I am not a germaphobe, although I think most of my friends would not agree. The lessons I learned from my mother when I started kindergarten--don't drink after anyone, don't put things in your mouth, wash your hands immediately with vigor after touching this or that--loomed large and apparently made a lasting impression.
That's why for some time now I've been struggling with a way to avoid the unavoidable, the handshake. I've had far too many hands offered to me after catching wet sneezes, dog slobber, crotch scratchin', and so on. You would think my lack of enthusiam to shaking hands after such displays would be obvious but that doesn't seem to be the case.
I hate it when I'm in a restaurant and someone comes up to my table to say hello, then offers me their hand. I am always shocked at that. Conversely, when I go over to someone's table and they offer me their hand I want to say, "You know, I just cleaned the restaurant's bathroom with this hand..." I don't do that because I'm afraid it wouldn't matter.
I know it feels good to shake hands after closing a business deal, re-connecting with an old acquaintance or when meeting a celebrity while waiting to board a flight. A handshake, like a warm hug, can be uplifting. It's just that I'm not ready to have to walk around with a bottle of hand sanitizer in my pocket.
February 2, 2009
January 5, 2009
Eartha Kitt
Given the choice of spending a day with, say, Madonna or an hour with Eartha Kitt, my decision would have taken all of a nanosecond--that hour I'd spend with one of the world's most uniquely talented women could not possibly be regretted. Her death on Christmas day was nearly as much of a shock as was the fact that she died at the age of 81, an age one doesn't normally associate with a sex symbol.
And what a sex symbol she was. Orson Welles thought she was the most exciting woman in the world. He was not alone in that view.
By the time I'd reached a year old in 1954, you couldn't turn on a radio without hearing "C'est Si bon" or the enormously popular "Santa Baby." Soon, she was showing up on television in tight, sequined gowns and springolators, cooing in a voice that could melt glass.
Her life was a testimony to the human spirit. Born dirt poor in South Carolina, Eartha Kitt could perform in several languages and was the standard bearer for the sultry, sophisticated glamour of the 1950s and 1960s. The only blip in her career happened when, as a White House guest of Lady Bird Johnson, she made some terse remarks about the Viet Nam war causing the First Lady to burst into tears and putting Ms. Kitt's career in a tailspin. Had it not been for her fans in Europe, a great career might have ended.
Thankfully, that didn't happen.
And what a sex symbol she was. Orson Welles thought she was the most exciting woman in the world. He was not alone in that view.
By the time I'd reached a year old in 1954, you couldn't turn on a radio without hearing "C'est Si bon" or the enormously popular "Santa Baby." Soon, she was showing up on television in tight, sequined gowns and springolators, cooing in a voice that could melt glass.
Her life was a testimony to the human spirit. Born dirt poor in South Carolina, Eartha Kitt could perform in several languages and was the standard bearer for the sultry, sophisticated glamour of the 1950s and 1960s. The only blip in her career happened when, as a White House guest of Lady Bird Johnson, she made some terse remarks about the Viet Nam war causing the First Lady to burst into tears and putting Ms. Kitt's career in a tailspin. Had it not been for her fans in Europe, a great career might have ended.
Thankfully, that didn't happen.
C'est Si Bon.
January 4, 2009
Greed
Greed: an excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth
Greed and Wall Street have always seemed to go hand in hand. But even the most cynical had to pause when news broke about the financial shenanigans of one Bernard Madoff. The 70-year old perpetrator of what amounted to a classic Ponzi scheme, Madoff has been charged with securities fraud, costing trusting investors up to $50 billion. He is facing 20 years in prison and up to $5 million in fines.
In Madoff's wake are a host of investors from New York to Florida who have lost their entire savings to someone they trusted. One especially tragic aftermath is the suicide of a French investor who lost $1.4 billion of his and his client's money in Madoff's scheme. He was found dead with his wrists slashed in his New York office. It should not be surprising if this suicide turns out to be the first of many.
Considering the amount of money involved it is believed that Madoff could not have perpetrated his fraud without help from within and possibly from outside his company. In fact, Madoff's hedge fund had been the subject of whispers on Wall Street for years. Presumably, there are a lot of very nervous people right now who were associated directly and indirectly with Bernard Madoff and his firm.
Greed and Wall Street have often gone hand in hand, but theMadoff affair will long be remembered as a supreme case of callous, calculated financial success at the expense of others.
Sad.
Greed and Wall Street have always seemed to go hand in hand. But even the most cynical had to pause when news broke about the financial shenanigans of one Bernard Madoff. The 70-year old perpetrator of what amounted to a classic Ponzi scheme, Madoff has been charged with securities fraud, costing trusting investors up to $50 billion. He is facing 20 years in prison and up to $5 million in fines.
In Madoff's wake are a host of investors from New York to Florida who have lost their entire savings to someone they trusted. One especially tragic aftermath is the suicide of a French investor who lost $1.4 billion of his and his client's money in Madoff's scheme. He was found dead with his wrists slashed in his New York office. It should not be surprising if this suicide turns out to be the first of many.
Considering the amount of money involved it is believed that Madoff could not have perpetrated his fraud without help from within and possibly from outside his company. In fact, Madoff's hedge fund had been the subject of whispers on Wall Street for years. Presumably, there are a lot of very nervous people right now who were associated directly and indirectly with Bernard Madoff and his firm.
Greed and Wall Street have often gone hand in hand, but theMadoff affair will long be remembered as a supreme case of callous, calculated financial success at the expense of others.
Sad.
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