Monday, May 27, 2019
The New York Times reported this weekend that the average American wedding last year cost $33,931. Wow! I read this just as we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary and, I must confess, we did not spend $25,470 (the 2003 equivalent of $33,931). In fact, 17 people attended our wedding, including the rabbi and us, and spending almost $1,500 per person would have been a level of vulgar excess more characteristic of a Trump or a Kardashian than even the incipient Upper West Side Power Couple.
. . .
The New York Times reported this weekend that the average American wedding last year cost $33,931. Wow! I read this just as we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary and, I must confess, we did not spend $25,470 (the 2003 equivalent of $33,931). In fact, 17 people attended our wedding, including the rabbi and us, and spending almost $1,500 per person would have been a level of vulgar excess more characteristic of a Trump or a Kardashian than even the incipient Upper West Side Power Couple.
. . .
I
learned the factoid above in reading what-I-alone-might-still-call the
society pages, a regular stop on my weekend information-gathering
rounds. Therein, I also came across a bride who "works
. . . as a senior experience designer at . . . a digital transformation
company." Will someone venture an explanation of that in English?
. . .
. . .
In
order to pay for that big wedding, you presumably need a job; someone
needs a job; your in-laws need a job. To get that job, a
counter-intuitive trend may have to be followed. "Superstar cities,
the nation’s economic powerhouses, hotbeds of
opportunity at the cutting edge of technological progress, are losing
people to other parts of the country." To be clear, this trend is
stratified. The onrush of college graduates to New York, San Francisco,
Seattle is forcing non-college graduates out, unable to meet the rising
cost of living. https://www.nytimes.com/
The
article is loaded with a wonderful collection of facts and figures,
such as a janitor is better off (financially) staying in the Deep South
than moving to Silicon Valley today, while a lawyer is much better off
making the move.
And, New York's total population shrank in 2018 for the second year in a row, except in the subway.
. . .
. . .
Another reason why it was hard to find time to leave the house this weekend was this article: "The College Dropout Crisis." https://www.nytimes.com/
This
provides comparisons of actual versus projected graduation rates among
368 colleges. An interesting fact is that the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas seemed to have the worst dropout rate, while Clark County,
Nevada, home of Las Vegas, had the highest rate of population growth in
the survey of cities above. Go figure.
. . .
. . .
After
all that good stuff in the weekend's paper, I was ready to rest today,
but it was not to be. The Metropolitan Diary is a Monday feature in the
New York Times, containing anecdotes about big city life, often
taking place on the the subways or sidewalks of the Holy Land. My big
mouth fell open when I read this entry: "In fall 1999, I was single and I
decided to have a party where single
men and women could meet. The caveat was that everyone I invited had to
bring an equally unattached friend, presumably someone they were not
romantically interested in."
I
did exactly that almost 2 decades earlier in 1981. I informally
labelled the event, They Were Expendable, borrowing the title from the
1945 movie about the exploits of a PT Boat squadron in the Pacific,
which included Lieutenant Junior Grade John F. Kennedy at one time.
I
was living in Turtle Bay, a neighborhood that I shared with Katherine
Hepburn and Stephen Sondheim, in the same building with Barry Beck, then
captain of the New York Rangers, and Ed Kranepol, longtime first
baseman for the New York Mets. That did not save the evening from being
a disaster. While I invited many eligible single people, male and
female (that's all you worried about back then), only Steve, a bright
young colleague whose last name I have forgotten, Linda, an acquaintance
whose last name I will charitably omit, and a young man whom Linda
brought, faithfully, but fruitlessly, respecting the purpose of the
evening, showed up. To underline my gross miscalculation and add to my
mortification, there was prompt delivery of the 50 BBQ chicken wings
that I ordered from Best Wingers, still in business at 711 Second
Avenue. I cannot recall, however, to which collection of widows and
orphans I forwarded the almost entirely undisturbed food package.
The
author of the squib in the newspaper, fortunately, had much better luck
and reported that she hosted a successful event, drat.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
[Clue] 65 Across - 1% of the body?
. . .
. . .
After
a meeting last night, I sent this message to a fellow-attendee: "I am
sorry for making a stupid, unfair and ill-informed remark." I received
this generous reply: "No apologies necessary. I am not sure what you are referring to; I took
no offense at anything said last night (or otherwise), my friend." So, next time, I will speak louder.
. . .
Jeanne
Friedman graduated CCNY in 1963 and headed west for graduate school and
eventually a career and a family. After decades apart, we have caught
up with each other several times on both coasts. Tonight, we had dinner
together at Pastrami Queen, 1125 Lexington Avenue, the best Kosher
delicatessen operating in the Holy Land at present. Maybe someone
should design an outfit for an occasion such as this, when someone gets a
chance to reconnect with her historical and spiritual roots. Sort of
like the Society of Creative Anachronism dressed up in medieval
costumes, jousting in Central Park.
The
three of us, my young bride included of course, approached the meal
strategically; I had warned the two women that the sandwiches were
particularly large. They shared a pastrami on rye ($18), while I had a
corned beef/chopped liver combo on rye ($23), giving 1/6 of it to each
of them. Various flavors of Dr. Brown's washed down the excellent
sandwiches and the shared large portion of well-done French fries
($7.75).
Jews
don't proselytize, which I consider a mistake. We sometimes give the
impression of smugly sitting back, waiting for you to come to us. In
any case, were I in charge, I would serve Pastrami Queen's corned beef
and pastrami at the rear of synagogues, requiring you to traverse the
allegedly sacred space to get to the good stuff, just as supermarkets
put the milk in the farthest corner from the front door.
. . .
A
combination of bad news and good news has produced what may be taken as
good news. The federal government's portion of the safety net has
frayed (bad news), while state and local governments have introduced or
improved paid parental leave and increased minimum wages (good news).
This has produced a notable increase in the employment rate of single mothers. https://nyti.ms/2KbIUhk
By the way, the venues where you find these progressive social and economic policies are typically governed by Democrats, because Republicans are too busy listening for fetal heartbeats.
Friday, May 31, 2019
It's
that time of year again. The unstructured Jews of West End Synagogue
head to the country for a weekend, taking the opportunity to quibble,
nit pick and split hairs out of doors, for a change. Yours truly is
managing this event, as I have year after year, which is why this essay
is being delivered early, the sooner to be forgotten.
Answer - SENATOR
No comments:
Post a Comment