20170220 (horse)

Couldn't find a good image for "horsedrawn junk wagon" so I'm settling for
"priest and nun, 1950s."

“The most expensive thing you

Will ever do is sign your name, 

So you might as well learn how

To do it right,” Sister Camilla

Said, on practically my first day

Of grade one at Our Lady of 

Czestochowa Elementary 

School one drear September 

Day of 1949. To her knowledge

The good second generation

American Catholics of our

Little Polish enclave did not

Divorce so she couldn’t conceive

How saying “I do” would be 

More expensive than signing for

A mortgage. Mortgage? We had

No idea what she meant. Nor 

Had we any foreknowledge 

About the outcomes of our

Marital gambles. At that time

In our childhoods there were

Only four figures having roles

In our lives: Mom, Dad, the Sister

Who was our teacher at school,

And the “paper-ex” man, the 

Aged itinerant Jew who drove a 

Horse and wagon with large 

Wooden wheels, clickety-clacking

Down our brick street monthly

In good times and bad. What he

Was calling out was, “Paper, 

Rags,” but between the repetition

And his thick accent it came 

Out “paperegs,” or some phonetic

Variant. The allure for youngsters

Was the horse, of course, rather

Unkempt but shiny in some parts

Not covered by his specially

Devised raincoat for winter trips,

Or obscured by leather panels

Hanging off his harness in the 

Summers. He was so unlike the

Steeds of early television serials,

Hopalong Cassidy’s Topper or

Lone Ranger’s Silver, his face

Bore a look of long reservation

To his plight. Often, because of 

His blinders, he couldn’t see 

Us even when the driver gave 

Us some oats or carrot pieces to

Offer him while our moms 

Brought old clothes and bundled

Newspapers to the street for him

To throw on the wagon. Actually

The fourth figure was the horse

Not the man. Other than these

Were the various neighbors,

Aunts, uncles, milkman, postman

Who fleshed out supernumeraries

Of my early school age. However 

Central a figure he became later, 

In my early life, the priest was 

Only a vaguely tinted blur 

(Before they diagnosed my

Extreme myopia) moving about

The front of the church early 

Sunday mornings. I wish in

Many ways things would have

Stayed that way.

c. 2017, J.S.Manista

20170217 (shucking)

Ordinarily houses this close together, with sidewalks and porches, were by regulation to receive mail individually to receptacles mounted near each entrance door (remember mailboxes?).

Today mail even to tightly-sited new houses is placed in common "cluster boxes." You fetch and deliver home.

“No, you do it.” The sharp-pencilled

Guys are winning. They have

Categorized and computed the

Cost and value of every motion.

Who thought watching or reading

“Cheaper by the Dozen” a new

And somewhat terrifying world

Was underway? Frederick Winslow

Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth,

The masters of the “Efficiency

Movement” were effecting an 

Industrial revolution on the 

Workers themselves in their 

Quest to rid them of any and 

Every wasted effort. Their

Dream of deriving efficiency

Increases in human labor

Comparable to those stemming

From the use of machines was to

Yield better, cheaper goods 

And services with lower

Investments and higher profits.

Not only was it good, it 

Was good for you. Workers, 

They thought, would work

“Smarter not harder” and benefits

Would rain down upon both

Labor and Capital alike.

Well profits went up but the

Tasks were no easier. Generally

Reforms meant “speed-ups” 

Just as the unions complained.

Motions repeated with exacting

Precision stressed joints, tendons, 

And muscles which would

Not be relieved by occasional

Variations. So while metal parts

Could function endlessly in

Exactly the same fashion until

Fatigue introduced errors and

Ultimate failure meant stoppages,

Their human counterparts wore

Out much more quickly. Many 

Couldn't adapt. Injuries multiplied

As dissatisfaction mushroomed.

Thus grew employers' desire for

Machines over people (e.g., the 

Wannabe Secretary of Labor, 

Andrew Puzder, that is except for 

Virtually naked buxom women). 

They don’t tire, call-in sick, get

Pregnant (or sass or complain

To EEO we might add). Treating

People like machines leads to

Preferring real machines despite

People uniquely offering

Creativity, adaptability, and that

Customer service--congeniality.

But modern efficiencies are not

Extracted from employees alone.

Now customers get to pitch in:

Self-checkouts are one notable 

Example soon to be followed by

Volunteering to come in evenings

And Saturdays to stock shelves and 

Unload trucks. Same thing with 

No home delivery by the mailman.

Instead of him walking in the

Snow, rain, and gloom of night--

"No, you do it."

c. 2017,  J.S.Manista

20170211 (persistence)

New order flummoxing old order

Of laws and sausages, 

Bismarck advised, it is best

Not to view their making. But 

From a mix of idleness and 

Curiosity I watched the senate

Wranglings regarding whether

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions

Should be confirmed Attorney

General of the United States.

Elizabeth Warren, Democrat,

Senior senator of Massachusetts,

Inveighed against his approval

To what appeared to be a virtually

Empty chamber. According to her

There were a long list of reasons

He should not be given the supreme

Authority for strenuously defending

The laws of our nation. His history

Of repeatedly failing to ensure the

Voting rights of numerous Black 

Americans and his often acting to

Support policies discouraging

Or limiting their franchise was

For her, the major disqualifying 

Note among many others. As she 

was reading a letter from Coretta

Scott King (which had already

Been entered into the record 

During the body’s 1986

Consideration of his suitability

For a federal judgeship), the 

Turtle-faced majority leader

From Kentucky rose to invoke

Senate rule 19 forbiding one 

Member from attributing behavior

Or intentions unbecoming a member

Of that august assemblage to 

Another member under penalty

Of denying them the floor.  

Someone (?) had once said

Knowingly, “The senate is where

Scoundrels refer to each other

As gentlemen.” Another lonely

Soul had called her on it earlier

When she quoted Ted Kennedy’s

Comments that Mr. Sessions had 

Proven himself unworthy of

The federal robes: “Mr Sessions is 

A throwback to a shameful era in

Our history . . . He is a disgrace to 

The Justice Department . . . .”

Now I guess whether one calls a 

Spade a spade directly or quotes 

Another who does the same, the

Spade, having been identified, might

Well take umbrage over his naming

Despite it’s having been made thirty

Years ago if it still applies for the

Current position. So, lest anyone

Beyond these mere few be scandalized

By such shameful, but accurate, speech

The leader, called the presiding officer

To rule on Ms. Warren’s accusations.

Which he did as expected (knowing

His cojones were tightly in the

Grasp of der leader). But Ms. Warren,

Bless her Yankee (via Oklahoma)

Heart, was having none of it,

Appealed, thereby bringing on 

Nothing less than ninety minutes

Of mind numbing procedure to 

Make the whole senate reassemble

To consider and adjudicate her 

Defiance.  This required at my

Count no less than six tedious

Callings of the one-hundred person

Roll. By the sixth not only had 

I memorized their surnames 

But could predict how they’d vote.

From my observations I concluded

The US Senate is not, as I learned

Long ago in civics class, a

Deliberative congregation where

Informed and reasonable arguments

Were widely discussed in open

Debate ultimately yielding the

Wisest policies possible. No, it

Is Kabuki theater, wherein the

Unchallengingly powerful can

Make one stupid move and ensure

His opponent the widest publicity,

Recognition, and admiration.

c. J.S.Manista, 2017