Even with the crap going on all around me, I live a happy life.

I must admit to having an optimistic bent, even when things were the worst financially or personally, I've never surrendered. I think it is due to something my maternal grandmother taught me at a very early age - that no matter the problem, there is a solution to be found and you can't stop until you find it.

I think that is a generational thing, at least in my case. My maternal grandparents reared six children during the Great Depression and my parents both had the experience of growing up during that period and coming into young adulthood with a world war raging around them.

It goes beyond being tough, they just didn't know how to quit - because if they did, there was no "safety net" for them to fail into. They always measured their progress by their own standards, not those of other people.

My family predecessors wore clothes that were handed down, patched, worn and threadbare but never dirty (unless they were at work). They had little but were very proud and careful with what they did have. With no TV, social media or TikTok, they weren't consumed with the creativity of others, only their own. They took extreme pride in growing crops, repairing equipment and even preparing a meal.

We did things because they needed doing, not because somebody told us they needed to be done.

They took joy in simple things, but were far from simple people. The were voracious readers and consumers of knowledge. They were intense observers of the natural world, learning to read Mother Nature's signs (no minute by minute weather forecasts). My grandfather was both the least formally educated man I have ever known, and also one of the wisest.

This is the gift our children and our grandchildren have never received.

Maybe it is out fault, maybe it is just a function of prosperity (real or imagined), or maybe it is like that old game of "telephone" (with every telling of the message, it changes), but we have a generation of quitters rising to take over the world.

Quitters will always be dominated by doers - and not all doers are on the side of right and good.

I fear we are headed into another crisis of the magnitude of the 20's, 30's and 40's - a worldwide depression topped off by yet another war in Europe.

My only solace is knowing that we will emerge stronger that before. Steel can't be forged without fire. Hopefully there are enough of us old-timers left who can teach our grandchildren about our grandparents.

I know it doesn't sound optimistic, but it is.

America and her people will prevail. We're good and we are the doers.

Tim's 2c

The world won't let you quit. When you are born you are taking on a job that allows no resignation. People used to understand that. Now, with endless amusements and little really hard labor, most don't and quitting is indeed an option as the government will take care of you if you do decide to tender your resignation. 

BTW You volunteered for the job when you swam harder than all the other spermatazoa up your mother's canal and then fought to be first to fertilize the egg. You clearly wanted this gig.

My family came from many places - poor Irish Arkansas farmers, Peasant coal miners from Germany, French Voyageurs, etc. They came here because they wanted to be free more than anything else. NOT for the economic benefits (although those were the cherry on top) but because they could be free.

My Irish side wanted to be free of English rule. My Alsacian side wanted to b e free of the Prussian military overlordship. All of these people were used to hard work and taking care of themselves. Better to do it here in America where you actually had the final say in your destiny, and not some arrogant aristocrat. Sadly we've made our own arrogant aristocrats here and they are taking over and turning America into what my ancestors sought to leave.

1 Congratulations on creating such a useful website. Not only is your blog helpful, but it's also incredibly imaginative.  Smm Panel India 

2 Mike, you sound like a guy I'd love to know. And if you and I and Tim could find a nice bar close by, I think the three of us would have a great time!

3 He sure seems to be one of our kind Dana. I don't know him personally but would like to.