Every now and then, big ideas for important essays are not to be found. Not that there aren’t incredibly important things happening all around us—war, economic crisis and debt default, pathological lying by new cross-dressing members of Congress—all of this should provide an essayist with plenty to ramble on about. What keeps me from such weighty topics this day is the amount of writing I’ve been doing professionally lately, and a sense that I want to rest my brain a little. Not wanting to disappoint you—my faithful readers and subscribers—I therefore offer the following bon mots for you to consider.
Tom Brady. Tom Brady is out of the playoffs and from what I’ve been reading, his time in Tampa is over. At 46, he is several years past when most have given up on the NFL, but with some residual talent—certainly enough to start somewhere—he is considering his next move. I do not understand Tom Brady, and perhaps the ability to understand Tom Brady is as rare as talents like Tom Brady are. Tom Brady won five Super Bowls with the New England Patriots—sufficient to go down in history as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. And with (reportedly) the hard-won support of his wife (at the time), he packed up and went to Tampa—where he proceeded to win another Super Bowl. But that wasn’t enough either. What I don’t understand about Tom Brady is the whole “I am willing to sacrifice my marriage to an accomplished and beautiful woman, and my position as full-time father of several children in order to keep doing what has kept me from begin around as husband and father for decades” thing. No one was in the Brady marriage but Tom and Gisele. But from the tiny bits of pop culture I’ve read, she REALLY wanted him to retire out of New England, but realized that he needed to figure out whether his greatness was his own or shared with his coach. So she bought in, seemingly thinking that would be the end of it. Why wasn’t the sixth ring enough? Is my inability to comprehend the answer a sign of its incomprehensibility to anyone but someone wired to choose this path over spouse and kids? Did he really just want out of the marriage and this was as good a way as any? I guess we’ll never know. I just don’t understand.
Driver’s Licensees. There was some buzz on the interwebs this week about the growing trend of young people not getting their driver’s licenses. Lots of back and forth, more heat than light. That said, I have a few thoughts on the matter. Bottom line for me is that this is just another sign of our society’s acceptance of (and promotion of ) delayed adulthood. From an explosion of college degrees that resemble little more than four years of sleepover camp, to gliding off Mom and Dad’s health insurance until the mid-20’s, to work environments that look more like Chuck E. Cheese than Charles Schwab, growing up just ain’t what it used to be, and one of the reasons is because no one seems to be requiring it to be. Why do I need a license when my parents drive me everywhere? Or even better, when they subsidize my Uber use? I don’t think this is great for our country’s future, but then again I’m just an old man yelling at clouds.
Six Year-Old Shooter. Terrible news out of Tidewater, Virginia of late, in which a six-year old boy shot his teacher at school. I don’t even know where to begin with this horror. How does a six-year old have access to any gun, let alone a loaded one? What sort of “acute disability” creates this sort of impulse in a child, and has “mainstreaming” gone too far? Growing reports of faculty fear of this kid do not reflect well on school administrators. This is a horror…but like most, it seems to have been preventable.
All Creatures Great and Small. Two years ago, British Channel 5 debuted a modern revival of the 1978-1987 British TV Series adapted from James Herriot’s book of the same name. Set in Yorkshire, England in the 1930’s, the story follows young James Herriot as he moves from Scotland to Yorkshire to practice veterinary medicine. I remember the earlier series, but don’t remember ever watching it. The McGrath’s weren’t much for PBS when I was younger, save for Sesame Street, Electric Company, Zoom as children, and when we were teens, Monty Python’s Flying Circus late on Saturday night (or was it Sunday?). So many wonderful series went unwatched—and in my dotage I will rectify this—including muddling through the nine seasons of the older “All Creatures”. This one however, is wonderful. Yes—it is escapism. But it is an escape to what real people once lived like. Nice people. People who cared about each other, their neighbors, and their shire. The scenery is breathtaking, but what REALLY gets me are the scenes that take place around the meal-table, especially breakfast. My goodness, Mrs. Hall puts on an English breakfast that I would pay big money for.
Church of England News. I really didn’t think the Church of England had it in them, but they stood up to “Big Gay” and stated they will continue with their 500-year belief that the institution of marriage is reserved for one man and one woman for life, at least the institution of marriage that they sanction under their religion. Bully for them. They go out of their way to be accommodating and understanding of other opinions, and they are happy to bless civil marriages performed for groupings other than the aforementioned one man and one woman. One of my beefs with the Anglican Church and its younger brother here in America (the Episcopal Church) has been its tendency to pick and choose among beliefs and teaching when such become unfashionable. Not changing with the times is one of the things I admire MOST about the Catholic Church, as I am comfortable with organizations that say “Here are the rules, here is the path. Follow it. Don’t follow it. Your choice. But the path doesn’t change”. Well done you, C of E.
I don’t understand Brady either - but I think he has seven Super Bowl wins. So it’s even worse than you thought.