Revisiting A Mother’s Day Tribute

Posted on May 12, 2012
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A Tribute to Two Unique and Wonderful Moms, Julie and Jennie

Julie4 JennieandEmmaonthefarm

Pictured above: Julia M. Joel (top) and Jennie Pezzetti (and sister on the bottom)

I wrote this Mother’s Day reflection last year shortly after Julie passed away and even though time has passed, I still miss both moms. I hope you enjoy this little tribute to Julie and Jennie.

It’s “Mothers Day,” a day of celebration and reflection during which our families honor the most important person in our lives. This year, the day has taken on a more bittersweet and somber meaning for Virginia and me because my mother-in-law, Julia Joel, passed away on April 22nd at our home here in Kenmore, WA.  Julie was 87 and had been living with us for the last year. Julie and I had grown incredibly close. Truly, she had become my “second” mother (as my mom passed away in 2004).  I had no idea that when we agreed to have Julie live with us I would be devoting a lot of time as her caretaker. Let me just say that having Julie here was challenging but in spite of her many health issues, helping her was the most humanizing and humbling experiences of my life.

Julie2

Julie had that classic “movie actress” look in a lot of her pictures and having grown up in New Jersey she also had a cosmopolitan disposition. As a “Jersey Girl” she could also be pretty tough when she wanted to be! Over the years I was the subject of her sharp tongue on more than a few occasions.  Yet, after knowing her for over 30 years we grew to love each other….Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? She was an excellent cook with a keen palate and taught me quite a number of dishes that reflected her Hungarian background. She made the most wicked macaroni and cheese ever and anyone who has eaten my chocolate chip cookies is enjoying her recipe (they are irresistible). Until her failing eyesight made it impossible, Julie was one of those people who devoured mystery novels, did crossword puzzles and slaughtered all opponents in what she liked to call “a friendly game of Scrabble.” She was also a rabid baseball fan (Go Mariners!!!!) and she is the person responsible for introducing me to the game. She was a hoot to take to a ball game!

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Julie3

I’ll confess, now that Julie has passed away, our house has been really, really quiet and I’m feeling incredibly empty not having her here. I really do miss making her coffee in the mornings and arguing with her because she wouldn’t eat enough. I also miss her afternoon court dates with Judge Judy (which she never missed!) and watching an occasional old flick with her (she adored Tyrone Powers).  It’s never nice to say goodbye to the people we love. It hurts bad and it the pain lasts for a long time; nevertheless, I’m grateful that over the last 30 years I was able to have what can only be described as a wonderful relationship with my mother-in-law that I’ll cherish forever. Thanks Julie………….As she would say: Play Ball!

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Julia Matilda Joel

3/5/1924  – 4/22/2011

…and Jennie

Jennie Emma Pezzetti

The lady pictured above (circa 1946) is my mother, Jennie Pezzetti. You would never know it by looking at her, but my mom was one tough woman. Born in Clinton, IN (Feb. 13, 1923) to Italian immigrants, the small family moved to Cle Elum, WA where they cultivated a small farm for many years until moving to the Bay Area in the early 1940’s. My aunt refers to her sister as their father’s only son, because my mother did all the farm work: milking, bailing hay and tilling the land with a two-furrow plow! Even so my mom always said that her happiest days were spent on the farm with the animals, picking wild mushrooms and spending time in the hills near her home. Her connection with Cle Elum remained strong even though our family moved a number of times over the years (Reno NV, Burburnett TX, Layton UT).

Giuseppe & Giovanna Pezzetti

This is a picture of my grandparents: Guiseppe & Giovanna Pezzetti at the farm in Cle Elum, WA.

Shortly before my mother died in 2004 I took her to her 62nd high school reunion. It was amazing to see some 40+ depression-age elders reunite in a world that is much different from the one they knew in the 1930’s. My mom told me that her family truly was poor in the modern sense: no indoor plumbing, no modern equipment, no electricity, not even a radio. She would occasionally mention that people would be happier if they weren’t chasing after a bunch of stuff they don’t need. Yes, my mom the philosopher.

JennieGiovannaEmma

My mom died on September 13, 2004 at her home outside Sparks, NV. I consider myself fortunate to have called her the Friday morning she passed away. In true form she told me it was beautiful outside and she was going to spend the day in her garden. A cultivator to the end, she was found that afternoon in her garden, unconscious. She passed away 3 days later at the age of 81. I really miss her.

Jennie (Pezzetti) Lupori

2/13/1923 – 9/13/2004

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And then the Adventure Began………

Posted on May 11, 2012
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Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.*

Our cross country adventure began 14 years ago today and as I reflect on that day I can remember the anxiety and exhilaration Virginia and I felt as we locked up our little house and realized that we weren’t coming back for almost 4 months! It was just us, our tandem bicycle and about 90lbs of gear. And think about this: we didn’t own a cell phone, we had no computer technology (except for our little bicycle odometer) and we didn’t have a digital camera or video camera. One thing we did have was a passion to hit the road and have a “real adventure.”

As you can see, our “rig” consisted of a custom-made Rodriguez tandem which was constructed by R+E Cycles in 1997. We were pulling a one-wheeled trailer called a BOB (beast of burden) and we carried all our gear in watertight saddlebags (panniers) manufactured by Ortlieb which is a German company that makes some of the best travel bags in the world. Our gear NEVER got wet during the trip in spite of the fact that we often found ourselves in some incredibly terrible weather conditions (more about that later). In fact, I believe our choice of panniers was critical in making our journey safe and comfortable. There’s nothing more miserable than being soaked to the bone and not having a dry change of clothing at the end of a long day in the saddle. In fact, it can be quite dangerous to be perpetually waterlogged on the road.

Once we mustered up our courage, we got on the road at about 11:00 and began our trip. We rode from Shoreline north along roads that we had ridden many times over the years so our first day was uneventful. We ended the day at around 7:00PM at the small logging community of Darrington. We had bicycled 75 miles! We ended the day by finding the nearby state campground, pitched our tent and had time to relax before turning in. We were both beat!

There are a couple of things I still laugh about when I think about our tour: I can’t begin to tell you how worried our families were about us doing this trip. Some of our bicycle friends understood what we were doing, but our parents and good friends wondered about our sanity. Then there was the idea that some people had that we should carry a gun because “you never know who you’re going to run into out there.” We never considered bringing a gun. If we did another tour tomorrow, we still wouldn’t bring one……it just doesn’t make sense. Oh, and you’re not going to believe this: Virginia and I had NEVER really gone camping together before this tour……….really. We practiced setting up the tent and did a lot of planning, but this tour was the first time I had done any camping since Boy Scouts (and that was back in the late 1970′s!!!! Virginia (my Jersey Girl) hardly knew what a tent was! Needless to say, we became real pros during this trip.

*Charles Dudley Warner

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Across the U.S.A. on a Bicycle Built for Two!

Posted on May 10, 2012
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Our Cross-Country Adventure Begins – May 11, 1998


Virgina and I purchased our first tandem bicycle (a Burley Bongo) in 1990 at R+E Cycles in Seattle, WA. Up until that year we fought a continuous battle with each other. We both loved to ride our bicycles, but whenever we rode together Mr. Testosterone (that would be me) was always pushing Miss “I’m-a-quality-of-life-cyclist” to go faster, push harder and for Christ’s sake…..”KEEP UP WITH ME!” As you can imagine, we would generally return from our rides together frustrated and angry because what should have been a lot of fun was turned into a competition by yours truly. I was a jerk!

But that all ended the day we marched into R+E Cycles which was and still is one of the most well-respected manufacturers and sellers of tandem bicycles in America. We saw that Burley Bongo tandem in the shop and we both knew that all of our he-gets-to-the-top-of-the-hill-before-me problems were over. From that day forward, when we go cycling we get everywhere at exactly the same time. Riding a tandem bicycle became one of the greatest joys in our lives. In fact, we love tandem cycling so much that beginning in the early 1990′s we began to plan what would be one of our greatest adventures and accomplishments: We decided to ride a tandem across the United States! 

After 7 years of planning and training and dreaming and contemplating our little expedition, on May 11, 1998 (it was Mother’s Day that year) with peonies blooming, a cool wind blowing and a cloudy sky threatening us, we embarked on a tour that would take us over 4500 miles across the United States on what is known in cycling circles as the Northern Tier Adventure Cycling route. The dark line on the map (above) shows the route we took.

Over the next several months, I’m going to revisit our adventure by going back over our pictures and journals which I’ll share here on my blog. After 14 years A LOT OF THINGS HAVE CHANGED in our lives and in the world. I thought it would be interesting and fun to go back and reflect on what was an amazing, and at times an incredibly intense bicycle tour. We had no idea what we were going to encounter which made the whole thing sort of scary. But that’s what a good adventure is all about isn’t it? I hope you decide to get in the saddle with us as we retrace our ride across this enormous country.

 

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Rory Sutherland – Adding Value Through Perception

Posted on May 9, 2012
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Most Problems are Problems of Perception

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Watching Rory Sutherland do a presentation is like eating a rich, delicious, goopy dessert. He’s a cheeky, rotund British Advertising guru who has a wonderful ability to take us on little “marketing” journeys that literally change the way we think about “value.” Recently, I’ve watched several of his videos from the Ted Talks series and they are truly fascinating discussions. Essentially, Sutherland believes that “perspective is everything.” To quote from the Ted summary:

“The circumstances of our lives may matter less than how we see them. “Reframing” is the key to happiness. Coming from an “ad man” this might seem an obvious statement, but I can’t help but think that Victor Frankl would have a lot to say about Sutherland’s notions regarding perception and it’s influence on our sense of reality.  Oh, one more thing: it just so happens that Sutherland was once a Classics teacher…….well, so much for the “perception” that all those liberal arts students are not “marketable!”

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There’s a “Financial Literacy” Crisis in Our Schools

Posted on April 29, 2012
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April is “Financial Literacy” Month…..Who Knew?

One of most captivating jobs I ever had was working for Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Seattle (CCCS) in the 1990’s. I was a “financial educator” which meant that I conducted money management and credit seminars for CCCS clients to help them get back on track financially. I also spent a great deal of time doing “life skills” seminars at high schools throughout Puget Sound. Over the years I’ve spoken with literally thousands of young people about basic budgeting and credit, the cost of owning and operating a vehicle and I even taught students how to be a thrifty grocery shopper. I always thought that if I could help even a small percentage of the students understand how to manage their financial lives better, I was doing my part in making the world a better place. As it turns out, the U.S. school system should start cloning more people like me because the schools seem to have forsaken financial literacy programs in the 21st Century. It’s ironic, because money management and financial services have become far more complicated than they used to be. Why are we seeing statistics like this?

A recent study by the International Journal of Business and Social Science which looked at financial literacy and credit cards on five American Universities reveals some disturbing facts. Did you know?

  1. 70% of American college students have credit cards
  2. 5 of every 6 of those students do not know their card’s interest rate
  3. 75% of them do not know their late payment charges
  4. 70% do not know what their over-balance-limit fees might be
  5. 90% of college students who hold credit cards are carrying a balance on their card

And if that’s not disturbing enough, nearly all of the 725 students who took the survey were business majors! Oh, and here are two more “fun” facts:

According to the Council for Economic Education’s 2011 Survey of the States study and a Charles Schwab survey of 1132 American teenagers:

College seniors who graduated in 2010 owed an average of $25,250 in student loan debt, up 5% from 2009. And even though the Credit Card Act of 2009 does not allow those under 21 to have a credit card unless they have an independent income, college freshmen are bringing $1585 in credit card debt to college.

How did we get here?

When I was doing the research for this post, I was struck by the fact that virtually EVERYONE (e.g. parents, teachers, business leaders, the Treasury Department and the kids themselves) feels that basic financial education is one of those “essential” life skills that should be taught in school. Yet, there are a lot of critics out there who claim that financial literacy education doesn’t work. Some say that there simply isn’t enough time to fit this material into an already over-filled curriculum. Others actually blame the Credit Card Act of 2009 claiming that it removes the incentive for 17-year-olds to learn about credit because, like pensions, they don’t have them and simply don’t care. And yet another excuse: Experts say today’s financial world is too complex for anyone to master! One of the most interesting studies that CreditCards.com found is that cardholder agreements are written at a 12th grad level. If you read that report you’ll discover that 4 out of 5 ADULTS can’t understand them.

Ultimately, the most obvious problem is this: In 2009, 15 states required a personal finance course to be offered in high school. Today only 13 states require a class in personal finance.

Wow, talk about “doom and gloom” on the financial literacy front! I honestly had to think long and hard about what the critics have to say. Are they right? Is teaching financial literacy in the school system a fruitless endeavor? Did I waste a lot of time an energy going out to the schools? In the end, is “financial literacy” really all that important?

The answer is YES! It’s incredibly important and as a country, we need to figure out how to do more of it, not less. Here’s what I think:

I look at financial literacy as being more important than ever. It’s like taking a driver’s education class. Almost everyone drives and learning the rules of the road is crucial to the health and safety of everyone. Everyone has a financial life and we all know what happens when we have money problems….a lot of people suffer.

  1. The reason why financial literacy classes don’t work is because the teachers in whose lap these courses fall have no expertise or even relevant life experience to teach them. I can’t tell you the number of times I marched into a classroom to discover that the educator him/her self had a mountain of credit card debt, student loans and hardly a clue about solving their own problems.
  2. Look when only 25% of the states require financial education in high schools, how can we expect this sort of literacy to have any traction in our society? It’s analogous to immunizing large populations against particular diseases. I believe financial literacy is one of the best possible “antibiotics” against the disease of financial illiteracy. The problem is, not enough of the herd is being immunized.
  3. We need to start being more honest with ourselves about navigating in the financial world of the 21st Century. Many young adults today are experiencing financial problems because they never learned about managing their personal finances in school or from their parents. It’s simply absurd to believe that we all don’t pay the price when other people default on their loans and can’t pay their debts.
  4. And yes, parents need to make sure they have “the talk” with their kids about money. I’ve often thought that it’s the parents who should attend financial literacy classes rather than their kids. It remains one of those taboo subjects that people don’t like to talk about, and yet it’s one of the most important things our children need to understand.

In the end, making everyone more financially literate is one of the most effective, least expensive ways of ensuring our economy functions properly. Financial literacy doesn’t happen through osmosis. As a society we need to renew our commitment to teaching young people how the world really works and start offering more opportunities to learn these basic skills.

 

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History Repeating Itself – 21st Century Alchemy in the United States

Posted on April 27, 2012
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Il Bragadino is Alive and Well

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Today the United States resembles Venice at the end of the late 16th century. At that time Venice was the center of the economic universe. Powerful, bloated and enjoying a veritable monopoly on trade, Venetians felt as if the “good times” would never end. Then as Fate would have it, the New World was discovered and power suddenly shifted to Western Europe.  What happened next is precisely what has been going on in the United States in recent years: Venice went broke. Families went bankrupt, banks failed and Venice never recovered its position of power. As Robert Greene writes in his excellent book “The 48 Laws of Power”:

“Now noble families went broke in Venice, and banks began to fold. A kind of gloom and depression settled over the citizens. They had known a glittering past – had either lived through it or heard stories about it from their elders. The closeness of the glory years was humiliating. The Venetians half believed that the goddess Fortune was only playing a joke on them, and that the old days would soon return. For the time being, though what could they do?”

Here’s where the self-proclaimed Alchemist, Il Bragadino entered the picture. Bragadino was a masterful deceiver who saw huge opportunity in selling hope to Venice. He so successfully convinced the city government and noble families that he could turn lead into gold, that they promised him a fortune and housed him in luxury. He lived like a king until he was finally exposed as a fraud and fled to Germany where he was later beheaded (deservedly so).

This story is incredibly relevant to our lives in 21st Century America. Every minute of the day we are bombarded with lies by a huge array of modern “Il Bragadinos.” It’s a never-ending barrage of propaganda by Insurance Companies telling us they can protect us from mahem, the Credit Card Companies claiming we’ll get money back by going into debt or corporations and politicians promising us a “transformation” that will suddenly create millions of new jobs.  Just as it was in Venice in 1580, there is a “alchemy fever” in America today. The only difference is that today we have a Mass Media more than happy to spin corporate and government lies into gold and an increasingly frustrated public more than willing to believe the lies.

Those of you interested in learning more about this story and the idea of playing to people’s fantasies, you should pick up Robert Greene’s book “The 48 Laws of Power.”

The48LawsofPower

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The Folly of “Marketizing” Everything

Posted on April 20, 2012
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“Skyboxification” Is My Favorite New Word!

The political philosopher and Harvard Professor Michael Sandel just wrote an excellent article on the Huffington Post entitled, “What Money Can’t Buy: The Skyboxification of American Life. Sandel, who is renowned for his long running “Justice” course at Harvard is well-known for his belief that we are born with an intrinsic tie to our families and society and that we cannot break these ties. He is regarded by some as a communitarian and a teacher who loves to use the Socratic method in his seminars.

In this insightful essay about the “Skyboxification” of American Life he calls into question the value of “marketizing” everything in our lives:

“Of course, people disagree about the norms appropriate to many of the domains that markets have invaded — family life, friendship, sex, procreation, health, education, nature, art, citizenship, sports, and the way we contend with the prospect of death. But that’s the point: once we see that markets and commerce change the character of the good they touch, we have to ask where markets belong — and where they don’t.”

He asks: Do we want a society where everything is up for sale? Recently, I watched a not-so-great movie entitled The Girl from Monday which poked-at this idea of marketizing  everything. In this strange future, America’s citizens become bar-coded commodities and even basic wants such as sexual activity boosts one’s buying power. Even though the movie wasn’t so great, the notion that everything we do will become commodified and rated for its market value didn’t seem so outlandish given the direction in which our world is moving.

Below I have included a brief video of a lecture given by Sandel in 2009 called Morality and the Free Market. He asks the question: “Why pay children to get good grades?” I highly recommend you watch this video because the answer might surprise you:

I wanted to end this post by quoting one of the commentators from Sandel’s essay on HP. I think chinawanderer really nails it:

The very first thing we need to do is stop applying the language of the market to areas that it should not be applied to.
Stop saying consumers of health care–say patients.
Stop saying the marketplace of ideas–say the search for truth, or philosophy, or discussion.
Stop saying cultural products–say art, literature, film/movie, theater.
Stop calling greed anything positive–refer to it as a sin or something immoral (Which was how it was viewed by most cultures in most times until the rise of Reagan and the so-called conservatives).
Stop equating education with job training.
This is only a start. If we can change the language we use, it will change how we think about these things. The other thing that would be helpful is if we stopped acting like the only measure of value is money.

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“Queen to Play” – A Subtle Yet Awe-Inspiring Film

Posted on April 15, 2012
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Pawn Becomes Queen

There are far too many movies produced these days that view the idea of personal transformation and self fulfillment strictly through the prism of wealth or power. The plots, main characters and special effects are tediously “perfect” or bigger-than-life. The characters are rarely “ordinary” people struggling with day-to-day problems or insecurities (especially a lot of the nonsense produced by Hollywood).  It’s a real treat to watch a movie that portrays the ordinary in an extraordinary way.

Queen to Play is an admirable film that tells the story of Helene, a cleaning lady on the Island of Corsica (the shots of the island take your breath away), who becomes enchanted with the game of chess and whose perspective is transformed when she realizes that she’s actually a talented player. She becomes deeply involved with chess when one of her clients, a reclusive and capricious ex-patriot American doctor played magnificently by Kevin Kline, takes her on as a student. Their student-teacher relationship is, in many ways, as fiery and complex as her relationship with her husband who is a a good person struggling with his own demons as a working class man. He’s trying desperately  to make a better life for his family and is disturbed by Helene’s obsession with chess. In fact, the small community in which she lives gossips about her relationship with Dr. Kroger.

Ultimately, this is a story about the transformation of a woman who is chided by Dr. Kroger to quit apologizing (“It’s shows weakness.”) to a woman who realizes that a life without risk is a life without possibilities. The great thing about this film is that it doesn’t take explosions, special effects or big box office weight to tell this powerful story. It’s the game of chess which is probably one of the most “democratic” of games.

Throughout the film there are numerous references to stepping out of our comfort zone, to taking risks and embracing the unknown even when surrounded by the ordinary or, as in this case, confined to an island. Wonderful things can happen in our lives when we recognize our inner strengths and gifts. And most importantly, the greatest transformations are the ones we create within ourselves. This really is a good film that I highly recommend. You’re going to love it!

I would like to say a couple of words about Kevin Klein. I was really impressed by the fact that he actually became fluent in French to play this role. In a sense, his challenge in “brushing up” on the language was a perfect example of “taking a risk” to achieve something truly special. If you want to learn more about his adventure in preparing for this role click on the picture below which will take you to an interesting NPR story.

 

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David McCandless Shows Us How to Visualize Information

Posted on April 13, 2012
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Can Information Be Beautiful?

Have you ever wondered what a terabyte or a gigabyte looks like? Have you ever wondered about all the dietary supplements out there and which are “the best?” Today I was listening to one of my favorite NPR radio programs, “To the Best of our Knowledge” from Wisconsin Public Radio. The host, Jim Fleming, was speaking with David McCandless who is a fascinating journalist. His specialty is “visualizing data,” which means that he compiles HUGE amounts of information about particular topics, ideas, fact and figures and compresses them into pictures that allow us to absorb the information visually. The picture above is a well-known work by McCandless which compares the Left and Right philosophies that exist in the United States. I highly recommend you listen to the radio program by going to this link: http://ttbook.org/book/david-mccandless-beautiful-information.

If you want to watch a great presentation by McCandless, check out the Ted Talks below. This is really great stuff:

““By visualizing information, we turn it into a landscape that you can explore with your eyes, a sort of information map. And when you’re lost in information, an information map is kind of useful.”  David McCandless

 

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Being American – Revisiting Our Fundamental Values

Posted on April 11, 2012
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The Fundamental Values of American Culture – Let’s Dust Them Off

We Americans are living at a time in our national history that is challenging many of our firmly held beliefs about our society, our culture and our values . I have a sense that many Americans are overwhelmed and manipulated by a deluge of information from the Mainstream and Social Media, from a constant flow of text messages on their “hand-held-devices,” and a never-ending barrage of corporate advertising….it simply never stops! I don’t know about you, but I “feel” in my gut that 21st Century Americans have allowed themselves to be defined by “corporate” values rather than human values.

One of the most disturbing manifestations of a “confused” perspective of who we are and what we value, was on display during many of the Republican presidential debates this last year. Suffice it to say that if,  at some distant time in the future, aliens unearth the digital recordings of these ridiculous displays of nonsense  they will scratch their antennae and wonder, “who the hell were these creatures called Americans?”

Sometimes it helps to stop for a moment, take a deep breath and do a little navel-gazing. Just when I was beginning to wonder if we Americans have totally lost our marbles, I was reminded that American culture has developed a unique character based on some fundamental values and beliefs and that it’s helpful to take a look at them to see where we may, or may not have gone off track.

I’m currently taking a fascinating class for my ESL certification called “Cultural Variables in Teaching English.” Our first assignment was to read  a fascinating essay written by L. Robert Kohls, Executive Director of the Washington International Center. It is entitled “The Values Americans Live By.” The essay was written for the benefit of non-Americans to help them understand why Americans are the way they are:

“Most Americans would have a difficult time telling you, specifically, what the values are which Americans live by. They have never given the matter any thought.
Even if Americans had considered this question, they would probably, in the end, decide not to answer in terms of a definitive list of values. The reason for this decision is
itself one very American value – their belief that every individual is so unique that the same list of values could never be applied to all, or even most, of their fellow citizens. Although Americans may think of themselves as being more varied and unpredictable than they actually are, it is significant that they think they are…. This has caused us to try to look at Americans through the eyes of our visitors. We feel confident that the values listed in this booklet describe most (but not all) Americans. Furthermore, we can say that if the foreign visitor really understood how deeply ingrained these 13 values are in Americans, he or she would then be able to understand 95% of American actions — actions which might otherwise appear strange, confusing, or unbelievable when evaluated from the perspective of the foreigner’s own society and its values.”

The 13 Values That Americans Live By

As you read down this list (assuming you’re American) think about how embedded these values are in our cultural DNA. On a scale of 1-10, how do you think these particular values apply to you personally and to American culture as a whole? At the side of the list I’ve posted a truly unique representation of the values by a Missoula-based artist named Sam Berry who has portrayed the values in a number of paintings called “Fathers of American Values.” Just click on the picture to see each value separately….I think you’ll enjoy them:

 

1) Personal Control Over the Environment

2) Change

3) Time and its Control

4) Equality/Egalitarianism

5) Individual and Privacy

6) Self-Help Control

7) Competition and Free Enterprise

8)  Future Orientation

9) Action/Work Orientation

10) Informality

11) Directness, Opening and Honesty

12) Practicality and Efficiency

13) Materialism/Acquisitiveness

 

Once you click on the picture above, select one of the “fathers” and it will open up a larger picture of the print with an explanation of each value. I think Sam did a great job in interpreting the values described in the essay. He asked me to let you know also that he wholeheartedly embraces the value of “free enterprise” and that these prints are for sale! You can reach Sam at: www.samberryart.com.

 How I Wrote About “Informality”

“There is no doubt in my mind that many cultures find American “informality” difficult to understand and, frankly, a bit rude. I believe the only other place where informality is similar is Australia where I found the Auzzies to be incredibly friendly and prone to speaking to each other in informal tones. On the flip side, my experience in Europe tells a very different story: As with many cultures, even the language itself is designed to make distinctions between formal and in- formal relationships (something our language does not emphasize). I have been gently corrected” by my Italian cousins about greetings, about using the formal with certain ages and “classes” of People. This is changing there, but it’s a distinction that I actually find refreshing. In some ways, I think being a little more formal at work and in social settings “raises the bar” and injects a level of professionalism and care in society.”

So, Tell Me What You Think About Our American Values!

I’m sincerely interested to hear what you think about the values that Kohls describes. I think it’s important to know what makes us up culturally and it’s quite healthy to spend some time pondering the values that drive us to be American.

 

 

 

 

 

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