Columnists

One year ago, as it became clear the United States was in the throes of a devastating pandemic, we lost 21 million jobs. Now we're recovering from Covid-19 but workers aren't rushing back to full employment at the pace economists expected. What's happening? -more-

A psychotic, bipolar or depressive episode will bring us exceedingly far out of our comfort zones, to the point where we wonder if we will ever be comfortable again. These acute episodes of mental illness create extreme levels of internally generated suffering, which other people may not be able to see. Or they may be able to perceive that we are in pain but may be unable to see the cause. When we emerge from such extremes, it is a huge relief to feel within a normal range of emotions.

When in treatment, a person with mental illness will almost always have low level residual symptoms, many of which create moderate, internally generated suffering. And it is natural for most people to crave comfort at least some of the time. This predicament for some mentally ill people makes them prone to addiction to illicit substances. Marijuana, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, and hard drugs are all temptations. So is an eating disorder, in which people are hooked on sugary or fatty foods, or in which they avoid food entirely.

But to get back on track, I'm not so much talking today about addiction. I'm speaking of the clinging to that which is comfortable. When medicated, the central nervous system is stuck at low levels of energy. Therefore, we do not have as much "get up and go", and it is awfully hard to tolerate a challenging situation, since this entails pushing limits. -more-

The latest conflict between Israel and Hamas started on May 10 and ended with a cease-fire eleven days later. Will the cease-fire hold? Maybe. The pundits say “maybe” pointing to the 2014 conflict between the two where it took nine truces before that conflict finally ended after 51 days. Signs are that this cease-fire may hold. Unlike the 2014 truce, citizens celebrated in Gaza streets indicating a general acceptance of the cease-fire. -more-

The Generous Gents at Joe's

There's a long-standing rule in the retail world that warns: "If you break it, you bought it." That wasn't the case at the Berkeley Trader Joe's earlier this week when I was bagging my groceries on a counter and a wine bottle inside my paper shopping bag toppled—causing the entire contents to spill to the ground with a resounding "Ker-splush!"

Within seconds, TJ's mop-armed First Responders appeared to deal with the wreckage—a wine-soaked bag filled with frozen meals, milk cartons, and shards of broken glass. One TJer stepped up to hand me a complimentary wine-proof grocery bag followed by another employee who appeared and presented me with a replacement bottle of wine. (Apparently, he checked the label on the shattered remains of the bottle and quickly managed to find a match inside the store.)

It's time to update the old "You broke it; you bought it" rule. At Trader Joe's, the rule is redemptive rather than punitive: "You broke it; we brought it."

However, as I told one of the mop-up crew: "Just be careful you don't wind up rewarding clumsiness." -more-