The pandemic and the winter bound me to my phone and my beliefs. — As the ice breaks and the snow melts and the sun begins to beam through the clouds into my living room, I look over the top of my phone and remember that there is a world beyond the simulated universe of pixels that I lived all winter. Minnesota winters are…

The pejorative word Karen is offensive because it is supposed to be. — Perhaps it is sexist of me, but I love the word, Karen. I do. I’m sure that part of it is because I work in the restaurant industry, and I encounter entitled white people all of the time. I am white, and yet there is no other demographic that gets…

An insider exposes the reality of what is going on behind-the-scenes of your favorite restaurant. — Restaurant owners and their employees are scrambling desperately to deal with Omicron. The variant hit fast, tearing through front and back-of-the-house staff, management, food suppliers and corporate employees, leaving a chaotic wake in its trail. Without a pandemic, the food and beverage industry is a high-paced and high-stress business. Employee…

We complacent Americans have to decide if we have the energy to fight for our democracy. — If the Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) was alive today, he might say that the United States in 2022 has a more sophisticated, complex and subtle form of cultural hegemony than most nations. Gramsci would know; He expanded our understanding of the word hegemony — originally referring only to…

Now that I am in a good mental state, I am striving to find a healthy, balanced lifestyle. — Drug and alcohol abuse were one way that I treated my undiagnosed mental illness. I thought that if I did not have to feel the pain associated with my underlying conditions, then I could function to some degree. And though doctors later put names on these conditions, the crux of…

Experiencing life-threatening medical conditions made me think twice about encouraging statistics. — Statistics don’t mean much when you are in the losing minority. I learned that fact when my wife went into labor and I walked in the hospital very confident like it was a given that everything would go as planned. “Babies have been born since the beginning of time,” I…

Kanye West continues to be one of the world’s most devicive public figures. Here is why. — Who is more divisive than Donald Trump? Probably nobody, but Kanye West may come in as a close second — which is very curious considering that Ye does not bring nearly the amount of hate and vitriol that the previous president did. And, hate and vitriol are arguably two of…

The Weeknd marries heavy lyrics and upbeat music to create a masterpiece. — It is by no means a stretch to say that in 2022 The Weeknd is prepared to lyrically share with us some of his deepest feelings. On his new album, Dawn FM, this virtuoso dives fearlessly into some of the most long explored and lasting existential themes that have ever…

It is not our essence but our words that make us hate. — Philosopher Richard Rorty put forth the proposition that we the people are the makers of right and wrong (truth). And without delving deeper into that theoretical discussion, it is easy to understand why most people I know immediately disregard that proposition as either illogical nonsense or as moral relativism. It…