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Working in the restaurant industry for over 30 years, we can say that Mother’s Day is traditionally the busiest day of the year. This year, not so much. Today, Senior Living facilities are being considered possible “Death Camps”. Getting together with Mom and Aunts and Uncles and sons and daughters and Granpa……are probably not going to happen easily or without certain trepidations. Having to wear a mask to see Mom doesn’t quite have the same touchy, feel to it. Hugging Mom on Mother’s Day? This Corona Virus-19 has created a world of “Untouchability”. Like the “Untouchables” in India….we have all been targeted for a sad, lonely world which requires constant stress, worry and depression.
OJB celebrates 2020’s Mother’s Day with this beautiful image of Jennifer Lawrence as some kind of Earth Mother type from recent film.
As the country attempts to make a Social Comeback by regulatory law breaking or by serious compromise…..as in the case of opening beaches as they do in Hawaii, to only active exercise and water sports, while still restricting Social Distancing and with no “catching rays on your beach towel while reading your favorite book” No tents, Beach Umbrellas and no BBQ pits! No Beach Football? No Frisbee throwing to your doggie? These could be possible holes in the regulations but we will have to see! Dumping Mom under the Costco Beach Umbrella and putting the burgers on the fire rings is strictly prohibited.
Mothers are hardworking and often, like Jackson Pollacks mother, our inspiration.
So, we expect this Sunday, Mothers Day 2020 to go off without a hitch. They have opened up the Flower Shops, so perhaps these folks will make a few bucks…we can only hope. You still can’t go to most Specialty Retail Outlets to buy Mom that unique gift, but you can go to Walmart, Costco and Target – so how bad can it be? Maybe you can schedule Mom for one of Covid-19 Mobile Tests. Maybe you can call and have Food Delivered to her location….maybe not. Maybe you can go to visit Mom and put chairs outside the house, so there is no chance of infecting her or others.
When our Mom passed away on March 23rd, 1977….she had been fighting bone cancer, an esophagus tumor and brutal pain. In those days, the doctors refused to give out morphine until the last week of someone’s life. These were very cruel times. Bad Medicine killed people and Bad Medicine made people suffer needlessly. Her maladies began nine months before on Cruise ship to Mexico. She came back with a severe case of pneumonia…which took six weeks to diagnose and begin treatment. Mom was smoker for most of her life. Mom was going through a tough time with a teenage daughter and a wayward husband. Stress, Depression and self-pity were evident. Mom was on the road to “Self-Destruct”. When we went to see her and beg her to fight for her life she simply said: “Why, so you can come by and visit every two weeks?” Mom was our best friend, our most dear confidant, the smartest, most giving person that we had every known. That statement broke our heart, because we had no answer, we had left her health care to our Stepfather. We did not take charge. Mom passed away 10 days later under strange circumstances. That guilt will always follow us for the rest of our days…..thinking always, that we could have done more to save her life. Mom died at 53 years of age. That was then, this is now! We implore everyone to go and see their Mom, find out what you can do to raise her spirits. Forgive her for her sins and forgive yourself for your own insensitivity!
The future of our country, will again be determined by how Mom’s will be able to care for their children. In these tragic times of economic Armageddon when our leaders tell us that everything will be fine again in six months – it is difficult to believe. We are looking at a National Unemployment rate of 30-40%. Without opening restaurants, sporting venues, high school sports, professional sports and Business Convention Businesses…….this will be not only difficult but impossible to sustain Public Safety – Police, Fire and Local Governments. Not to mention Real Estate Sales, Automobile Sales or even Clothing Shops! We guess we keep waiting for the famous Jimmy Carter speech of 1977 that said: “The American people will need to sacrifice more and expect less!” Had this Covid-19 event occurred back in 1977 and the entire World/Global Economy shut down as it has now – Maybe Jimmy would have had a point. Guess Jimmy didn’t have any pull with the Federal Reserve. Today, we are looking at another stimulus package……one that would give every person $2000 dollars a month for the next six months. That actually might help keep our country afloat. If they don’t pass that legislation…..it could be big trouble.
So, we say: Thank you Moms around the world, we have tough times ahead which need your devotion, caring and love. We need a bunch of Cujo Mom’s that know that society is based on their actions – not the actions of a bunch of Wall Street Investment Bankers! So, we say to all:
Happy Mother’s Day 2020!
This, in honor of mothers everywhere, has been been belatedly decreed our Weekend Open Thread. Don’t trash your mommas.
[Vern’s historic HISTORICAL Mothers’ Day post from 10 years ago]
*We do not approve this graphic….just in case anyone cares! Vern seems on a tear….about what…we do not know.
What’s wrong with Jackson Pollock’s mother? I used to have that painting hanging in my room.
What graphic would you prefer?
As I’ve made this our Weekend Open Thread (because I was too busy taking part in my own family’s mother’s day to finish the one I had planned), I’ve tried to resolve any conflict by demoting the (admittedly very funny, in my opinion) image that Vern had used and substituted in a more soothing image of our great actress Jennifer Lawrence.
Of all of the links on our front page, the one that I most often recommend to our readers is the one to “The Weekly Sift,” which comes out Mondays with a summary and usually three stories. Sometimes, I have to scuttle stories I had planned to write because the author has already done it so much better. Today’s story on corruption at the federal level is a great example of that. Check it out.
*First off…..Mother’s are sacred, sacrosant….which doesn’t mean that there are many that are abusers, users, pimps, whores or other ignominious characters. The problem we have with questionable Mother images is probably related to the story of Richard Prior growing up in whore house, playing piano for his Mom. So, we are quite sensitive to images of Mom’s. Jennifer Lawrence may be many things, just not a Mom. The Post Magazine photo certainly does not represent motherhood in any stretch of the imagination in our eyes. So, the kindly greyhaired mom on Henry Fonda in the movie “Grapes of Wrath” is probably perferable in our eyes., but then eveyone has their own image of the perfect Mom, Some think that Bridgett Bardot, Jackie Kennedy or Kate Winslett might be good candidates…..we have no clue. Only that images are important to motherhood in our humble opinion. Is Oprah the perfect mom or Cher or Bonnie Parker? Who knows? Perhaps our readers might add their perspective on the subject?
OK, OK — I gave you your Ma Joad and made her the featured image. But I’m not taking out Jennifer Lawrence. She just got married last year, so she might have a kid soon enough.
*To be sure….we do love Jennifer Lawrence just not as your basic Mother Image. Prince William’s Kate is more of Mom image in our humble opinion.
… you’re asking me to betray Duchess Meghan — a fellow Angeleno? I shall not hear of it, sir!
Disappointing that OJB editors didn’t have the time to post something about Little Richard. I don’t want to think that Vern is after all a Pat Boone type of guy, you never know…I’ll stick with Little Richard, and I’m sure that Ron and Ann will agree, with Bill Haley and the Comets.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/09/little-richard-ultra-sexual-force-anti-nature-death
You have this habit of complaining that me and Greg don’t write about certain things, while you are perfectly capable of contributing a Little Richard post. I did listen to him a lot the other day…
I used to, when you both were rads, until the bromance thing started. It is good though, I still like you. I appreciate what you do in spite of our greater recent differences. See you later, alligator!
We’re not a journal of record. We don’t and can’t cover everything that happens. (I’d have a piece on Jerry Stiller, otherwise, and it would get a mere handful of views.) Open threads are a perfect place to put such things.) We write about what we’re interested in, what is getting overlooked, and what fits in with overarching themes related to OC.
If the notion that we’re not “rads” has to do with the Santa Ana recall — I think that Vern has made a good case that fending off the voracious SAPOA is of more importance than striking a blow against Trump than has roughly a billion times more good for SAPOA than it does harm to Trump. You’re mileage can vary — and with Election Day coming up you know that you have the keys to write whatever you want on that topic — or others.
Who is saying that you’re a journal of record? I was playing with Vern as being of Pat Boone type of guy, not because of the music, but because of his “agnostic” political positions. Check your own positions in the last few years, ending with your Adelanto proposal to see how much you have regressed.
How the hell am I politically “agnostic?” Because I don’t always agree with my Party? I’m progressive and libertarian, that’s not agnostic. And I don’t like to see a police union running a city. It’s a shame more Democrats are too dumb or unprincipled to agree with me on that.
And what is this “Adelanto” proposal of Greg’s, which shows “how much he has regressed?” Does that mean anything to you, Greg?
Yes. It was a thought experiment, probably while you were gone. It was an attempt to improve on the tokenism that existing plans to serve the homeless offer. The conservative part is that while I think that everything has the right to work in OC if they have a job, I don’t think that everyone has the right to live here, just because they want to, if they can’t afford it. Ricardo seems to disagree with me there, but given that half of country might want to live in coastal SoCal if they could be guaranteed inexpensive housing and subsidized utilities, I consider such a notion to be (1) pie in the sky and (2) exactly the sort of thing that sends people scurrying to Trumpism. He’s right that — like Bernie — I’m not a wild-eyed radical, but to be an actual pragmatist these days is to be perceived as a radical.
*Keep a knockin, but you can’t come in….Keep a knockin, but you can come in….come
back tomorrow night and try it again!” We loved Little Richard.
Little Richard is now with Elvis…….Jim Morrison and the Big Bopper, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly!