For the past twenty-two months, my old office, the New York State Attorney General’s complaint mediation program, has been empty but for two people: a file clerk and a staff member who processes the day’s mail. COVID-19 is the explanation, of course.
Memoir
Longing
I’ve wondered why the Beatles’ “Michelle” lingers in the mind. For one thing, the lyrics are ludicrous. The only French words the singer, Paul McCartney, claims to know are “ma belle” and “Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble,” which he goes on
Snowflakes at Amherst
Amherst College is withholding important information about its disabled students by claiming a statistic has a right to privacy. 1 I recently wrote to Amherst College, my alma mater, to inquire how many blind and otherwise physically disabled
Tribalism in Amber
1 When we look back at a long-ago era, what wasn’t obvious to the people then can be plain to us today. As with a tree’s hardening resin, an era’s scurrying, uncertain lives eventually become fixed like insects in amber. It used to be in Europe
Fairness During a Pandemic
i I’m about to have life-saving surgery, but the hospital’s administration refused to ensure I get both COVID-19 doses ahead of time. I meet New York State’s vaccination eligibility requirements. They do say the wing where I’ll be staying is
Disconnects
Why do I suddenly think of that chilly Boston evening forty or so years ago? A friend of mine named Tim and I were visiting a married couple, friends of his. She played hostess while her husband stayed glued to his recording of Mozart’s Marriage of