#43 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Sunday May 30)
Good morning and Happy Sunday!
WORDS
Many of you know that I love crossword puzzles and word games. They are great ways to deal with “down time.” As Jerry Coben can attest, there is nothing quite so thrilling as to open the New York Times Sunday Magazine, look at the Word Scramble and instantly see the “bingo” (an answer using all seven letters in a single answer).
A great ancillary benefit of crosswords is the groan-worthy puns that constitute some of the better clues. Here are some highlights from 2020l chosen by The New Yorker.
One with four legs and many hands?
A: CARD TABLE
Matching outfits?
A: DATING SERVICES
Disappearing ink?
A: TEMPORARY TATTOO
Desert after the meal?
A: DINE AND DASH
Like gangbusters?
A: TRISYLLABIC
Support staff?
A: CANE
Apple products not intended for kids
A: HARD CIDERS
Soprano of note?
A: JAMES GANDOLFINI
And then there are these meta answers and “not G-rated” answers:
Subject of Jon Agee’s “So Many Dynamos!”
A: PALINDROMES
“Start of spring” and “frost’s parting,” e.g.
A: ANAGRAMS
Sexy frames for women’s eyes?
A: FEMINIST PORN
Hot spot?
A: EROGENOUS ZONE
YELLED NAMES IN MOVIES
Michael Bachenheimer reminds me that in the famous chest-waxing scene, Steve Carrell screams out a bunch of non sequiturs, including “Kelly Clarkson!”
TRAINING WITH PURPOSE VERSUS TRAINING FOR POLITICS
Remember the last time you went to Traffic School? You were required to sit for the prescribed number of hours. Certain material had to be covered by the teacher. The presentation is not one conducive to meaningful discussion. Everyone was checking their watch.
We are in danger of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion seminars being offered in businesses and nonprofits devolving into this same structure. What should be a dynamic discussion of important topics—a discussion that might involve the acceptance of multiple ways of viewing and addressing the problem—often ends up being a “training” that feels more like a re-education camp than a valuable perspective.
There is a cottage industry of those who are hired by corporations and non-profits to advise and train them in understanding the importance of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. These are important topics to be confronted by and understood by all. All companies need to be aware of the challenges in this area. But it feels as if these seminars are not opportunities to seriously address important issues but are, instead, lectures that are attractively mislabeled as “engaging discussions,” taught by people with clear political agendas.
I don’t dispute that critical race theory is a legitimate point of view. But it is not the only point of view. It is, I believe, unhelpful to label all actions undertaken by all public and private institutions that don’t result in racially neutral results as necessarily the result of racism. Racism is one—but not the only—explanation for the myriad ills extant in our society.
I also feel these seminars—which are very much about people talking at you—are more about teaching about an ideological point of view, rather than exploring historical events (including how they arose and the ramifications of these events) and introducing concepts to the real world issues the organization will face, and suggesting solutions (or at least changes in practices) that are concrete steps toward addressing complex problems.
Best, Glenn