A Socio-Political Blog
I’ve been working at Tropical Smoothie for two months now and the joy I find in the experience has not faded one bit. Granted I spent 3 weeks of those 8 in Scotland with my wife, and I only work in the morning before the consistently crazy lunch rush, but going in at 6:00 am…
The most insidious, long-term, result of this Republican sweep through our legislative waters will not be the dismantling or reduced funding of public institutions designed to protect the average American, like the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy and the Department of Health and Human Resources,…
Dear Right Wing, I’d like to come to an understanding. I realize there isn’t much motivation on your part since you’ve pretty much swept the halls of legislation with your own and even the Supreme Court has admitted to carrying the torch for conservative values, but in the event that things don’t go swimmingly; if…
The following is an interview I gave after the election to a journalism student at City University, New York. His questions were precise and allowed me to answer very spontaneously and without filter. CUNY: As someone who looks for political patterns what do you think led to the rise of Trump back in 2016? Kroeger:…
“The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil…
One month has gone by and I’m still at work scooping strawberries and mangos into containers at 6am and weighing chicken into two ounce bags for Thai chicken wraps. Usually this leads to serving several early morning smoothie aficionados and fans of flatbread breakfasts. I’m out of my Tropical Smoothie two-toned t-shirt around 8am and…
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln gave an address at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield in order to reframe the cause of the Civil War. Of course, we all know of the eloquent 272-word Gettysburg Address that deserves its place as perhaps the most inspirational call to unite under a national purpose ever conceived. He…
It’s easy to attach an “ism” to any obstacle we come across in our lives where we perceive something inherent to our being as a factor used against us. It’s easy, and very likely, correct. Not always, but when it comes to our own lives we take our advantages and disadvantages quite seriously. We are naturally inclined to see what obstacles lie before…
As I have recently posted, I’ve been working, in retirement, at a Tropical Smoothie for several weeks. My early impressions are a melding of delight and holy-mother-of-God-what-have-I-gotten-into? Breezy mornings of prep are sometimes disrupted by 10 cars anxiously waiting on their morning smoothie fix and a breakfast item that comes with a zillion options made…
There is a video circulating of angry Springfield, Ohio residents at a city council meeting. The video shows residents complaining about homeless Haitian encampments and of the habits of the immigrants. Citizens are frightened by the situation and they are angry that the city is allowing this. This issue is a perfect example of the…