Tom Purcell stories, Page 8
Tom Purcell: You know politics stinks when stink bugs are an escape
I’d rather focus on stink bugs. The political season is at a fever pitch. Anger at those who disagree with others’ political views, the result of increasing polarization, is rampant. I don’t have the stomach for what our politics and public discourse have become. So, I focus on stink bugs....
Tom Purcell: To gig or not to gig …
Become an employee with full paid benefits, or remain a mostly independent gig worker? That debate’s raging in California as November’s general election approaches, and its outcome is likely to affect the entire country. According to The Washington Post, “Uber, DoorDash and other gig economy companies are bombarding TV airwaves,...
Tom Purcell: It’s healthy to laugh in covid-19’s face this Halloween
If we can’t poke fun at covid-19 on Halloween, when can we? You see, Halloween is the one time of year when we can make fun of ourselves and current events by dressing up in clever costumes. At least it used to be. Until about 30 years ago, Halloween was...
Tom Purcell: Served lemons by covid-19, entrepreneurs make lemonade
When life serves you lemons, you make lemonade. That’s the thinking of no small number of bold Americans who are starting new businesses amid covid-19’s disruption. According to a story last week from Keystone Crossroads, the Pennsylvania public radio collaborative, applications for new businesses are soaring. They’re up 19% nationwide...
Tom Purcell: Autumn’s beauty can restore the better angels of our nature
Autumn has arrived — and it couldn’t come soon enough. I love this time of year — the brilliant colors, the chilly air, the sweet yet tart taste of apple cider and the smell of oak burning in a fire pit. I love childhood memories of Devil’s Night mischief and...
Tom Purcell: Lower voting age to 16? Try 80!
San Francisco residents will vote on a measure in November to allow teenagers as young as 16 to vote in local elections. That’s according to The Hill, which also reports that in recent years, two women in Congress introduced measures to lower the voting age nationwide to 16. One argument...
Tom Purcell: Why I’m ill prepared for the autumn of covid-19
I made it through the summer of covid-19 — though I’m thankful that neither I nor any of my family has contracted the novel coronavirus. I know that the summer doesn’t technically end until Sept. 22, but I got through June, July and August. It wasn’t easy. Every Monday, I...
Tom Purcell: Accurate count essential for 2020 census
I hope we get it right. Data collection for the 2020 Census ends soon. This census, the 22nd in U.S. history, has faced its share of challenges and controversies. The goal of the census has remained the same throughout its 230-year history: to count every person living in the United...
Tom Purcell: Join covid-19 homebuying rush, develop common sense
American home ownership is soaring, which is good for all of us. Home sales slowed during the early months of covid-19, as millions of Americans stayed inside. In the past few months, however, with interest rates at historic lows, homes have been selling at a record pace, USA Today reports....
Tom Purcell: The vanishing art of empathy
Joe Biden reminded the world what grace looks like. Robert Trump, President Trump’s younger brother, died Saturday. In response, Biden tweeted: “Mr. President, Jill and I are sad to learn of your younger brother Robert’s passing. I know the tremendous pain of losing a loved one — and I know...
Tom Purcell: The longer we’re isolated, the less productive we get
Covid-19 is getting old — particularly for employees who’ve been working from home for months. That’s the finding of a recent article by Wall Street Journal reporter Chip Cutter, “Companies Start to Think Remote Work Isn’t So Great After All.” Early on, when millions stopped commuting and started working from...
Tom Purcell: America means freedom to them
A friend of mine can’t for the life of him understand why some Americans are clamoring to replace capitalism with socialism. Born in Vietnam, he was a young boy when he and his family barely escaped that communist nation amid gunfire. America welcomed his family among thousands of Vietnamese refugees....
Tom Purcell: Laughter really is best medicine
I missed it again. So did the rest of America. July 1’s unofficial International Joke Day came and went without fanfare. That’s regrettable, because we could all use a good belly laugh right now — which gave me an idea. The other day, after hearing more doom-and-gloom news while driving,...
Tom Purcell: Perpetual anger no help in pandemic
Good grief: Apparently, America has yet to move past the anger phase regarding covid-19. In 1969 the psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, in her book “On Death and Dying,” described five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. According to Fast Company, researchers from Singapore, China, Australia and Switzerland analyzed...
Tom Purcell: Amid pandemic, take pen in hand
I can’t recall the last time I wrote or received a handwritten letter — but it’s time to send such letters again. The reasons why the handwritten letter died are obvious: e-mail, text messaging and cellphones. With how quick those innovations make whipping off a note, why would anybody take...
Tom Purcell: A cool idea whose time has come again
I’m getting a whole-house attic fan installed this week — just like the one my father had installed in my childhood home — and I cannot wait to cool my house using his old-time methods. I have nothing against air conditioning, mind you. I run my central unit on summer’s...
Tom Purcell: We grow wiser by giving ourselves to the elderly
Pope Francis couldn’t have said it better. During Monday’s Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, he told the crowd not to toss out older family members like “discarded material.” He said “the solitude of the elderly” is “a tragedy of our times,” lamenting that “the life of children and grandchildren...
Tom Purcell: Kids, pedal those pandemic blues away
Amid the covid-19 pandemic, bike sales are booming. I hope that means kids will begin riding in big numbers again. There was a big bike-sales boom in the early 1970s, too — the result of millions of baby boom kids, like me, riding our bikes from dawn until dusk. From...
Tom Purcell: The blessings of having a stubborn father
My father’s mission was to tame the stupidity out of me — a powerful blessing too few children are experiencing now. My dad had his work cut out for him. Over the years, I shattered a picture window with a baseball, accidentally broke neighbors’ lamp posts and once hit a...
Tom Purcell: Our national discussion on race is far from over
Police were called about John Mahone, a black man having an argument with his wife. A cop shot and killed him because he thought Mahone had a knife. Mahone had a can opener. An officer searching for illegal whiskey saw another black man, Harris Miller, run. When Miller didn’t halt,...
Tom Purcell: One disruptive hand ruins work made light by many
It was a perfect late-spring Saturday. Several members of my large extended family gathered at my parents’ house to trim hedges and plant flowers. The sun was out, the skies were brilliant blue and the temperature was perfect for yard work. A wonderful old saying, “many hands make light work,”...
Tom Purcell: Pandemic restrictions highlight blessings we take for granted
What The Bogota Post got right about America before covid-19 rings just as true during the pandemic — maybe even more true. In a May 2019 article, “The List of Things Americans Take for Granted,” the newspaper examined some of the freedoms and blessings too many Americans forget they have....
Tom Purcell: Drive-in theaters poised to profit from pandemic
Here’s one covid-19 silver lining: The drive-in theater, a uniquely American creation, is doing booming business again. I’ve long been nostalgic for this wonderful piece of Americana. When I was growing up in the ’70s, my mother and father often packed my five sisters and me into our massive station...
Tom Purcell: Ill-timed invasion of the murder hornets
The murder hornets don’t stand a chance. We’re still amid a pandemic that has dragged on way too long, producing far too many bizarre, exaggerated doomsday scenarios on social media. Some of our political leaders are enjoying absolute power a little too absolutely. Conspiracy theorists claim Bill Gates, who’s probably...
Tom Purcell: Lessons from homeschooling
Dear Ms. Beardsley, I hope you’re doing well. I miss seeing you and my classmates at school every day, but homeschooling is working out well for me. Mommy and Daddy are doing the best they can to make sure my siblings and I continue to learn during the covid-19 pandemic....
