I find myself looking in the mirror more often lately. Not in some vain way but more of a retrospective review of how far I’ve come. It used to be I would look just to see how hot I was before I head off into the night with all of a young man’s fantasies and hopes. Now I look just to take stock of a lifetime of wrinkles and scars that have replaced those fantasies and hopes. I wonder silently at the prospect of that one day in the not so distant future where the line will finally be crossed and I will begin to scare children in the supermarket and dogs will strangely growl and bark at my mere presence. 

There are good days and bad days. We all have them. The cycles of a person’s life consists of a myriad of extreme peaks and valleys that lay somewhere between annoying enthusiasm and the gallows of depression. Balance is sought but not always maintained. I’m not sure that the connotation “normal” even applies anymore in the realm of standards for behavior. What’s normal? Certainly it is a different interpretation than when I was growing up. We tend to be more open minded, more generous in our assessments, and we more easily adopt a “don’t give a fuck” attitude as long as it doesn’t affect us. 

As a member of the “older” generation who doesn’t let go of things easily, I can tell you that I’m not certain anymore about where we are headed, who’s leading us, and more importantly, who’s following us. We haven’t exactly set a good example. How did we let it get to the point where so few have everything and everyone else has so little? Or that growing old is a burden and any hope of dignity in the end has become a pipe dream? What happened to the strength and ideals of our youth to want to make things better than we made them? When did rainbow colored hair and pierced faces become more important than raising your family in a stable environment?

We have orchestrated the complete failure of every major industry in America. Real estate, auto, construction, financial, and health. How is it that a company can have a banner year in sales and profit and yet the stock takes a dive? Why is it that companies fail yet those involved become vastly wealthy? The answers to all of these queries may lie in a little lesser known cause and effect. Sushi. Or more to the fact, Sashimi. Someone came up with the idea that you can slice raw fish very thinly, wrap it in seaweed, throw in a few kernels of rice and sell it to people for $30 bucks a plate. Now I have to tell you that the first moron who sat down and said “Mmmm.. I gotta get me some-a-dat” is the one who started this whole mess.

Obviously that was a metaphor for “If we can convince you to open your mouth, getting you to swallow it is a lesser problem.” Taxes, war, unemployment, politicians, the economy. We swallow it all. Until we don’t. At some point someone is going to stand up and spit it out. Maybe even the moron who bought the first Sashimi plate. That’s all it will take. We have become a nation of individuals. Everyone is out for themselves. Which is not necessarily a bad thing compared to willingly marching into pens because everyone else did.

I’ve watched the world change throughout my epic life span. I’ve lived through the end of World War Two, the start and finish of the Korean War and Vietnam, sending people to the moon, space travel, the explosion of technology, and now a billion people on FaceBook. I’ve also seen the audacity of a government growing out of control. There isn’t any one thing that is the best thing to do. But there is a worst thing to do. To go to sleep tonight and think that when you wake up tomorrow things will be better. They won’t. Here’s what I know. If you want answers they are right there in front of you. They are in every hallway, living room, den, or bathroom in America. All you gotta do is look in the mirror.