It’s all good! According to the New York Times, we are all a lot happier because houses are selling again and the economy is booming. Well, not exactly booming but people just got tired of complaining. They had an op-ed piece about the benefits of home-cooking. It seems that when there’s someone in the kitchen we are no longer the savage beasts who frequent the drive-through at McDonald’s. Using Mrs. Obama’s ideas about curbing obesity the author instructs us to “replace cupcakes with oranges” (are you listening Oprah?). Of course the problem with that notion is that many youngsters already suffer from Diabetes 11 and cannot eat fruit because of the sugar content. The author suggests using fruit as a math lesson. You can add or subtract bananas to berries --- just don’t tell my mother who always thought it was a sin to play with food. There is a school of thought about diet foods and especially diet soda. The idea of ingesting any food or drink which reduces caloric intake can be viewed by many as a sacrifice and can actually foster overeating. "It’s only a weight-watcher’s frozen meal, so I can eat two." It’s my thought that society has become bitter, short-tempered, hostile and generally belligerent since adults gave up smoking. I can recall dining out with friends in Manhattan in the 1950s and 1960s when we met for drinks before dinner at Elaine’s, Lutece, Sardi’s, Tavern on the Green, Mitzie’s Jager House, Le Pavillion, Patsy’s, P.J. Clarke’s, Joe Allen’s or the Russian Tea Room. We would usually meet at a bar at the Plaza, Beekman Place, the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis or Michael’s Pub for couple of rounds of Martinis, scotch on the rocks, Old Fashioned. We all smoked – as most sophisticated, well-bred people did, back in the day. The evening was spent puffing, sipping and engaged in civil conversation, exchanging ideas. We talked about politics, art, music, travel, books, plays, movies We talked about our bosses and the idiots at work. We were always calm, polite and interested in the exchange of ideas with our contemporaries. We sometimes shared a house at the beach on the New Jersey shore or Fire Island. We truly enjoyed one another’s company. And, it’s my hunch that it had more to do with the way we socialized -- over drinks, cigarettes and good food -- than having a similar taste in goals or ideas. Most of us worked for one company and were usually dedicated to that company. We had enormous pride in our work. I was as assistant editor at Cosmopolitan Magazine -- in the pre-Helen Gurley-Brown days. My husband worked at Dell Publishing's Modern Screen Magazine doing interviews and stories about the stars of those days: Elvis Presley, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, Eddie Fisher, Bobby Darin, Rock Hudson, Sophia Loren, you-name-it. He eventually moved to television, writing for East Side/West Side (George C. Scott) and The Defenders (E.G. Marshall). As he explained it, "I don't think I can interview Sandra Dee under the hair dryer anymore. It's time to move on." Nowadays if you scan the comments beneath an article or blog post you read a barrage of nasty insults. It makes me want to go and buy a pack of cigarettes and start smoking again after a 21-year hiatus. Luckily I hate cupcakes. I mourn the days of civility, the profound pleasure of having an opinion and being able to express it without being labeled or called a nasty name. How could times have changed so drastically? What ever happened to the fun, the caring, the well-educated adults who cared about friends and feelings, who engaged in enlightened conversation with humor and respect? Ah, for the good old days...If you got 'em, smoke 'em!
