Random thoughts on the passing scene for this shiny brand-new year:
2010 is NOT the first year of the new decade. It is the LAST year of the old decade. How do I know this? Reason the first: our calendar has no "Year Zero." We go straight from 1 BC to 1 AD. Yes, folks, that's right: "AD," or "Anno Domine," literally "in the year of our Lord," is the year of Jesus' birth. When he wasn't yet born, it was 1 "BC" ("before Christ"). Once He was born, it instantly became 1 AD. He wasn't a year old until His first birthday, but His first appearance on this earth was the first "Anno Domine."
Reason the second: one does NOT count to ten by saying "0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9." One counts to ten by saying "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10." Note that "ten" comes at the END of the sequence, not the beginning. Note that we are now in "twenty-ten," the operative word being "ten." IT'S THE END OF THE CURRENT DECADE, NOT THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ONE.
Reason the third: Arthur C. Clarke, no intellectual slouch he, called his book "Two-Thousand-One" and not "Two-Thousand" for a very good reason. He knew that 2001 was the beginning of the new millennium, not 2000, which was, in fact, the end of the old one.
Observation the first: when did our schools get so bad at or lazy about teaching such fundamental counting techniques? And what does that mean for our desire to continue to be the world's leader in technology and scientific advancement when we can't even get something this simple correct?
Observation the second: even NPR had it wrong. All weekend, NPR shows were full of both retrospectives covering "the last decade" and speculations concerning "the new decade." When even NPR is getting it wrong, the battle has been lost. My heart breaks for the sake of the future.
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Please tell me I'm not the only person who is troubled by the underlying message of "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer." If you're different, it's OK for everyone else to make fun of you and to ostracize you. Worse, when what makes you different turns out to be advantageous, it's OK for everyone else to use your difference for their advantage, and you're supposed to go along and be grateful that you are now an "accepted" member of the "in" crowd. Which status would be snatched away in a second if you either stopped allowing yourself to be used or if you expressed anything other than 100% gratitude for everyone else's "beneficence" towards you.
Bah! Humbug! Indeed.
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The major sport of the past 10 days (other than dancing around in relief that Nebraska is back after the Huskers shellacked the Arizona Wildcats 33-0 in the Holiday Bowl) has been taking pot-shots at snow removal crews in the Metro area. I refuse to join in. Those people worked long and hard, probably missing Christmas Day dinner with their families (amongst other important aspects of the holiday celebrations), in a monumental effort to cope with a total snowfall over the past two weeks that outpaced most entire winters since the mid-70s.
But all that people seem to be concerned about is that (1) their street wasn't plowed out at once; and (2) the snowplow crews were pushing snow back into their driveways that they'd just shoveled. I have no sympathy for them. Major arterials and emergency routes have to be opened and kept clear first; the residential neighborhoods are a lower priority. That's life. If you don't want to be plowed out last, move to a location along an emergency route. Oh . . . but then you'd be on a busy street and not off in some quiet cul-de-sac somewhere. Grow up, people. You can't have it both ways.
And by the way--your driveways would not have been plowed back in if you hadn't shoveled your snow out into the street in the first place. You don't want your driveway plowed back in after a storm? Shovel your snow up onto your yard, not out into the street. Good grief! What a bunch of whiners and moaners!
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Bad enough that Christmas decorations are now up before Halloween in many retail establishments. Bad enough that we are pummelled with TV commercials and print ads to "buy, buy, buy" as if that were the reason for the holiday season. What's worse is that everything grinds to a complete stop on Christmas Day. Christmas Day should be the beginning of the celebration, not the end of it! "The Twelve Days of Christmas" start on Christmas Day and go until Epiphany (or Twelfth Night) Eve. Not only should we do more to keep the real reasons for the season foremost in our minds and hearts, we should try to spread the joy throughout the season as it was originally designed to be. Keep your lights and decorations up and on until at least Epiphany (January 6th). Listen to Christmas music till then, too. Don't just stop, turn away, and go on to the next buying occasion, despite all the store ads now appearing for Valentine's Day candy and gifts. Please!
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