12/23/06

Miracles 101



Tri-O's oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel


At this time of year we hear of Christmas miracles. Positive outcomes from dire situations with unaccounted explanations as to how they occurred. Credit a higher power or just plain luck for the intervention, however they occurred; but there are those who can attribute their own "miracle" to their own effort or being in the right place at the right time. Here are a few examples.
Henrico Frank was a 37 year old construction worker unemployed for the last six years in Germany, which has four million unemployed (almost 10 percent). The mall at Christmas time in Wiesbaden was busy as he strolled through, " wearing grubby clothes, a pair of nose rings and a thatch of partially bleached, punk-inspired hair." He happened to see the chairman of the Social Democratic Party , Kurt Beck, who was then berated by Frank for the failure of economic reforms to help people like himself to find work and have a better life. Beck responded, "If you would just wash and shave, you'd find a job, too."Two days later Frank called a news conference. He had a different look. A trim haircut, clean shaven, no nose rings. "I am ready to change," the newly chiseled Frank stated, "I’ll take any job." The media picked up on it and he stepped into his 15 minutes of fame as he became the main news feature and his before-and-after makeover photos appeared on front pages. Beck now plans to present Frank with several job offers.
Yu Minhong taught English at Beijing University but he quit this secure position and started up a business to help students develop their English skills. Since then he has helped hundreds of thousands of Chinese students get into U.S. universities."The company, New Oriental Education and Technology Group, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September, the first private education company to achieve this feat. Yu is thought to be China's richest teacher with about 2 billion yuan (250 million U.S. dollars) of assets." states the Guangzhou web site.It was no easy road for Yu. His father was a peasant and carpenter and Yu watched him collect bits of waste brick and stones and stack them up in the small courtyard of their rural home. Slowly Yu saw his father transform the stones into a small pen to shut in the pigs, hens and ducks. At that time, his family could not afford to buy bricks. He remembers his father telling him, "If a pyramid was dismantled, it would just be a pile of stones. If you live your life without an aim, it's just a heap of days." His father's patient stone-piling lesson had tremendous influence and today Yu's company no longer only teaches English. His business has extended to other foreign language training, preparing students for tests, primary and secondary school education and software as well as on-line education. In 1993, New Oriental had only 30 students today it is China's largest private education service provider with more than three million student enrollments. There is a network of 25 schools and 111 learning centers in 24 cities, an on-line network that has attracted 2 million registered users. Clearly, teaching English can make people rich in China.
She was just 21 when Lisa Renshaw offered to work for free, in exchange for equity, to the owner of a troubled downtown Baltimore parking lot . The owner left town soon after, taking the loan of $3,000 that Renshaw had taken out in her name. She stayed, renegotiated the lease, and bargained to lower the monthly payments in order to achieve breaking even.She built the business by greeting customers daily, handing out fliers, promoting heavily to Amtrak riders who used a nearby station, offering carpooling assistance, and giving free car washes to anyone who parked in her lot for five days. The lot's occupancy rate increased from less than 10% to more than 70% in three years. Of late she employed 300 people, with 68 garages and parking lots, and generating $28 million in annual revenues.This is the same gutsy lady who lived in a 10 x 12 foot room for three and a half years while she built her parking garage into a respectable business.
The people above achieved their goals by taking it upon themselves to create their own destiny. Devine intervention is most welcome and appreciated at any time but a little self initiative and a lot of "stick- to- it-tivity" goes a long way. So while you wait for help from Clarence, Angel-second class, as did Jimmie Stewart in "It’s A Wonderful Life", you may want to give those bootstraps a yank.
End

12/8/06

Autumn’s eve thoughts on words

By Herb Kandel

Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
Autumn’s eve thoughts on words
Three Little Big Words
On a Public Broadcast Service web site called P.O.V. (Point of View) they posed the question “How would you describe America in three words?” to people both here and from around the globe. There was no claim to scientific accuracy in the survey. The answers were somewhat surprising, reassuring, and in several, disturbing. Similar to looking into a mirror then seeing that zit on your cheek was more prominent than you thought, but on the other hand you're having a good hair day. Here are the top 10 of what that particular mirror reflected in describing America - #10 Proud #9 Materialistic #8 (tie) Independent/Naïve #7 Powerful #6 Opportunity #5 Greedy #4 Arrogant #3 Diverse #2 Freedom (combined with Free) and at #1 (bugle sound ….. ta-dah) Ignorant. So it looks like we, as a nation, are envisioned as a bunch of unaware dummies of assorted ethnicities who seek more “stuff” and flaunt our possessions because we have the power, chance and freedom to do so.
There is probably a smattering of truth in the descriptions as there is in any stereotyping but it seems that the overall concept has a suspicious tinge of envy with too loud a protest. If we are as appalling as 4 of the indicators portray us to be, why are so many seeking entry here? Is it because of the other 6, with freedom and opportunity in the forefront? I daresay “You got it.“
Had they asked me for my three words I would have suggested trustworthy, compassionate, and honorable. The Yiddish word “mensch”, that has migrated into everyday speech, encapsulates those, and similar type virtues. According to Leo Rosten, author of The Joys of Yiddish “[A] mensch is a someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being "a real mensch" is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous.”
What would your three words be? Think about it and send me your choices with “3 words“ in the subject field*. The results will be tallied and reported..
World word replication?
In line with world perception of the U.S., The Guardian in the UK did a survey of 10 countries. One question asked was “Overall do you have a favourable [sic] or unfavourable [sic] opinion of Americans?” Favorable with 81% was Israel, 74% Japan, 73% Canada---- the bottom three who considered us unfavorably were Mexico 43%, Spain 32%, and South Korea 30%. To the question “By its actions, does the United States contribute to world peace?” The top three with a “Yes” were Mexico 63%, Israel 61%, Russia 48%---- the “No”’s were Japan 53%, Canada 52%, and South Korea 49%
Those statistics cause me to scratch my head. Some countries see us favorably and at the same time say that we do not contribute to world peace. That is about as divisive as was the campaign ads in the last election. Are they saying our intentions are noble but our means in achieving them is perverse? Or are these findings just an echoing of what we are experiencing here in the U.S., i.e., difference of opinions which led to the turnover of the congressional leadership? As in the song “We are the world , we are the people” conversely “We are the people, we are the world”. Therefore what the administration and its adversaries are pondering is the equivalent of what other countries are troubled about also. So it seems that how the world perceives us is the extrapolation of what we ourselves are experiencing here.
Redundant Words
Sometimes my hearing “envisions” speech as if it was monitoring an oscilloscope. There are familiar patterns that go along in normal sequences and then up pops a blip. Several months ago I vented about how the word “like” has insidiously burrowed its way into the vocabularies of teen-angers and celebrities. Every time the word is used the glitch spikes. It was mentioned then that the consistent use of the word renders the conversation trite, and downright boring.
Now my blips are occurring with more frequency and I seem to see the sheep are in the herding process again with a new word.. Have you noticed (heard) how “really” comes into speech patterns more and more ? If you listen you will hear “It really is” and it's counterparts making more inroads into everyday language. It is as if you have to insert “really” into a statement to give it an endorsement or an affirmation that what is said is verifiable and without question accurate. I recall the admonition to take as less than gospel anything that follows “To tell you the truth……….” .
So, like, remember your hearing it here, like, on the cutting edge. You really are!
* hekan@mail.com
END

11/22/06

A Modest Proposal, Mon Cher

Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel


Well it’s happened. And now that it has we can predict with more certainty that the world as we have known it is changing, and it is probably not for the better. But wait, there may yet be some hope.
I’m referring to what happened in Paris, France last week and last year. There was just 1,188 kissers who showed up this past Thursday to try to break the Guinness World Records for the most people kissing on one place at one moment. It was far short as the record is still held by Budapest, where in 2005 they won it with 11,570 pairs of lips meeting. Or as Ross Perot would say “ Y’all listen to that big sucking sound.”
When the city known universally for romance and truffles loses to the city in which a Hungarian travel channel titled it "Budapest is a riot! That's why we love it!" and goulash, you know you are, as Harold Hill said , “in Trouble …….with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for….” Paris.
This also marks the one-year anniversary of the urban uprising in France. There was a series of riots and violent clashes, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings by youth groups. Starting in the Paris area, the unrest subsequently spread to other regions. The violence involved mostly French citizens with North African origins, although not all. These events led to strong debates about integration and discrimination in France. And this past March there was a “strike” by students in the country to protest proposed new legislation that would allow employers to fire people, under the age of 26, who were on the job during the first two years .
What, you might ask, do these two seemingly non-related events have to do with each other and what is the glimmer of hope that was mentioned? Bear with me.
The reports state the arson, car burnings, and other attacks so far seem to be centered in Muslim and African communities. In September 2005, a soaring 21.7% of 15- to 24-year-olds in France were unemployed. And of this it is estimated that 3o-50% in that group is Muslim. According to my math, using a median figure of 40% unemployed, comes to over ¾ of a million Muslims. That, by any standard, is a lot of potential pucker-uppers.
Now supposing these unemployed folks would have all participated in the “kiss-off”. This would mean that some of the Muslim ladies would have to lift the face-covering veil, known as a niqab, and some of the men would do likewise with their ski masks. With all these new pursed lips this mammoth smooch would resonate from the Palais Royal to Place Pigalle and the city would snatch the title back from the Hungarians just as quickly as you could say “Pass the paprika” (and that‘S noting to sneeze at).
With the attention, prominence, and approbation that Paris would receive would come the visitors, tourists, and those vicarious seekers of pleasure who take delight in being where the action was, and hoping for some themselves. I propose the mantra “If you kiss a lot, they will spend”. This great influx of sightseers would require more people to handle all the necessary work involved. Think of all the employment opportunities this new burgeoning market would require… travel agents; transportation; hospitality; food production, preparation, and serving; accounting; advertising; security; sanitation; entertainment; lip balm; to say nothing of health care (the BBC reports “ well over 5 million bacteria are exchanged in one long, lingering passionate kiss”), and the list goes on.
There, my friends, is a simple solution to a situation requiring no G8 summit conference. Think of it……..the simplicity of a kiss to change a whole economy and lead to social reform. So simple, it’s origin according to one version, comes from the transfer of pre-chewed food from a mother to her baby in primitive times and later to adults. The Indian culture believed there was a joining of souls when two people exchanged exhaled breath. And the Ingrid Bergman theory, "a kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous".
Regardless of how it came about the kiss is here to stay. So all the French government has to do is ask their citizens , “ Can’t we all just kiss together?”. And to propose to the Muslim community ( apologies to Oscar Hammerstein) “ditch that mask and lift that veil, you’ll get a lot of work and there’ll be no bail”. For without a coming together , France will become a playground for only the very well-to-do, where the biggest growth industries will be security and the Gendarmes.
END