Category: Elevator Pitch

No one remembers exactly when this war began. Or why. But begin it did. Despite COVID. Despite lockdown. Despite remote learning – or maybe because of it. It takes on a life of its own. A skirmish is only four letters away. My daughter’s best friend texts her the word. “Yeah” And it’s on! They […]

What makes conversations awkward? Conversations are a lot like falling. “It’s not the fall that hurts — it’s the sudden stop at the bottom.” The conversation itself isn’t awkward. In some ways, talking to people is the most natural thing in the world. What’s awkward is when one topic ends and you can’t think of […]

“Did you have to give your teacher a massage?” My 6th-grade daughter grapples with learning models for grown-ups. I tell her that I took a massage class as an adult. Her first question – how did they grade me? Of course, they didn’t – not a letter grade anyway. I did not have to give […]

A surprise snowstorm rolls through Boston and I make a stupid decision. I get in my car. In fairness, I don’t know that power lines are down. Trees too. And that there are three white-knuckle detours on the four mile drive. It’s dangerous – I almost give up and turn around twice. But I was […]

My 10-year-old daughter takes a mighty swing and miss at a ball that bounces five feet over her head. She glares at me. “Why can’t you not spin the ball?” “Huh?” We’re taking tennis lessons together, and I’m hitting the ball too hard (too tall?) for her. “Everyone else works for years to learn to […]