Some observations

Dad never wore a seat belt. He smoked unfiltered Chesterfields until he developed lung cancer. He drank alcohol. For most of his life, he ate all of the nasty things that Nanny Mayor Bloomberg and Moochelle Obama are trying to ban.  He was a house painter and would regale us with stories of how he used to mix the lead into oil based paint with his bare hands. He survived the global cooling scare of the 70’s, asbestoses, leaded gas, red dye #5, eggs, white bread, salt, processed foods, red meat, FDR’s great depression, WWII, a nasty fall from a ladder, several automobile accidents and all of the day to day trials of raising 6 kids to live to the ripe old age of 87 years. It was probably global warming or climate change that got him in the end, that or old age.


Now:
Not only is it against the law in many states to drive without a seatbelt, the auto/insurance industry make it nearly impossible to do so. The car will flash lights, beep, buzz, hector and warn the driver with a series of warnings so annoying that it is just easier the buckle the belt behind you before starting the car.

With the exception of really hip Demo-Dope donors like Sean bung plug Penn, smoking is more reviled in today’s society than drug use or soft child pornography of the kind Abercrombie and Fitch use to hawk their wares. In fact it in today’s world, you are probably better off drinking to such excess that you end up throwing up on the host’s couch than dare light up a cigarette in the house.

Lead paint has been totally banned. That would have been good for dad’s business because he said the new paints don’t last nearly as long and the color is different. Besides, as he used to say, you’re not supposed to eat the paint.

I suppose that ethanol is today’s equivalent of the unleaded gas of the mid 70s. The difference is that “scientist” claimed the lead in gas was killing you while today’s “scientist” claim that gasoline is killing the planet. Even NASCAR has jumped on the green band wagon using ethanol on race day, which is about right. They change their engines (or as they say motor) every 500 miles, which is what you’ll be doing if you run ethanol in your car.

Some other things: Dad never e-nailed, texted, facebooked, or tweeted anyone. Strangely enough he actually enjoyed talking to people and writing letters.

How could dad have lived 87 years? By today’s standards, he should have been dead by the time he was 20. A nation of wimps? NO! A nation led by wimps.