The Inbox Years ago, when I came out of the bank training program I attended after Business School, I remember talking to a young British colleague who explained the experience he was having on the line for the first time. He was assigned to the Latin America Department and was the junior member on the Brazil Desk. That’s what we used to call coverage of s specified region or country, the _______ Desk. His comment…
Smoke On! Several years ago I went to an unusual sporting event, an aerial race around New York Harbor. These were air races of souped-up single-prop planes that were reminiscent of WWII fighter planes (I am reminded of that scene from Empire of the Sun when a young war-torn Christian Bale points at a passing American fighter-bomber and says, “P-51, Cadillac of the sky!”). Red Bull was promoting the event and it involved taking a…
Facial Hair Facial hair is a bigger deal than many people realize. I recall in all my travels in Saudi Arabia that the way the supreme ruler, the King, keeps his facial hair sets the tone for the rest of the nation. Men across the Kingdom, out of respect for their sovereign, wear their facial hair in a similar manner. In other countries, particularly the “Stans” of the steppes of middle Eurasia, a man’s virility…
Mini Us Who doesn’t like a good ferry tale? The morals of the stories alone make most of the ferry tales worth reading. Once upon a time there were a man and wife who loved each other very much. They had both grown up in the Midwest and ate way too many donuts as children. He had actually figured out how to scam the milkman into thinking he was supposed to leave a dozen donuts…
A Foggy Morning It was a dark and stormy night and the morning barely became visible through the fog. This sounds like the start of a Sherlock Holmes novel, but it is only the start of a typical Monday morning here on New York Harbor. I awoke last night several hours into my sleep with an unspecific nightmare plaguing me. Something must have changed during the night because I awoke at my regular hour with…
Cher Groupie I am not really an avid music person the way some are. I wasn’t so much in high school and college and I am now a person who would rather listen to a book on tape or news program than listen to music on a long trip. However, I do enjoy music at times and my tastes are narrow, but well-defined. I like oldies, I like Billy Joel and Meatloaf (mostly for their…
What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor? It’s early in the morning and I don’t know what to do with my drunken sailor. On the one hand I need him and on the other hand a drunken sailor is more a liability than an asset. Can you still keel-haul someone? For those unfamiliar with the practice, it is an odd and drastic punishment that was used in the Dutch and perhaps English navies to…
The United States Versus Rita Lovely Rita, meter maid, where would we be without you? She had worked for the NYPD Traffic Section, Staten Island 121st Precinct on Richmond Terrace for eighteen years. She was a graduate of Curtis High School, where Rita had learned English very quickly by necessity. Her mother Adriana was from Guatemala, where Rita and her brothers and sisters were born. They had come to Staten Island when Bill Clinton was…
The Problem Being Gary Gary has become one of my great friends and advisors over the past four years. Let me describe who he is. Gary is tall and lean with a head full of white hair and the look of an aging Tommy Hilfiger model. In fact, if Tommy Hilfiger decided to launch a line of cool senior wear, I would submit Gary’s picture for consideration as a model. He looks like he would…
Candice the Magnificent Candice is an old friend of Kim’s and she has become a friend of mine as well. She is a retired school teacher who gets more out of life than any five people you can mention. I like that about Candice since I tend to believe that life is way too short to approach it timidly. I like Candice’s moxie and zest for life. The Urban Dictionary says of the name Candice,…