An excitable boy at age eighteen is a good thing. I had a great year at that age. Graduated from high school, got a summer job, hitch-hiked to Iowa and back. I left town for college, then turned nineteen and joined the Army the next fall like it was school. That’s where I saw older […]
AMATEUR CRIME LIFE WITH PEER PRESSURE
November 22, 2022 by
My life in amateur crime began in 5th grade. If you were going to hang with the cool kids, you had to show you belonged. One test was shoplifting at the local Payless. It was an anchor store at Pony Village, the biggest shopping mall on the west coast between Seattle and San Francisco right […]
PORTLAND HOMELESS ADVICE FROM AN OLD LADY
October 2, 2022 by
The big news for Portland homeless? No home. It’s not good news for the chronically homeless who’ve been sleeping on public land. If that ends, where does everyone go?
CLEAR COMMUNICATIONS FOR NEEDY TIMES, LIKE NOW
August 27, 2021 by
Clear communications sound like this: “For best results follow the instructions included.” For the past year and half the covid instructions include wearing a mask, washing hands, and social distancing. Add getting a vaccine and we’re all up to date and safe? It turns out everyone is not as adept at following instructions as they […]
PEER PRESSURE WITH A PUSH IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
July 25, 2021 by
Peer pressure works unless you’re so special that you have no peers to pressure you into doing things. Are you ‘Peerless?’ If you are, congratulations. Tell your mom hello from the rest of us, superstar. We like to think we’re special, unique, without peers, but how can that even be possible? It’s not. Even the […]
WHY CHANGE IS A TWO WAY DEAL
August 9, 2019 by
When you know it’s wrong, make an effort to change. I change, you change, we all change. Agree? Whether it’s for the better or not is the final question. Once I changed from blue jeans to green jeans. Since it was in grade school when the dress code was strictly enforced by peer pressure it […]
OREGON DROPOUT TOO HIGH? KGW SAYS YES
May 18, 2017 by
Oregon students drop out of high school more than any other state? Education statistics work to show progress, decline, indifference. You’ve seen those graphs. Chances are good these aren’t dropouts analyzing the data. They are smart people working the numbers. Depending on the point being made, the numbers are the name of the game. […]
OREGON COACHING SCANDALS
August 5, 2014 by
If the old shower whizzer could do it right, what’s wrong with the rest of the coaches? When athletes get paid huge sums to play their game, people pay attention. The money draws eyes to see if a player is worth the investment. It’s the opposite of rec-league friends and parents in the stands. The […]
