The Goldman State
Ed Goldman is a longtime newspaper and magazine columnist, the author of five books and creator of The Goldman State, a three-times-a-week online column with subscribers in 40 states, Canada and Europe. A professional playwright, composer and painter, Ed has also taught journalism at five California Universities and community colleges. His bucket list includes becoming the victim of a corporate takeover. This podcast is an extension of his unique take on the world around us and his interpretation, with all the creativity imaginable, of what that would literally sound like if he were to speak it.
The Goldman State
Episode 90: My Honey Can't Do List.
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Who decides what makes a day productive? You do. I do. So if I only get one thing of my choice done for the day, who's to say it wasn't productive? Even if it was from yesterday. At least it got crossed of...the list.
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00:12 - Ed Goldman (Host)
Hi, this is Ed Goldman with the Goldman State Podcast. When I grow anxious about how many things on my to-do list I have yet to do, I want to take a deep breath and draw up a did-do list. Don't yesterday's completed chores count for anything. A did-do list would reassure me that I haven't just been taking up real estate in this case my home and even my body but instead have been, at one time or another, a productive member of society. This is apparently an important role to play. Member of society. This is apparently an important role to play. We tell everyone, from high school graduates to recently paroled recidivists, to become quote productive. This encouragement should be given guardedly to recidivists if the crime they continue to commit involves counterfeiting. Obviously they know how to be productive.
01:02
Now, when I was a kid and heard that advice, the urge to be productive kept throwing me off. It seemed to mean I had to build things, and usable things at that, like homes and automobiles, or even wealth that I could distribute to others, none of which was a likely path for me. I figured that by the time I'd built any wealth, the person most of need in it would be me. Since I've never attained wealth, this may be one moral discussion I can put on indefinite hold. Let me see if I can find some nice music to accompany your on-hold weight. Oh, here's something I've got to be me from the musical Golden Rainbow. Then, when I saw a movie in TV credits listing someone as a producer, I thought, okay, I can be a producer and be productive that way. But in later years, writing every so often for Hollywood as I have, I can be a producer and be productive that way. But in later years, writing every so often for Hollywood as I have, I learned that only a handful of movie and TV producers even walked onto the set on which the film or show was being produced and that if the title producer was preceded by the word executive or associate, chances are that label was affixed to someone for A bringing the idea to, b being related to, or C sleeping with the producer. Pop quiz how much sleep does an associate producer actually get when doing so with a producer? This is a matter of future conjecture, though not in this podcast, which carries an unofficial PG rating for cartoon violence, mild profanity and largely idiotic opining.
02:29
I've always thought of teachers, nurses, doctors, first responders and bus drivers as being productive members of society, even though quantifying what they produce can be elusive. For example, if teachers help just three kids out of the thousands they instruct in the courses of their careers, and they help those kids achieve greatness, then sure they've produced something. So does it seem unfair to hold them accountable for the thousands they don't help achieve greatness? And is this why they have such a strong union? If what's produced by nurses, first responders etc. Is health and safety, which some may find intangible, shouldn't it at least be incumbent on those of us whom they save to go out and be productive, just as a way of saying thanks? I mean, go out and be productive reminds me of another idiotic topic on which I've been musing. One should always muse before opining. I mean, that's just common decency.
03:24
I have a few people in my orbit whose email ends once it apologizes for not taking the call right now because they're either away from their desk or on another call or in an alcoholic stupor. Their voicemail ends by asking us to leave a message, then exhorting us to get out there and have a great day, to which I sometimes respond by dutifully saying who I am, why I'm calling, and then declaring I have no intention of having a great day and you can't make me. I mean, how powerful do these people think we are? Do they think that all we have to do to have a great day is to get out there and do it? Do they have no access to news and weather reports out there and do it? Do they have no access to news and weather reports? Did they sleep through the past few elections?
04:08
Well, I have to stop now. I consulted my to-do list and it has just one task on it. Now Nap can do. I'm Ed Goldman. My column, the Goldman State, comes out every Monday, wednesday and Friday. You can subscribe for free at GoldmanStatecom. Thanks for listening.