Mark Knows It All

I was born in 1950. As a middling baby boomer, I have experienced all of the downside that my generation has had to face: overcrowded schools; excessive competition for admission to "A" colleges; overcrowded job markets; high interest rates and expensive housing; mid-life job losses; increasing health care costs. Not much attention has been paid, however, to the new muck through which the Boomers are now slogging. Our parents, particularly the females, are living longer and longer. My mother is 86. On her side of the family, I have an aunt and uncle who are 90 and 92 respectively. I have another aunt who is 98. And on the other side of the family, there is another group of aunts all in their mid 90's. The health of these individual varies from good to total dementia, but none of them are able to function totally independently. All of them require a degree of care and looking after. The fastest developing area in my law practice is Elder Care. While many of my clients are ...

As a lawyer, I am trained to be an advocate, to zealously represent my client using reason and logic to move an unreasonable and illogical opponent to the more enlightened point of view: mine! That mindset is hard to lose, making me and many other lawyers somewhat obnoxious and often disliked. I tend to be more obnoxious and disliked than most. It carries into our personal lives, thus making our spouses, by default, advocates also. How else can they win an argument in the predictable battles that accompany any marriage? It also follows us into the many little battles of every day life. There, obnoxiousness is raised to an art form. Lawyers don't like to lose, no matter how small or trivial the issue may be. That is true especially in dealing with the ignorant pinheads who make modern life unbearable....Let me rephrase that. Especially in dealing with people just trying to do their best, doing their jobs, even if the result may not be exactly what I would have wanted. Saturday was a...

This past week, a close, personal friend of mine died. I knew Sally for almost 30 years. Rarely do we come across people in this life that we can hold up as role models. Sally was at the top of my list. While some people wear their faith on their sleeve, hers was quiet and steadfast. Some would call her a pillar of the church, but that doesn't quite fit her. She was more like the main steel support beam that holds up the floor; not fancy, but the building couldn't stand without it. She was a brilliant woman in a brilliant family. Her credentials were endless. First as a psychology professor at Youngstown State University, then as Dean of the Graduate School and then as acting Youngstown State Provost. Her community affiliations are too numerous to mention. She was a stealth, feminist activist in the Episcopal Church, and therefore many of her accomplishments started with the words "the first female...." Her primary area of expertise was death and dying. She was a nati...

An adult coming of age movie entitled Garden State made the rounds last summer. A friend of mine told me it was worth watching, so I bought the DVD. If you are a fan of movies filled with generational angst, which I am, this movie fills the bill. But if you are easily offended by casual sex, drug use, spoiled brats, and generally slovenly behavior, stick with Casablanca . Let's face it. A movie in which one of the protagonists is a grave digger who steals the jewelry off dead bodies prior to their being put in the ground is not exactly The Brady Bunch . Included in the movie soundtrack is a song called In The Waiting Line . It is a "head" song. Translated: play it while getting stoned. The lyrics ask the musical question: "Do you believe in what you see?" And that, my friends, is the topic of this week's essay. Animal House is the quintessential college frat house slob movie. It was fairly raunchy when it was released in 1978. By today's standards, i...