Day 136 Nat'l Emergency: Person of the Year Choices, Turkey Time Off, Jobs Off, School Time

Five months before Time magazine releases its Person of the Year issue it is safe to say there are three significant candidates whose image could grace the front cover: 

*George Floyd, whose cellphone-recorded death at the knee of a Minneapolis policeman sparked nationwide outrage and galvanized Black Lives Matter protests; 

*Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose calm Dutch uncle counsel on the coronavirus has soothed and informed a frightened and conflicted nation; 

*The embattled frontline healthcare worker, who has selflessly placed themself in danger to heal a sick country and comfort the dying in the absence of quarantined loved ones.

Even if he wins the presidency, Joe Biden would not be elevated to cover boy status. Not this year. 

Similarly, Donald Trump wouldn’t qualify even if he manages a comeback to secure a second term. 

Chief Justice John Roberts has received lots of ink for his high-wire role in shepherding the Supreme Court, but he, too, falls short in overall dominance of the year. 

For sure, the two main stories of 2020 have been the coronavirus with its worldwide impact on health and the economy, as well as international political repercussions, and the outpouring of protest and energy for racial equality after the killings of unarmed Blacks and actions by ordinary white citizens to physically and verbally assault minorities.

It’s About Time: More than a dozen years have passed since I called on retail chains to keep their stores closed on Thanksgiving so employees could spend time with their families instead of aiding in the pursuit of every last disposable dollar. Consumers, as well, would benefit from not running out to the store once dessert has been shoveled down their throat. 

My perch as editor and publisher of Chain Store Age is long gone, but it is pleasing to note that Walmart, the nation’s, nay, the world’s, largest retailer has decided it would not open Thanksgiving. Apparently, Walmart listened to the suggestion advanced by one of its employees in a letter to management.

“We know it’s been a trying year, and you’ve stepped up. We want you to enjoy the day at home with your loved ones,” John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart USA, wrote in a memo to employees. 

Fewer Jobs: Donald Trump promised to bring back manufacturing jobs if elected in 2016. How’s he doing?

Not so great. Though manufacturing jobs increased in the first two years of his presidency, the last two have been not so good. 

Compared to when he took the oath of office there are almost 300,000 fewer manufacturing jobs. Of course, the pandemic is a key factor, an excuse Trump will surely cite if challenged on his record. 

But as The New York Times pointed out, “U.S. factory output declined throughout 2019, as Mr. Trump’s trade war intensified, and it has dropped further this year, suggesting there is no boom in new American factories. Since peaking in mid-2019, corporate investment has  declined for three consecutive quarters. Total foreign direct investment in manufacturing was nearly one-third lower in the first three years of Mr. Trump’s tenure than it was in the final three years of President Barack Obama’s.

“Mr. Trump ostensibly fought his trade war on behalf of American manufacturing. But economists say it has actually been a drag on most U.S. factories, by increasing prices for components and inciting foreign retaliation.  It has also coincided with a plunge in Chinese investment in the United States to $5 billion in 2019, the lowest level since 2009, according to Rhodium Group, a research firm” (https://nyti.ms/2CClSib).

School Time? As part of his reelection strategy Trump is pushing for a September opening of schools. But evidence on the impact of bringing children back to classes where they could become infected, and then sending them home where they could transfer the coronavirus to other family members, is mixed (https://nyti.ms/2ZjbJj5). 

New research has shown that children under 10 years are not as susceptible, but transmission is more prevalent as student age hits double digits. If schools open before the general public has appropriately contained the pandemic, a rebound in cases could occur, as happened in Israel.  

Few dispute the benefit of having children resume classes. But just as most parents believe in inoculations to protect their offspring from childhood illnesses, most also would think twice about placing their children at risk with the added fear they could be exposing themselves and other family members, especially grandparents. 

Day 84 of Nat'l Emergency: Bell's Palsy, Eight Minutes 46 Seconds of Terror, a Quizzical Coincidence

I’m wearing a crooked smile these days. Not by choice, mind you. Seems I have a mild case of Bell’s palsy.

Almost three weeks ago, on Wednesday, May 13 to be precise, as I was walking in our neighborhood, I felt a slight muscle cramp under the left side of my jaw. It quickly disappeared. Over the years I’ve had similar passing sensations, so I thought nothing of the current cramp. The next day, coincidentally around the same location on my walk, another fleeting cramp in the same spot under my jaw. 

As I continued my promenade my mouth felt as it does when recovering from a shot of novocaine from a dentist. I lost the ability to fully protrude the bottom of my jaw. My left cheek lacked sensation. No pain. Just a feeling of not quite numbness.

When I returned home Thursday, I looked in a mirror. No visible drooping. I smiled. My right side lips rose up in a smile. My left side stayed put. A classic crooked smile. 

To see me, one would not know anything was amiss. Lots of people have uneven smiles. I normally do not. 

Because of weakness in the muscles on the left side of my face I cannot suck up liquid with a straw unless it is positioned totally on the right side of my mouth. I’m sloppy when rinsing out toothpaste after brushing. It is easier to drink from a small juice glass than a standard width tumbler. 

My neurologist confirmed a mild case of Bell’s palsy. An MRI revealed no underlying reasons why my seventh cranial nerve acted up. 

There’s no treatment for my Bell’s palsy. It will self-correct, usually within six months. I already have seen improvements in my smile. 

Eight Minutes, 46 Seconds: I have no silver bullet, no magic formula to solve the continuing bias black Americans experience. How hard, how exhausting it must be to live a life of constant fear not just outside one’s home but even inside it should police come a-knocking.

I’ve been driving a car more than 50 years. During that more than half a century of driving I have received three tickets for a moving violation. Yet, each time I spot a police car a nerve receptacle in my brain tingles. I immediately check the speedometer. At night I check that my headlights are on. If turning or changing lanes I check if my blinker lights are on. I look in the rear view mirror to check if the police car has begun following me.

Am I paranoid? To some degree, for sure. But no doubt nowhere near the anxiety any black motorist must feel any time, anywhere, they are behind the wheel in their own cars or while delivering packages in a white neighborhood. 

Sadly, tragically, we have witnessed once again deadly, brutal, racist treatment black Americans receive from law enforcement. George Floyd did not commit a violent assault. Police were called because he was suspected of passing a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. He did not threaten anyone. 

Moreover, as a video recapitulation by The New York Times of the distressing incident shows, even though Floyd says he is willing to get up and get into a squad car, he is restrained from doing so by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and possibly two other officers. Chauvin has his left knee on Floyd’s neck, pinning him to the ground (https://nyti.ms/2XMtUMa). 

Floyd’s death might not have been premeditated, but it clearly was murder.

Quizzical Coincidence: In its online page Sunday and in its print edition Monday, The Times ran an obituary of Herb Stempel whose death was not known when he expired April 7. The headline Monday was “Herb Stempel, 93, Contestant Who Admitted Quiz Show Was Fake, Dies” (https://nyti.ms/3doDc7C).

How ironic that his obituary coincided with the first installment Sunday of a three-part British series, aptly named “Quiz” on AMC, dramatizing a near 20-year-old cheating scandal surrounding British ITV’s hit show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.”

Though they dispute their guilt, the perpetrators in “Quiz” are found to have passed information through strategic coughs from an audience member to a contestant. Stempel, on the other hand, was provided questions and answers for his appearances on “Twenty-One” in late 1956. He never denied his involvement in duping the public. Indeed, he asserted he was simply an “actor” following a script, for which he received $25,000.