infullbloom.us

And when your Jewish family’s economic survival depends on what their small retail business sells to their Christian customers during the Christmas season, it’s all hands to the wheel from mid-October until Christmas Day, and that too ensures that you grow up fast. Our cousin Elliot took over the family business as our fathers retired (he was our only male Bloom cousin My cousin Ronni (of blessed memory) Bloom and I, from about age seven, ran the strange machine in the open mezzanine above the retail floor that took addresses on metal plates and transferred them to labels for the Christmas mailing of catalogues (like the one pictured above) and calendars. By the time we were ten, Christmas season found Ronni and me, the two youngest Bloom cousins, helping behind the counter after school and on weekends, ringing up sales, selling film and other simple products, dealing with shop-lifters rather than just watching for them from afar, recording those sales in the perpetual inventory files kept by my Uncle Herman (there never was nor ever will be again a filer like my Uncle Herman! ), and generally learning the business.

Without strict environmental laws and enforcement, what’s left of our water, air, wild places, etc. will be polluted beyond recovery by the wealthy landowners/corporations/industry groups which have bought so many of our elected officials. Without sensible gun laws and enforcement, we’ll all be afraid that anyone in our family or community, upset over who knows what, perhaps having serious anger management/mental illness/ideological issues, will shoot up their own families or go on a killing rampage at a school/church/government building/etc. Without voting rights and their enforcement, and the important voting access which goes with them, people of color and poor people of any race will be far worse off than they are today — and today isn’t great. As for universal voting rights, women’s reproductive rights, environmental protections, building codes, product liability laws, and marriage equality, to name just a few of the rights and enabling laws which many now take for granted as foundational to a civilized and modern society, none of these were even imagined by our founders, and that’s entirely understandable given their historical context.

If we’re going to save ourselves from becoming just another tin-pot dictatorship, if we’re going to ensure that both conservative and progressive voices, voices whose disagreements are over the interpretation of facts and not about the facts themselves, can be heard above the din, if we’re going to protect the rights of everyone and preserve our secular, multi-cultural democracy, then we’d better learn a thing or two — and quickly — from the “greatest generation. It’s a fight between truth and lies, between patriotism and treason, between the rule of law applied equally and the rule of law applied selectively, between a government betraying the science and/or facts behind public policy in the interests of backing up the lies of a little man whose election benefitted from decades of gerrymandering and Russian meddling in our election. It’s a fight for the very soul of the country to which my grandmother, my Bubbi Bloom of blessed memory, and so many others fled when the world around them was going up in flames, being overrun by murderous thugs, and/or being decimated by starvation. But we must keep putting one foot in front of the other — running for office, working for the candidates we support, registering to vote and helping others to register, voting and helping others to vote, volunteering to monitor the vote, doing everything possible to elect leaders who will be answerable to we the people rather than to the tin-pot dictator of the moment — until we see a glimmer of light on the other side of this horrible, horrible chapter in American history.

Whether it’s the annual Florida Watercolor Society convention, and Urban Sketchers event, Emily’s List conference, or the Agatha Christie International Festival, much of what I learned about making the most of my time at the HR technology conferences of my pre-retirement life still applies. if and when I ever have anything useful to contribute on the subject of non-profit donor development, illustrated journaling, or Golden Age mysteries; intense but wonderful hallway and restroom exchanges (do guys do as much substantive chatting and networking in their restrooms as we ladies do? ); an occasional meal and more than an occasional drink; let’s not forget exploring the conference city, especially when it’s a great tourist locale. And if you’re a vendor doing some swag planning, we also love: umbrellas (the rainy season is on right now in south Florida, and you can never have too many), interesting stress reduction toys, cuddly creatures (why doesn’t anyone ever give away big stuffed alligators), shoe bags (those soft ones in which you pack your shoes when traveling), towels (all sizes appreciated), t-shirts (medium for Ron, 1X for me — embarrassing but true), international electrical plug sets (yes, I’m repeating this for emphasis), great bottles of wine, but please no more tablet/phone covers (although popsockets are welcome), mouse accessories or weird candy. And if it’s an art-related conference where you’re actually creating in those sessions, you’re going to need recovery time to let those creative juices rest.