This week the world was saddened at the passing of television pioneer Norman Lear.  He was the creator of such television shows as All in The Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times, The Jefferson’s, and The Facts of Life.  Much of Lear’s work was groundbreaking, yet controversial.  Norman Lear had the ability to make millions of people laugh and not be offended by it.  He kept the broadcast sensors on their toes and many people saying “you can’t say that on television” or “that’s too controversial to talk about on television.”

 Lear talked about such topics as racism, homosexuality, woman’s rights, abortion, and drug abuse.  Lear didn’t want people to keep their heads in the sand that such problems in the world existed.  He didn’t beat you over the head with it, and he took a humorous approach to the problem.  He made you laugh at it, but he also let you know that it’s wrong and that in the case of racism, we are all of one race.  The human race. 

 Most of his characters are embedded in our memories if we were children of the 1970’s and 1980’s.  One of his most iconic character’s was Archie Bunker from All in The Family.  We may not have like Archie’s point of view on the problems of the world, but the way he put his comic spin on it made us laugh, but also think we needed a solution to problems.  His other characters Fred Sanford of Sanford and Son where he poked fun at a poor African American junk dealer who was trying to make in the world that seemed like it was against him which he was actual rich with the family and friends that he had.  George Jefferson from the Jefferson’s who proved that an African American man could be a self-man made in a world full of rich, white, snobs. The Evans family from Good Times always reminded you though you may not have had much money living in the poor section of Chicago, you always had your family and your neighbors to live like royalty.  And Maude Findley, the foil to Archie Bunker, demonstrated that she could make us laugh, cry, and made politicians and citizens scream at the top of their lungs .

Lear’s writing, producing, and directing of his shows didn’t slap you in the face with societies problems, he let humor entertain you and then let the drama of the moment make you aware of the problem then let our society try to come to a solution. 

 Norman Lear’s tenacity and bravery in creating of his television shows of the seventies and eighties was a true television pioneer.

I was working out at the gym with a friend of mine.  We had just finished a set of very heavy squats when he was finishing, and I went over to the bar and added more weight and went over to the squat rack to do another set.

                “What are you doing?” he asked me bent over catching his breath.

                “I’m doing my Brenda set.”  I replied as I put the heavy bar behind my neck and completed the set.

                “Who’s Brenda, new girlfriend?”  He asked provocatively thinking that I was gonna give him some juice tidbit of some girl I had met at the gym.

                “Nope.”  I replied and continued my workout.

                We continued to workout me doing my extra set of every exercise that we did the rest of the session.  We were in the locker room changing clothes when I prodded me again about who Brenda was.

                “Brenda was my aunt.”  I said as I finished tying my shoe and gathering my belongings.

                “Okay he asked but why does that make you do an extra set,” he asked as we walked out of the locker room.

                Brenda was my only aunt.  She was my mother’s sister.  She was an active person.  She was running, riding a bike, swimming, doing aerobics, or sometimes she would lift weights.  She was always doing something, and I admired that she was always active.  And her physical body always showed it.  She looked fit and energized.  Brenda was the pinnacle of health, until I saw her one Thanksgiving.  She did not look as though she was in good health.  She looked a little chunky and she seemed tired.  Brenda also did not like going to the doctor.  She was into holistic medicine and she also figured that if she changed the way she ate or worked out a little harder that she would feel better.  This continued for a couple of months until finally she went to the doctor and he gave her the news that all human beings fear.  The doctor told her that she had stage four pancreatic cancer.

                Cancer has been a brooding shadow over my family for a long time.  My brother has had three battles with cancer and has won.  It’s taken its toll on his body, but he is living a good life.  My aunt on the other hand was not so lucky.  Pancreatic cancer is the most aggressive and is almost uncurable.  I don’t know if she had gone to the doctor earlier, would she have lived longer.  I don’t know if radiation or chemotherapy would have helped her, we were told that it may have given her another year but would the pain and illness that come from those therapies would probably not have given her a better quality of life.  I will never know, my parents tried to care for her during her last days, but she was so ill that she had to be hospitalized until her death.

                I cannot imagine the pain and suffering that she suffered or other pain that other cancer patients endure either during their treatment or for those in their final days.  Other than appendicitis, I have never experienced the pain that they have endured or are enduring.  My favorite activity is working out, more especially weightlifting.  I like to think of working out as my anti-cancer drug.  I also like to think that it keeps me out of the doctor’s office, and off the counselor’s couch.  So, I call the extra set when I lift weights my Brenda set because I have expended the maximum effort, and I’m in pain so I expend whatever energy I have left and feel the pain that they endure.  If I’ve done five sets of squats, bench press, presses, or whatever I’m doing, I’m in pain, I’m ready to give up or quit, but I think of them and think, “ A cancer patient can’t quit, they can’t stop the pain they are in, the pain I’m is nothing compared to what they are experiencing so I have to do more to experience the pain and suffering that they are experiencing so that I don’t have experience what they are going through.”

                I know that lifting weights and exercise discomfort is no comparison to what a cancer patient feels, but they may not be able to do what I do.  The pain that I’m experiencing is only a fraction of what my aunt, my brother, and other cancer patients are experiencing.  I’m fortunate that I have not had to experience the pain of cancer or the pain of cancer treatment, but I feel that my working out keeps me cancer away from me, but I know that’s not how it works.  Like with everything, it’s a mindset.

                So, the next time that we worked out together, my partner and I finished a set.  I did my Brenda set and then he went under the bar to do another set.

                “This is my Molly set.  She was my grandma and she died of cancer.”

                So, in honor of my aunt, my brother, and all cancer patients.  I do those extra sets for you.

We all have heard the story of the plumber who had a family and they wanted to send their children off to college so that they would have a better life than he did.  He did not want to see his sons work their fingers to the bone and have it as bad as they did.  So he sent his sons off to college, one son studied business and the other became a doctor.   Many blue-collar jobs like plumbers, electricians, and carpenters are considered low skill occupations, but many of them make substantially more than their white-collar counterparts. Over the last few years, studies have shown that blue collar workers are out earning their white-collar counterparts almost 2 to 1.  So should all of us that are low-level white-collar workers quit our jobs and go to trade schools and learn how to work with our hands as opposed to using our brains and computers?  Computers have taken over the white-collar jobs.  Maybe so, but there is the saying “the world needs ditch diggers” or in this case “the world needs claim processors.”  Has corporate America devalued the American worker who has the college degree as opposed to the person who builds houses or fixes leaks for a living.

Before we all decide to leave our jobs and start applying for all the trade schools and start becoming apprentices to master electricians and carpenters, we should examine the difference between the two and why one is more obsolete than the other.  Blue collar workers did not require a lot of education, just being able to follow directions and be able to communicate.  White collar workers were thought to have more skills than blue-collar workers because most white-collar jobs require more education or a college degree.  Most blue-collar jobs have now been replaced by robots, shipped overseas, or have become scarce because as older workers retire, they do not replace themselves. There has been some demand to bring back some of these professions from overseas to stabilize the economy.  Robots have been able to do some of these jobs such as manufacturing and warehouse work because robots can work longer and do jobs with more precision than a human being is able to do.  So some of these jobs may never come back because robots have replaced them.  However, machinery does need repair or upgraded, and human beings don’t need to be upgraded or repaired, just trained, or retrained to do another job.  So the debate will continue should we use a real human being to do that job or should we rely on a robot to do the job.  Back to the argument that machines break down and need maintenance, human beings must do those jobs, not only with robots, but with household items, automobiles, and other mechanical things.  So we do need some blue-collar workers for some of these jobs.  We also need plumbers, electricians, carpenters, stonemasons, and other contractors to build the houses and the office buildings that we will need as the population continues to increase.

White-collar workers are those professions like clerks, office workers, computer programmers, and executives that manage and operate corporations.  Most of these people have some form of higher education other than a high school diploma.   There are many of these jobs available like sales, phone representatives, bank tellers, retail workers, and food service workers.  Many of these jobs are highly stressful and have a high turnover.  Some of these positions are commission based or rely on tips because business owners pay a low wage and force the worker to work longer or harder to make a living.  The jobs may not be as messy or as dangerous as some blue-collar workers but many of these deal with human beings and many human beings can be cruel and when they are not being treated that they feel that they should be treated they make the person feel awful which makes jobs stressful, and these workers feel that there is a better job out there for them.  Robots cannot do these jobs because you must be able to use discretion because not everything with human beings is black and white.  Jobs like law enforcement, social work, and mental health require a certain touch and a robot is cold and unfeeling and is programmed by someone who may not be able to understand human emotion or compassion and a robot can not learn that. 

So neither blue-collar nor white-collar have it all on the positive side.  If you like working with people and want to make a difference, maybe a white-collar job is for you, but if you want to work with your hands or have a mechanical mind, then maybe a blue-collar job is right up your alley.

Years ago while I was still in the military I joined a commercial gym because my brother had signed up for a gym membership with his work and needed someone to go in on it with him, and got a discount if a family member joined.  I liked what the gym was doing for me.  I love to lift weights and love the elliptical trainer and the gym had Tae-Bo classes that were taught by a beautiful female bodybuilder.  Months after I started going, she sold the gym and I stopped going because the gym had lost its luster.  

                About a year later, I was discharged from the military for medical reasons and went to work for the sheriff’s department.     I needed to get ready to go the academy.  In order to get in I needed to pass the physical fitness test so I joined another gym to get ready for the test.  With the help of a personal trainer, I passed the fitness test.  After I graduated from the academy, I continued going to the gym for a few years until I left the department five years later.  I felt that I could get just as good of a workout at home and I could work out anytime I wanted without having to leave the comfort of my basement.  After I bought my current home, I bought Olympic weights, a bench, and a squat rack to start.  I already had a heavy bag.  As time went on I bought equipment at garage sales and online.  My current gym now has a power tower for dips, pull-ups, push-ups and ab work, a pulley machine that attaches to the ceiling of my basement, more Olympic plates, and an elliptical trainer.  I love what I have built and I will tell you why:

1.  Convenience:    My gym is always open and I’m the only person that uses it.  The only person I have to worry about disturbing is my wife early in the morning.  I usually workout after work or later in the evening.  If I go to the gym, I have to get my workout gear along with my workout music, get in the car whether it be rain, snow, sleet or shine,  and go workout.  Now all I do is change my clothes and walk down to my basement and workout for as long as I want.  I don’t have to share equipment, worry about offending anyone, or wear whatever I want.  I can work out naked if I want to.  (I don’t, but I can)
2. No Dues:  The only dues that I pay are the sweat and tears that I put in when I do my workouts.  I already pay for the lights, water, and rent for my building.  I just have to keep up with the maintenance and keeping it clean.  If something breaks, I find how to fix it on YouTube or find the manual.   And the only person I must justify buying new equipment to is my wife who lets me have it after I give her gifts and such.
3. Safety:  I know lifting heavy weights by yourself is not safe.  But I know my limits and I only lift what I can handle. 
4. No Distractions:  I see a lot of social media who have women wearing very small outfits that show off the “fruits of their labors.  Don’t get me wrong, I love women that workout just as much as the next guy.  It shows a woman’s self-confidence and her sex appeal, but someone who is not 100 percent focused on what they are doing in the gym can get seriously injured or killed.   I do one thing in the gym.  Work on me.   If I want to watch a women workout, I’ll ask my wife or watch it on YouTube.  There is no judgement in my gym either.  There is no poking fun at people trying to improve themselves.
5. No Hogging the Equipment:  When I would go to the commercial gym, I would try to get a few sets of cable crossovers for my chest development.  I would encounter the teenagers who would be done with the movement.  I then would ask him if I could work in with them and they said “no” and I then asked how many sets they had left.  They would reply that they had ten sets left.  Cable crossovers are a finishing movement and don’t require that many sets.  I complained to the management but they just shrugged and walked away.  In my home gym. I don’t have to worry about people hogging the equipment.  I’m by myself so I can do as many sets as I want.

I made reference to music, cleanness, and dress code.  I can listen to whatever music I want.  I am responsible for the cleanness of my gym, and I can wear whatever the hell I want.  The main reason that I love my home gym is that I can go there when I’m happy, sad, angry, depressed, and anxious or any more of the other human emotions that we have.  I can go there to work on me and not to satisfy anyone else’s impression of my success or failure is me.

We all see the emails at work.  There is overtime offered this weekend or if we don’t have enough volunteers for overtime, we are going to have to make it mandatory.  So do we have a choice of being able to volunteer or “volentold” that we must work during hours and  days that we designate for our family and friends and all for what a few extra dollars in our paycheck or to let the boss know that we are a team player and that we want to put our hat in the ring for that next big promotion that is coming.  All of those are noble pursuits and possibly good ways to get that promotion and possibly more money but let’s really look at what you are getting when you work overtime.

1.  You can get mentally burned out by your job.  I always thought that if I worked a little overtime that it would show the boss that I’m “the go to guy” when all it did was burn me out quicker.  When I was a deputy sheriff, I always volunteered for overtime.  I would work court security on my days off.  The money was nice, and we did enjoy having the extra money, but we could never enjoy it because I was being called into work to cover other shifts or other things.  After time, the job mentally burned me out and I lost passion for it.  It also did make me “the man” in the eyes of my superiors.  Other people were getting consideration for projects and other things that were building their resumes while I could show that I could be a slave.  In another job, I was processing applications for a state agency, and because of the toll the job was taking on me, I had to be hospitalized for a mental break down.  Working overtime did not make better in the eyes of my superiors, it just showed that I was a good slave and that I was at their beck and call.
2. Not really making any more money.  I was always thinking, the more I work, the more I must pay the government in taxes. Like a lot of people, I don’t think the government should get rich from me.  If I want to make more money, I need to find a higher paying job or take a hobby and maybe get paid for it.  If I’m gonna make more money, I would rather do it doing something I love rather than something I hate or strongly dislike.  I also look at as that I’m making my employer more money because he is making a deadline or trying to show the client that they can produce.
3. Robs you of time with your family.   I have heard the saying “when we are making a living, we fail to make a life.  Your family is counting on you to put a roof over their heads or to put bread on the table, but when we work that extra hour or two of overtime a day, is it really worth missing your children’s soccer game or that evening out with our significant other.  Our children grow up so fast, and some of those precious moments that we have with our families we can never get back.  Our tombstones should never read that “they were a superstar in the office, but often absent in their family life.”
4. There is something wrong with the process.  When I used to process applications for the government, it always seemed that we never made a dent in all the applications, and that we always had the same problems with quality but never quantity.   We had mandatory overtime weekends, while we made a dent in the number of applications, we processed we always seemed to have many mistakes.  You always asked yourself in the back of your mind “are we that stupid or is there something wrong with the process.”  The contractor I worked for could not deliver on its promise to deliver a quality product and we were always being penalized for it.  A lot of that lead to people leaving the company because they were tired of all the negativity from the bosses.  So whenever there is a lot of overtime being offered, should we ask, is that we have an abundance of work because we are good at what we do, or is it because the system is broken.
5. If your salaried or work in an administrative job, overtime is not really for you.  Most salaried workers are supervisors or managers, and they are salaried, so working overtime is not beneficial to them.  They don’t get that benefit of working overtime so most of the overtime money goes to those working the overtime.  And working overtime may not be as beneficial as once thought because the employers will set the base wage so that they will take overtime into account when workers work overtime, so employees are not seeing the benefit of working overtime.

So the next time that email comes out for overtime, ask yourself, is this worth the burnout or my sanity because the system at work is flawed, is it worth taking time away from my loved ones,  and am I really getting the benefit of benefit?  Is working overtime really getting you over that economic hump that we all want?

I’ve sat in many Masonic meetings in my thirty years as a Mason.  There have been times during a meeting during Masonic education or just sitting around after a meeting in the dining room, the question has been asked of me and other Masons.  “Why did I become a Mason?’

There’s always the generic stand by answer “sounds like fun.”  If you consider standing in front of a sink load of dirty pots and pans from the many Masonic dinners and fundraisers that I have done over the years fun then I guess to each his own.  Or the “I want to be part of a civic organization that makes a difference in the community.”  Or the other answers, “I want to be Shriner or be a part of another Masonic order.”  There are many civic organizations in the community that do many great things and many of the appendant Masonic bodies go and do great things in the world and the Shriners are the greatest with all the hospitals that go to help children.  I reflect on the question over the years and the many times that I have been asked that question, and these are the reasons that I joined the Masonic order.

First, it’s part of a family tradition.  My grandfather and his brother on my mother’s side were both Masons.   My father joined the Masonic Lodge and was Worshipful Master three times.  My mother and my aunt were both Job’s Daughters, and my sister, a past Honored Queen,  was the Grand Guardian in Wyoming.  Both of my nieces also had the experience of being in Job’s Daughters.  One of my nieces is a past Honored Queen and a past Miss Wyoming Job’s Daughter. My brother and I are both Senior DeMolays, Past Master Councilors, and Chevaliers, which is the highest honor that an Active DeMolay can receive.  My brother joined the Masonic Lodge two years after I did.  So, I can honestly say that the Masonic order and its appendant bodies are a family tradition.  

Secondly, I joined DeMolay when I was fourteen,and I can say that I have been influenced by many honorable men that I have met in my travels in DeMolay and in the Masonic Lodge.  And I can say that they are the most influential men in civilization.  As I listened to some of the speeches that they made at public appearances, as leaders in Lodges or in leadership positions in other Masonic appendant organizations, and just talking to many of these men that they exemplify the Masonic ideals of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.  I have tried to live up to those ideals that they were talking about in those speeches.  So being influenced by those men and mentors that I looked up to influenced me to become a Mason.  

And finally, like most credit cards, I’m accepted anywhere.  Masonry is the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world.  Most Grand Lodges are recognized worldwide, and if I am looking for a good meal and good company I know that I can find a Masonic lodge somewhere in the community I’m in.  I also know that if I need help and I know the Brothers in the community, I know that they will do their best to help me.  On the flipside, I know that there are some Masons that I don’t get along with, but we put our differences and disagreements aside and met in peace and harmony.  Although we may disagree on things, we accept that we are brothers and we took the same obligations as all other Masons have done before.

So why did I become a Mason?  Family tradition for both my immediate and extended family.  Being influenced by the best people of society and that I can go to any Lodge in the world and be accepted regardless of ideals and opinions that they have of me or that I have of them, but the real reason I became a Mason is because I chose to be.

                You’re sitting in the break room at work one afternoon drinking that beverage that’s going to power you through the rest of your afternoon.  Someone from human resources puts a notice up on the bulletin board that they are opening a new supervisor position in your company, and you think about applying for the position.  After all, your boss has your co-workers go to you for technical questions and he does leave you in charge when he goes on vacation or is out of the office.  You have been reading articles and going to seminars on becoming a supervisor.  You walk over to the bulletin board and read the job description.  Now you begin to weigh the pros and cons of becoming a leader.

The Title:  You’re the man (or the Woman).  You have all the answers.  You are the go-to person in office when something needs to be done, and you get it done right, on time, and under budget.  You get the pat on the back.  You and your team bask in the glory of being in the good graces with your boss and upper management.

The Perks:  Gone is the day of sitting in a cubicle and listening to everyone complain about things.  You have your own office that you can finally hang up those certificates and other accomplishments and work on your short game in golf.  Gone is the day of having to work overtime to get something done, you can pass it on to one of your subordinates and he can finish for you.  You can go home at a decent hour, so you don’t make the significant other angry.

The Money:  With the promotion comes the raise, with the raise you can start saving for that vacation that you have been dreaming about or that car or house that you have always wanted.  You can get caught up on bills or start saving for college for your children, or just starting the road to a more secure financial future.

The New Ideas:  You are fresh from the trenches of the workforce and management wants to know what the employees think of what they are doing so you are getting a lot of questions from your boss and his bosses on how to improve things.  You are the idea man for them, and they may value what you have to say.

Now you look at the downside of what becoming a leader entail:

Higher Expectations:  Your bosses are going hold you to a higher standard.  What you did to get to your current position will no longer be good enough to them.  You will have to raise your standards and demand that of your subordinates.  Which will also lead to.

Your Friends No Longer Your Friends:  In leadership, they say it’s lonely at the top.  Being a leader is not about doing what’s popular, it’s about doing what is right for the company.  You new subordinates who may have been your co-workers can no longer complain about management to you because you are the management.  You may have to settle a dispute between two people that may have been your friends before, but your decision may affect them both negatively and you must live with that, and not having them as your friend anymore.  Can you live with that?

Accountability:  You will have successes, but you will also have failures and you will have to take the brunt of those failures when they occur. When your subordinate makes a mistake, it will be also your mistake because it will be magnified because it was in your control to stop the behavior that lead to the mistake.  Your lack of follow up or not being sure the employee knew what was asked is on your shoulders.

Can No Longer Say “That’s Not My Job”:  If you’re a leader now, you can no longer “pass the buck” to someone higher in the chain of command.  You’re a leader now because you have the education, the experience, and the training to solve the problems within the company and with customers with whom you do business with.  People want to know that that person they are dealing with knows what they are doing, and if you don’t know what you’re doing or don’t know something, people will not have a lot of confidence in you as a leader and your leaders will probably not move you up the ladder of leadership.

So, you have weighed the pros and cons of being a leader and contemplate applying for the supervisor position.  You see the pros of being the go-to person, having your own office, the money for that vacation, and being noticed by the upper management as a possible asset.  But then you also look that your boss is going to raise his expectations of you, and you will also do that of your team.  You may not have many friends that were your former co-workers when you must make a decision that is the best interest of the company rather than what popular opinion dictates. You can no longer say “that’s above my pay grade.”  Other employees, upper management, and administrators can not have you become indecisive because it does not instill confidence in them that you’re a good leader or that you don’t want to be a better leader.  You continue to think when you look down at your watch and discover that your break is over, and you need to get back to work.