Inflation seems to be everywhere. Can you find a bit of optimism when shopping for your barbecues this summer? Midnight in the super market, when all the employees had gone home, the various food items started to bicker again. …

He had always prided himself on his teeth. — He had always prided himself on his teeth. In his lifetime he had only one cavity which he had filled promptly. Although not blindingly white, his teeth remained a respectable gray-brown, much like the color of his hair on his head. He hadn’t been interested in meeting anyone since he…

I’m convinced the country is split. Not only in the obvious political ways but a much more subtle rift that influences what most humans hold nearest and dearest. Dating apps, professional matchmakers, social groups, meetups, network events for your profession, alumni activities, sporting clubs (running, bike riding, soccer), gyms are…

I was told that I was old by my lawyer when I was in my middle 50s. I was in college. It was the first game of the season. I was playing defensive back on the University of Delaware football team. We were playing Lehigh. They were pretty good that…

My best friend’s dad was a big wheel, he was head of sales at IBM — whatever that is At 12 years old I had the intellectual where-with-all to know that some families in our neighborhood had more money than others. …

One of the most dynamic performers in the history of the world died this week. This improbable story is what happened when I saw her in person. My girlfriend worked at a Philadelphia bank in the early 1970s. Every once in a while the executives would give the support staff…

Don’t ever engage your cat in a staring contest. You’ll always be runner-up. Remember when you were young and had staring contests with your friends? Each of you would lock eyes with whomever your opponent and the first one who blinked — lost. Any cat owner who’s been the recipient…

Some days you may want to forget — those are the days you remember — My college roomie, Carl, and I were a few years out of college and two weeks in Spain. We were pretty close to broke but still felt we had lots of experiences to…experience. What we liked didn’t cost a lot of money anyway. We didn’t have the funds to go…

Sometimes the feeling of power in a job or profession is more seductive than any monetary incentive offered. — I always wondered why so many folks voluntarily left lucrative positions in the professions and took lower paying jobs in say — government? Come on, I don’t think it’s for the altruistic reasons that are often stated. Do you? Fred My high school bud Fred and I hadn’t seen each other…