September 2019 One day in the mid-50s, my father was sitting with his book at the dining room table in our two-family house in Allston. The doorbell rang and a guy probably in his 50s came up the stairs to the hall in our second-floor apartment. When he got there, he said “Fred sent me.”…
Category: Social Issues
Telecommuting will save time, money and CO2
July, 2019 When I was growing up in the 50s, my mother supported a family of five by working from home, telemarketing. She had no computer, no Internet, and no communications system. She had a heavy black phone with a rotary dial. She sat at one end of the dining room table for five or…
We need to train ourselves to think ahead
May, 2018 Failure to make a small investment now can lead to serious problems later that can take a long time to fix and cost a lot more money. The rail line from Framingham to Boston is an excellent example of this failing. in the early 50s, when I was around ten, my father, in…
Why every young American should serve their country
November 2017 As I was digging through some old files the other day, I came across a 20-inch by 10-inch black and white photo of my 1965 graduating class from the Army’s clerk-typist school in Fort Polk, Louisiana. There I was, young and physically fit, with my temporary corporal stripes, standing with the most…
Before you look for racism, look for tribalism
January, 2015 The New York Times Upshot section recently reported on research done over the years showing what they called “unconscious racism.” Several studies were cited showing, for example, that resumes with black-sounding names were 50% less likely to get call backs than the exact same resumes with white-sounding names. –Doctors shown identical patient histories…