Tom Purcell Columns category, Page 8
Tom Purcell: Covid-19 obscures so many ways 2020 is best year ever
As challenging a year as 2020 has been, we still should be thankful that it has been the best year in human history to be alive. Consider: In 1920, according to the book “Enlightenment Now,” the average person spent 11.5 hours each week doing laundry. By 2014, he or she...
Tom Purcell: America 2020 — good time for a nice long sleep
“It’s a miracle!” said the doctor. “You’ve just awakened from a coma after a terrible accident in October 2016, but you’re doing well, all things considered!” “I’ve been out for more than four years?” said the patient. “That’s right,” said the doctor. “You must have several questions.” “You bet, Doc!...
Tom Purcell: However this election turns out, you’ll still have your vote and voice
It’s calm as I write this, the day before the 2020 general election. I hope and pray that the outcome, whatever it may be, is accepted calmly — though I worry it may not be. Americans’ growing divisiveness is concerning, but there’s one element of this election that’s worth celebrating:...
Tom Purcell: Traditional Halloween fun pales in face of 2020 reality
Halloween is a huge letdown this year. I love modern Halloween traditions. I love the sweet smell of autumn, the chilly air and the camaraderie of friends around a roaring campfire. I love hayrides, Honeycrisp apples and the clever, hilarious costumes my left-brained accountant and engineer friends come up with....
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,”...
