CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

One, Two, Three: Laugh

Hey, I’ve been 80 for almost two weeks now. Where’s the Jell-O? Where’s the yeast? Where’s the pitchfork?

And I know by now you’re asking: What the hell is he talking about?

Bear with me. I’m talking about being funny. This is not what I expected to be writing about today, and nothing feels the least bit funny to me about the world I’m living in – or about the stumbling leg pain and imbalance the aging process has bequeathed me, not to mention . . . huh? What did you say? Oh yeah, I can barely hear.

All of which, you would think, adds up to the need to be deeply serious. And that was the spirit in which I started working on this column. And nothing came of it. I felt far too lost to be serious, that is, to speak with certainty about global politics and the state of the world. . What I felt instead was desperation mixed with ego and self-pity. Mostly the latter.

And then I went down to eat, here at my retirement community. At one point, one of the wonderful young servers asked me: “What else can I get you?”

I answered, without a moment’s thought: “How about some peace on Earth?”

And my heart lightened. So did hers. The world relaxed around us. And I thought about a column I wrote 25 years ago. It’s called (for some reason) “Yeast and Jell-O.” I think it’s time to serve it up........

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