
She don't come and I don't follow, waits backstage while I sing to you.

Well, she can dance a Cajun rhythm, jump like a willys in four wheel drive.
She's a summer love for spring, fall and winter. She can make happy any man alive.

Sugar magnolia, ringing that bluebell, caught up in sunlight, come on out singing
I'll walk you in the sunshine, come on honey, come along with me.

She's got everything delightful, she's got everything I need,
A breeze in the pines and the sun and bright moonlight, lazing in the sunshine yes
indeed.

Sometimes when the cuckoo's crying, when the moon is half way down,
Sometimes when the night is dying, I take me out and I wander around, I wander
'round.

Sunshine, daydream, walking in the tall trees, going where the wind goes
Blooming like a red rose, breathing more freely,
Ride our singin', I'll walk you in the morning sunshine.  Sunshine, daydream. Sunshine,
daydream. Walking in the sunshine.

Zook! Long time, no talk. You've been gone since March 27, but it's still hard to imagine a world without you in it. I just wanted to say hello, and wish you Happy Birthday!

I know that in my case, the thought of death is depressing, because I have always been concerned that the day after I die, a lot of great things are going to happen, which, due to circumstances beyond my control, I will have to miss. I have wondered what if the day after I die, the following things happen:

• The entire world becomes Jewish, and Hebrew becomes the official language of the universe.
• Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Joe Wilson will together be put into a kind of limbo/hell where they each can fight each other and act obnoxious, collectively, forever
• Infomercials become extinct.
• The San Diego Padres and San Diego Chargers go undefeated this year, next year, and forever.
• Stupid people are banned forever; (see you later, Sarah, Rush and Joe).

Anyway, Zook, here is a quick summary of what's happened since your departure:

• Joe Wilson? Just as stupid as the other stupid conservatives that were around six months ago.
• Everyone is going nuts about health insurance. The notion that the government may offer health insurance is causing the nut cases to come out of the woodwork, and accuse everyone who is for "the public option" of being a crazed Commie. Also, people are now convinced that the government will create "death panels" (thanks a lot Sarah) who will put Grandma and Grandpa to death, for no reason whatsover. I guess that health insurance companies are our friends now, and the big bad US government is our enemy. I know what you would say to that: Yeah, right. I now that I have had lots of experience with health insurance companies, and I find that all of them have one thing in common with all other insurance companies: minimize payments out, and maximize payments in. I have personal experience with a situation where Medicare paid for my wife's surgery, and my wonderful lovable health insurance company paid.....zero. Hmmm...who sounds more like a "death panel" now: the insurance company or the government?
• The San Diego teams? Same as before. The Padres are in last (or close to being in last), and the Chargers will probably, as you used to say, "choke" before they reach the promised land.
• Your family? Everyone looks like they are doing well. Your wife and daughter have spent some great quality time with your sister, and your Mom and Dad? They're like the Everready battery..they just take a lickin' and keep on tickin'..At last count, they have outlived Edward Kennedy, Dominic Dunne, and Michael Jackson.You might be surprised that MJ bit the dust, at age 50? Hey, the guy was injesting 40 Xanax a night, so now it would make sense to you.
• Rudeness--Everybody is getting more and more rude, Zook, but I guess you wouldn't be surprised about that. I'm sure you saw plenty of rudeness in your life, working as an insurance adjuster.
• The economy--It's probably gotten worse, since you were here, with unemployment up to 12.2% in California. We are all hoping it will get better, and at least, it looks like we are not going to be in a full-blown Depression, but finding jobs now looks really difficult, and should be for some time.

Anyway, Zook, I just wanted you to know that we are all thinking of you, and we all miss you.

Love,

Your older brother

Where America Shops--Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart may already have my soul. It's probably my second favorite place to shop (after the immortal Costco, subject of my last blog).


What is impressive about Wal-Mart is that the prices are incredibly low and you don't have to purchase "big box" quantities of everything to get a good price. But there are a few things that stand out about Wal-Mart, both in "good" and "bad" ways, which are:

• So many overweight people love to shop at Wal-Mart--I can't think of anywhere else I have shopped where there are so many people with weights in the high 200 pound and up range. One would almost think that there is a weight requirement to walk into a Wal-Mart. (Take that, you skinny b___s, few of whom I have ever seen in a Wal-Mart). Men with their bellies hanging out under their T-shirts, and women with gigantic arms and bubbling behinds in their tucked-in purple stretch pants provide a truly startling visual vibe. You would think that consuming about five donuts or more is a requirement for walking into a Wal-Mart. Anyway, if you ever feel the ground shaking the next time you visit a Wal-Mart in California, don't worry about an earthquake: it's just the floor boards creaking under the cumulative weight of all of the oversize Wal-Mart customers.
  


• So many Wal-Mart shoppers have tattoos--When you visit one of these fine establishments, it's hard to not find somebody who has tattoos: old people, teenagers, young women, middle-aged women, people in the military, college kids, everywhere you look, you see tattoos. I am probably biased against tattoos based on my age and religion (Jews are not supposed to wear tattoos, although exceptions have been made for Holocaust survivors, since, unlike the rest of tattoo wearers, they can truly say that getting their skin used like a portable etch-a-sketch machine was not their idea.) Tattoos for men? Even though I don't like them, I do get the macho factor, that getting a tattoo shows that you survived Iraq, Afghanistan, working for George Bush, being a teacher in the public school system, etc, etc. But for women, I have the visceral yecch factor. Too often as I see an attractive young woman walk by, I am thinking about how great she looks and then.....there goes the rose tattoo strategically placed just above her rear. Or, there is the little red star on the back of her otherwise dainty-looking neck. And then......drum roll....the award for the multiple ugly turn-off factor goes to....women who have gigantic snake tattoos on their arms or legs. Somewhere in America I can just picture the guy who has taken a woman home on a date, he thinks he is going to "go all the way," he takes her upstairs and then, before the magic moment, he sees two gigantic snakes with gigantic red fangs on her thighs...Then, after failure hits, she says, "OK, that's alright honey, maybe you're just tired tonight," and he says, "I just don't get it. I don't know what has gotten into me tonight." (What he should say is, "How do you expect me to perform when those two gigantic snarling cobras on your legs are waiting to dig their shiny teeth into my ____________and strangle my b___s until they look like raisins!)

• Is it good to love such a "bad" company?--We have all heard about all of the terrible things Wal-Mart does to a large collection of people: Sweatshop labor--People work overseas in sweatshops to make clothes sold by Wal-Mart for the same amount of money per day that we Americans leave as a tip in a cheap restaurant. Unions:fuhgedaboutit, Norma Rae, take a hike, Sally Field, no, we don't really like you. Medical plans for Wal-Mart employees: I hate to even think about it. They probably either have to put with no medical care at all, or a PPO plan where the deductible is equal to your first child, or an HMO plan where they get doctors who went to medical school in Guatamela and are being paid about $10 a day for the right to let you rot in their office for hours waiting for them to take a look at you. And so on...And yet, look how well Wal-Marts do, even in our crummy economy. They get loads of shoppers, especially people who look like they are not exactly high-earning Yuppie scum. They employ tons of people around the world. A Wal-Mart comes to your local shopping center and boom, what a difference. There is a mall in my area which used to be moribund, until the Wal-Mart showed up. Now, the mall parking lots are usually full, even far away from the Wal-Mart, as shoppers come out of nowhere to spend their money, and keep the other stores, next to the Wal-Mart, doing well in their businesses. As we know, including those of us who never suffered through an economics course, once consumers spend money, it enables other consumers to be employed, which in turn leads to more consumers spending money, and so on.

Maybe, as the character Gordon Gecko said in the movie, Wall Street: "Greed is good." At least as far as Wal-Mart goes. And for all of the bad things that Wal-Mart does, its customers are buying "stuff," as Thomas Friedman says in his columns, not just risky ideas, such as reverse credit swaps, derivatives, and similar products that brought America, and the entire world economic system, to its knees.

Somebody out there is planning the next Wal-Mart right now, a gigantic institution which will make "stuff", and thus employ thousands of people, or sell "stuff" to the millions of consumers of American products around the world, to help accentuate the economic recovery we are all craving. Whoever it is, go for it. America needs you!