There was a time, maybe in the early 90s, when it seemed to me that the "right" decided to be pro-smoking simply because the "left" was anti-smoking (it wasn't enough to be simply against state or federal laws banning smoking). I would swear I read articles in National Review to that effect, and I remember finding it as asinine then as I do now. Was that an early sign of political trends today? If one side is for, the other side must be 100% against, else be driven out of the movement.
Anyway, not to relitigate the issue, but the concept of a non-smoking section on a plane is patently absurd. It's a closed box, there's no escaping the general nastiness. Reminds me of the old Friendly's ice cream parlor where the only thing separating smoking from non-smoking was a half partition between booths.
Reminds me of the old Andrew Dice Clay bit about smoking on an airplane…but it does not bear repeating because…But me thinks you might be kinda misremembering the dispute as being left vs right. I am old enough to remember the very first time my former officer and Christian gentleman was kinda shocked when, just sittings down in some Laporte high school bleacher’s, a school employee asked him to go outside to smoke (I am guessing it’s was either one Saturday morning in 83, or 84 to watch my older brother wrestle in the regionals, but it could have been 81…but picture an old man looking just like Tom Landry, without the fedora on, because he took it off the instant we entered the gymnasium…because there was some unwritten cosmic law men are to be without hats inside, but for women, it is okay…ever see a old lady open a door for a her old man…neither have I…oh, those were the days, but I parenthetically digress). It was simply a matter of one’s god given right to smoke everywhere and anywhere a stubborn old WW2 vet wanted to…and the notion that second hand smoke offends someone was as alien to my deeply considerate and decent old man as someone telling my dad that one of these days, coming to America, Bruce Jenner will be celebrated as the new American Hero- Caitlin…It was a matter of diehard belief’s held by my father’s former intellectual brethren, not partisanship. I could be wrong, but I have taken up enough of both our days and have no time to dig into the archives to see if my intuition, as a conservative, is right where William F. Buckley was coming from, you say. Smoke em if you got em, just not around me, because I still hate the smell of Larks. Gotta run on. Thanks for taking my rant, I mean being a fellow Jaywalker.🤪🍺🤞
P.S. Did I not mention that my stubborn old man was so furious with the banning of smoking on a @#$& tube (hat tip Diceman) that he never flew again…and would rather drive across country than be told what not to do…because second hand smoke never hurt anybody. Didn’t I say I gotta run on
I came across plenty of those "I'll smoke where I like" types in the early 90s when I worked at a Dairy Queen as a high school kid. The shop's owners were oddballs (Perot supporters) but insisted on no smoking in their establishment. One time I pointed this out to a customer who was smoking and he gave me a dirty look, dropped the cigarette to the floor, smashed it into the linoleum, and walked out the door. A temper tantrum because a 15-year old asked him politely to follow the rules.
Anyway, I don't have time right now to do the research, but in the 90s I'm pretty sure it had become a minor political issue, even though I'm sure that for the old smokers it wasn't a left/right issue!
Hilarious. D.Q. I went there every single day, burning my paper route money, in the summer of 83, after my very small town had a queen build a castle of pure deliciousness.
I, like many, where kinda cool to hoping on the Perot train ten years later, but hopped off the instant it went full speed conspiratorial with that crazy accusation about sabotage of his daughters wedding. I am now going to make like a 15 year old and am off to see the blizzard of Oz for lunch now, thanks to you, I mean my old fashioned kid cravings! (For the record I never saw my dad improperly dispose of a cigarette butt… sometimes I wish we lived in the likes of Singapore …where a pig would immediately be arrested and publicly flogged like throwing a piece of gum on the ground…remember N.R.’s take on that international headline🤪!). Gotta run on🍻
As someone who moved to EGR in 6th grade and went for one year to the Wealthy Street Elementary School, this really resonated. I left in 10th grade to go to prep school and ended up in Chicago, but go back to EGR often to see family. GR has changed so much since moving there in '75. It feels vibrant in a way that I've rarely seen recently in small cities. I recommend it to all.
I was lucky enough to meet and talk at length with Hank Meijer, along with Peter, at the taping of The Remnant podcast there last year. A terrific family that has given so much to the city.
I can't wait to read about the rest of your visit!
Loved Meijer !! One of the more pleasant aspects of living in Toledo.But as a retailer by trade I may be a bit bias.
And you missed the one name that you will likely find in at least 3 out of 10 American households.That would be Bissell.
Had the opportunity to me Mr.Ford at one of these Bissell dinners for big customers.About 1986..the wounds were still fresh then.I had a chance to thank him for his called on Nixon.We had enough pain by then.
Think we can that kind of humility in today's world ?
"It also requires airport stores to source airport-branded merchandise from retailers Trump’s companies choose."
Is there actually a market for "airport-branded merchandise"? What kind of merchandise? When my family members go places, I ask them to get me a refrigerator magnet or a sticker, but it would never occur to me that they would bring one about the airport.
On the other hand, Thor the Son brought me a magnet yesterday from the performance of "Moulin Rouge!" he attended on Friday night, and I was surprised that a show (rather than, say, a band) was selling a magnet.
Also, I think Grand Rapids Public Schools' logo is a very good design.
There is currently a Gerald R. Ford federal building in Grand Rapids. Congress passed the bill again, and Carter signed it.
👍
There was a time, maybe in the early 90s, when it seemed to me that the "right" decided to be pro-smoking simply because the "left" was anti-smoking (it wasn't enough to be simply against state or federal laws banning smoking). I would swear I read articles in National Review to that effect, and I remember finding it as asinine then as I do now. Was that an early sign of political trends today? If one side is for, the other side must be 100% against, else be driven out of the movement.
Anyway, not to relitigate the issue, but the concept of a non-smoking section on a plane is patently absurd. It's a closed box, there's no escaping the general nastiness. Reminds me of the old Friendly's ice cream parlor where the only thing separating smoking from non-smoking was a half partition between booths.
Reminds me of the old Andrew Dice Clay bit about smoking on an airplane…but it does not bear repeating because…But me thinks you might be kinda misremembering the dispute as being left vs right. I am old enough to remember the very first time my former officer and Christian gentleman was kinda shocked when, just sittings down in some Laporte high school bleacher’s, a school employee asked him to go outside to smoke (I am guessing it’s was either one Saturday morning in 83, or 84 to watch my older brother wrestle in the regionals, but it could have been 81…but picture an old man looking just like Tom Landry, without the fedora on, because he took it off the instant we entered the gymnasium…because there was some unwritten cosmic law men are to be without hats inside, but for women, it is okay…ever see a old lady open a door for a her old man…neither have I…oh, those were the days, but I parenthetically digress). It was simply a matter of one’s god given right to smoke everywhere and anywhere a stubborn old WW2 vet wanted to…and the notion that second hand smoke offends someone was as alien to my deeply considerate and decent old man as someone telling my dad that one of these days, coming to America, Bruce Jenner will be celebrated as the new American Hero- Caitlin…It was a matter of diehard belief’s held by my father’s former intellectual brethren, not partisanship. I could be wrong, but I have taken up enough of both our days and have no time to dig into the archives to see if my intuition, as a conservative, is right where William F. Buckley was coming from, you say. Smoke em if you got em, just not around me, because I still hate the smell of Larks. Gotta run on. Thanks for taking my rant, I mean being a fellow Jaywalker.🤪🍺🤞
P.S. Did I not mention that my stubborn old man was so furious with the banning of smoking on a @#$& tube (hat tip Diceman) that he never flew again…and would rather drive across country than be told what not to do…because second hand smoke never hurt anybody. Didn’t I say I gotta run on
I came across plenty of those "I'll smoke where I like" types in the early 90s when I worked at a Dairy Queen as a high school kid. The shop's owners were oddballs (Perot supporters) but insisted on no smoking in their establishment. One time I pointed this out to a customer who was smoking and he gave me a dirty look, dropped the cigarette to the floor, smashed it into the linoleum, and walked out the door. A temper tantrum because a 15-year old asked him politely to follow the rules.
Anyway, I don't have time right now to do the research, but in the 90s I'm pretty sure it had become a minor political issue, even though I'm sure that for the old smokers it wasn't a left/right issue!
Hilarious. D.Q. I went there every single day, burning my paper route money, in the summer of 83, after my very small town had a queen build a castle of pure deliciousness.
I, like many, where kinda cool to hoping on the Perot train ten years later, but hopped off the instant it went full speed conspiratorial with that crazy accusation about sabotage of his daughters wedding. I am now going to make like a 15 year old and am off to see the blizzard of Oz for lunch now, thanks to you, I mean my old fashioned kid cravings! (For the record I never saw my dad improperly dispose of a cigarette butt… sometimes I wish we lived in the likes of Singapore …where a pig would immediately be arrested and publicly flogged like throwing a piece of gum on the ground…remember N.R.’s take on that international headline🤪!). Gotta run on🍻
“And Dutchmen predominate: tall, civic-minded, and prosperous. (I generalize.)”
You over generalize. They overwhelmingly voted for Trump in the last primary. J6 didn’t bother them at all. “Civic minded” indeed.
As someone who moved to EGR in 6th grade and went for one year to the Wealthy Street Elementary School, this really resonated. I left in 10th grade to go to prep school and ended up in Chicago, but go back to EGR often to see family. GR has changed so much since moving there in '75. It feels vibrant in a way that I've rarely seen recently in small cities. I recommend it to all.
I was lucky enough to meet and talk at length with Hank Meijer, along with Peter, at the taping of The Remnant podcast there last year. A terrific family that has given so much to the city.
I can't wait to read about the rest of your visit!
Thx a ton, Rob.
Always interesting and informative! Thanks, Jay.
A pleasure! Thx.
Loved Meijer !! One of the more pleasant aspects of living in Toledo.But as a retailer by trade I may be a bit bias.
And you missed the one name that you will likely find in at least 3 out of 10 American households.That would be Bissell.
Had the opportunity to me Mr.Ford at one of these Bissell dinners for big customers.About 1986..the wounds were still fresh then.I had a chance to thank him for his called on Nixon.We had enough pain by then.
Think we can that kind of humility in today's world ?
👍
I can still remember my dad's first visit to Meijer.
"Why, this is incredible. You'd never need to go anywhere else."
! 👍
"It also requires airport stores to source airport-branded merchandise from retailers Trump’s companies choose."
Is there actually a market for "airport-branded merchandise"? What kind of merchandise? When my family members go places, I ask them to get me a refrigerator magnet or a sticker, but it would never occur to me that they would bring one about the airport.
On the other hand, Thor the Son brought me a magnet yesterday from the performance of "Moulin Rouge!" he attended on Friday night, and I was surprised that a show (rather than, say, a band) was selling a magnet.
Also, I think Grand Rapids Public Schools' logo is a very good design.