Delinquency

By Lou Pastina

I am guilty of being delinquent. It’s true. Not in the typical sense of delinquency, but delinquent, nonetheless. Not financially delinquent mind you, I’m not behind on bills, or anything like that. Not that the recent bout of inflation boosting the price of nearly everything hasn’t helped in that regard, no, I’m keeping my head above water, but I am sure it’s harder for everyone, despite the government saying that we are all doing better.

And I’m not a school delinquent, you know, you remember if you were a bad kid, they would give you a JD card. My God, who came up with that one! A juvenile delinquent card, that really made you feel your own lousy self-worth. I’m not even sure they exist anymore and thank God. No, I didn’t get a JD card.

No, my delinquency has come in the form of not penning any essays for this paper. And the new owners are very good about it. But I have let them down recently. It’s just that the world has gotten a little crazy lately and I wonder to myself whether the aimless wanderings and musings of the Lazer really make a difference when the world is going to hell in a hand basket. I mean, we got a presidential election coming up and we can’t field a candidate under 75 years old. I’m 66 and I must nap each day, how are any of those guys going to do the job when they hit 80! The war in the Ukraine keeps dragging on, the war in Gaza and Israel is horrific, and so many of our neighbors are feeling generational traumas, and how can this be happening again? How do we stop this madness, and simply be kind to one another again? Then there is always the threat that one of these rogue nations will do something ridiculously stupid. It seemed pointless to write about a new episode of “Suits.” (I am up to season 7 on Netflix by the way, and I understand you must go to Amazon Prime for season 9 for the finish.)

I am now the proud grandfather of four fabulous grandchildren, but what type of world am I leaving for them? I’d love to be inspired to write something that might take our mind off everything going on, but maybe the focus should be on that important stuff. How can we do anything? I remember Congressman Tip O’Neill’s saying, “think globally, but act locally.” So maybe we can do small things locally, be kinder, more understanding, more open. I am reminded every day that I am closer to the 18th hole than the 2nd. And I hear way too often that a friend has gotten a bad piece of news. All we can do is keep on rockin’ as a dear friend always says.

So, at least I have spilled the beans about my delinquency. I pledge to do better. I will no doubt break that pledge and fail, but I will try, and it’s in trying that we truly succeed! It’s getting darker every day, and that will continue until we hit March 20 of next year, and then we start our long road back to the sunshine, and summer, and warm water, and friends and family. Until then, this is my long overdue payment, hope you enjoyed! Stay positive!!