Is this what we want? Have we rejected our pluralistic roots? Do we now favor a narrowed ideology, requiring everyone around us to fit into…
(Shopping) At home for the holidays
When I was a kid, my mother would applaud retailers like Nordstrom who held all Christmas advertising and decoration until after Thanksgiving. Nordstrom’s 120-year-old tradition…
A bitter pill
I yelled at the people who run my pharmacy this week. Well, it wasn’t exactly yelling but it was definitely an angry tirade. Staffing shortages…
Sullenberger wasn’t the first
Two other pilots beat him to it Occasionally, circumstances conspire to rob me of my writing time. This is a circumspect way to say I…
Let me explain why I’m worried
It’s not the ones who take firearms seriously, it’s the others Just so we’re clear, I do not have a problem with responsible, legal gun…
Disasters, death, curmudgeons and a little ghoul
An air crash, a nightclub fire, Mike Royko and me “Mom, what’s a curmudgeon?” asked 11-year-old me. I’m pretty sure I pronounced it “CARmudgeon” and…
They’re right — it’s a moral issue
Conservatives say mass shootings are a moral issue and they’re correct In a darkly perverse way, it’s appropriate this one happened at a church. No,…
The lie of the good-guy-with-a-gun
I got mugged one night. It was nearing 3 a.m. and I was walking from my office to my apartment, a distance of probably 15…
A picture worth a thousand rounds
Sometimes, the story lies in what the photograph doesn’t show This innocuous photograph could tell any of a thousand stories. A young woman seems to…
Five daily disses that demonstrate white privilege
AKA, “Did you see that?” EDITORIAL NOTE: I am pleased and proud to introduce my first guest editorialist. Using the nom de plume Super Mrs.…
Questioning Roe
No answer to satisfy the masses I have been dreading writing this column, although I’ve known I had to write it eventually. My reticence stems…
An exclusive club
Reflections on the blessings of Mothers’ Day A little over 21 years ago, my soon-to-be brother-in-law told me I was about to become a member…
The upper hand
A transit driver proves who’s boss Three obnoxious teenage males were standing at the back of a nearly-empty bus one evening in a major U.S.…