Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme

I didn’t watch the second Presidential debate. McCain vs. Obama. Obama vs. McCain. I turned off the latest television report on the bailout fiasco, and tuned instead to the 1967 flick, The Graduate, which was airing on TCM. A few years ago, my son told me it was the movie that defined his era. In many ways, it defines our current crisis. Plastics, son, plastics is where it is. What would you prefer with your bourbon, Benjamin? A splash of Wealth, or a spritz of Idealism? Where are those kids of forty years ago who marched to their own drum? My old friend, so much has changed, and yet nothing has.

Obama vs. McCain vs. Obama. William Ayers, Charles Keating, Rev. Wright. War in the middle east. Plastics, son, plastics is where it is. Cancelled credit cards. Cut your hair; get a job. Or is it, your jobs are gone, let your hair grow? The Russian stock market tanks, banks close, savings evaporate. Is the party over, or is it just beginning? Sell the McMansion (but who will buy?), dump the Porsche, scuttle the vacation. We’re all going to be picking lettuce in Salinas, though those who have been picking it for years will leave us in the dust. They know the drill.

Heating bills are projected to rise at least 18% this winter, so turn down the heat and stop worrying about the possibility that the Hoan will be torn down to clear up space for more development. The Park East project is dead. Retail sales are headed south. Restaurants are closing. Rome burns while politicians pose for photos. A young UW-Milwaukee student is murdered while trying to sell his car.

Here’s to you Mrs. Robinson. Plastics, son, plastics is where it is.