Mom: If I ruled the world

If I ruled the free world:
There is so much anger and tension when one is an ordinary citizen. Just trying to survive in a period of rising fuel costs, unemployment, and lower wages is exhausting. Making decisions about where to spend one’s money finds all of us choosing between food and medicine. The struggle to survive and stay ahead of the curve – if only to have a few dollars more for a movie on Friday night – is frustrating. Work that should be rewarding has no rewards when all income is spent by Thursday. So who do we blame?

There is so much anger and tension felt when one is the leader of the free world. It is an inheritance from one struggling president to the next, and I am the next. The internal strife of the country’s citizens, the blame, and the slow movement of the Congressional process are obstacles to any rapid change or clear action I might propose to help alleviate desperate conditions. One of my predecessor, FDR, was a miracle worker, or he simply dazzled Congress into passing so many programs and acts to help the country during the depression of the 1930s. Passage of these programs was often accomplished on his say-so: He presented Congress and the country with a logical plan for success that to question him was almost tantamount to political heresy. By the time he was ready to fund the Manhattan Project (A-bomb) no one doubted his leadership and intent when he asked Congress to trust him and blindly fund a project they knew nothing about.

It is different today: Congress learned a valuable lesson about giving too much power to the President. And since FDR, there have been considerable restraints put on the executive office. So to be leader of the free world doesn’t seem to have the creativity, energy or power that it once had. It has become a government of red-tape, a juggernaut of paper with convoluted channels of processing and personal agendas. So as the leader of the free world with an opposition Congress, I am left to dance the dance with partners whose objective is to slow waltz me into the oblivion of minutiae. So I say “To Hell” with world peace, disarmament, gay marriage amendments, and mining oil in the Arctic: “It’s PB&J day!”

What we need is a break: Every one of us - Americans, Saudis, Israelis, Germans, Congolese, and Chinese – All of us. I propose PB&J day. I propose that on Tuesdays at noon we call off work, go home to our Moms and have them fix us a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a glass of milk. And not just any PB&J: It’s got to be soft white bread, and thick peanut butter, and jelly that bleeds through to the outside. The milk has to be icy cold, with little ice crystals floating on top. Then after lunch everyone to bed – naptime! - with cuddly stuffed bears and lemony crisp sheets. Everyone, everywhere. For three hours no business is conducted. There’s no one in the office; no finger on the button anywhere: We’re asleep. There’s no anger, no tension, just a full tummy on sweet PB&J and a nap.

And I propose that this take place on Tuesdays. Why Tuesday? Nobody ever complains on a Tuesday. They complain on Monday that the weekend wasn’t long enough. Wednesdays are hump days with lots of energy as the weekend is in sight. Thursday is the “one-more day” day. And Friday is TGIF day. Then there are two days - Saturday and Sunday - with other jobs, such as the house, kids, a second job or just the continuation of the previous week’s job. We need to rest.

So this Tuesday, PB&J for everyone!!!!!!