Other People's Stories, Dan Gottlieb, and Ben Stein

Something my lady friend and I have in common is that we are immensely intrigued by people's life stories. For me, I can't help but listen to the natural poetry of life stories and how people use their bodies, voice, and colloquial language to conjure up the images and emotions of personal memories. Today I happened to be listening to Dan Gottlieb's radio show on NPR while hanging out with my son and I had to stop and listen to the stories being told. The premise of the show was that we don't listen to each other closely enough, that people's lives are a complete mystery and that we as a community don't do our part in taking time to truly listen to what's on people's minds, or to find out what people's stories are all about. Taking this premise, Dr. Gottlieb spoke with several folks who shared whatever they felt was important to share about their lives, and we heard from an 85 year old woman, a mother of six with terminal cancer, and a man in his 40s who was feeling the pain of his mother's loss and all that happened after it since the age of 8. What struck me most about these stories is that these are ordinary people with an extraordinary ability to tell their stories once they were given the opportunity. And I thought to myself, how many life stories have I heard that have shaped my life, moved me in a zig zag directions, and brought me here to this town in Pennsylvania...I urge you to take a moment with a friend, neighbor, loved one, or stranger, and ask them about themselves. Dr. Gottlieb suggested that perhaps the world would not feel so scary if we could listen to our neighbors. If you have a moment, go to the website and download the show here.



In other news, I was picking up Sunday's paper from the living room floor when a story in the NY Times business section caught my eye. The headline of the story was "Getting a Boost Up the Ladder of Success" written by Ben Stein. It instantly drew my attention because I surely could use some help trying to figure out how to get back on the ladder and then finally up it! I had forgotten that Stein is quite conservative and so his point of view was way different than mine. He did not fail to annoy me. The gist of the story is that he credits his success to nepotism and cronyism He smugly states that "success depends largely on a combination of education, ability, work habits and connections" while acknowledging half-heartedly that some people just don't have that luck. He ponders, "what if you are a young man or woman who has some talent and ambition but little or no idea of how to get onto the ladder?" His answer, "I am not at all sure what you do." Given that most of his column was about how he has managed to be successful, one loses interest in the fact that at the end he is calling for folks to be mentors. Here's an idea--why don't you (Ben Stein) start the organization that mentors folks and works toward erasing inequality. Or better yet, give of your leisure time gallivanting around the world in first-class seating to worthy organizations like Big Brothers/Big Sisters who have been doing just this for quite some time. And while you're at it, expand that list for getting up the ladder by adding "be a White man."