And so Steve called me this week, distraught over the disruptions and deprivations that most certainly lie ahead. He also lamented what we all fear the future will not hold: economic opportunity. That's what you get for being such a foolish optimist.
I reminded him that the tide had been going out on that for years -- pop culture is explicit in its preference for the state over the people. This made him even more depressed.
"Do you have any advice?" he pleaded. "How do I come to terms?"
Perhaps drawing too much on the loss-of-republic aphorism, I only had one piece of advice:
"Forget about it. Whatever you thought you had, forget it was there."
This reminded Steve of his infamous trip to New York several years ago -- a trip clouded by the fact that Steve lost his wallet as he got off the plane.
"That's the same thing you told me when I was at your house depressed because I lost all that mad money I had saved for partying in New York."
I didn't realize it at first, but that was exactly what my advice to Steve throughout that weekend: forget the wallet, forget the money, forget what we were going to do, let's do something else.
Which is our exact situation now. Scaled up to the national level. As then, it's the only advice I can offer. Forget it. Do something else. Still doesn't feel adequate. It's not adequate.
In the meantime, I'm asking Cookie to post a blog challenge. Please post your answers in complete sentences. Grammar and punctuation will be counted in your grade.