I simply can’t resist weighing in on Donald Trump one more time even though I risk hurting the feelings of some of my favorite people. I have been amused, baffled, and even angered by his supposed popularity among certain segments of the population. I’m an informal student of human nature and so I have taken it upon myself to attempt to make some sense of the Trump phenomenon. I’ve forced myself to watch his press conferences and his rallies even though it nauseates me to do so. In the process I believe that I have determined just what makes his campaign tick.
Donald Trump is first and foremost a masterful salesmen. He’s the guy who can close the deal. If the Donald were one of the characters in Glengarry Glen Ross, he would undoubtedly win the Cadillac in the contest to sell worthless land. He’s the knife salesman who knocks at your door until you answer. Once he gets his foot in you are doomed to listen to his pitch. No matter how much you protest he will keep up his fast talking act until you finally surrender. He can sell anything: cheap knives, detergent, his own wacky ideas. Watching him in action is fascinating. He says nothing and yet sounds so confident that he tricks some people into believing that he has all of the answers. When pushed to explain how he plans to accomplish his goals he rarely gives any details. He just wants everyone to trust him because he is the great Donald. Continue reading “Intolerable Salesman at the Door”
Years ago the daughter of a friend was traveling down Beltway 8 on a lovely Saturday morning when the driver of an eighteen wheeler lost control of his rig and slammed into the young woman’s car. The wreckage was horrendous and when the first responders arrived they realized that the passenger in the car was near death. They immediately requested the aid of the Life Flight helicopter which arrived quickly and then transported my friend’s daughter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Houston Medical Center. Dr. James “Red” Duke and his team were on call in the trauma center and they immediately swung into action. With a lifetime of knowledge the good doctor used his skills to virtually bring the severely injured woman back to life. Her wounds were so life threatening that in another place and time she might have died. Instead she was under the care of one of the premier trauma surgeons in the world. She lived to tell her story in spite of the odds against her survival.
On the evening of October 4, 1968, I found love twice. It began with an exchange of wedding vows to Michael Lynn Burnett, my soulmate and best friend. The day ended with my first encounter with New Orleans, Louisiana, a magical place that immediately caught my fancy and burrowed into my heart just as Mike had done. For forty seven years now I have found bliss with Mike again and again, especially in the most difficult times. I have also returned to New Orleans over and over and never tire of the feeling of being in a place that somehow speaks to my very soul. I will always be a die hard native of Houston but if I ever needed a second home I suspect that I would feel as comfortable in New Orleans as I do in my place of birth. 
For most people a new beginning and the opportunity for change is heralded by New Year’s Day. For me the feeling of renewal has always come with the first day of school. It is a time when everyone brandishes a clean slate and once again there is the potential to erase mistakes and to improve. Everyone shows up on day one with hopefulness, a bag full of fresh supplies, and usually a new pair of shoes. Even the teachers boast new haircuts and not a single staple is hanging from their carefully prepared classrooms. It’s truly a day of optimism when even a meltdown on Wall Street lacks the power to kill the joy.
It’s another stormy morning and as the rain comes down I find myself feeling pensive. It’s been a quiet week after my vacation. I came home tired from the long drive and never really got back into the routine of things because I was almost immediately scheduled to visit my oral surgeon to have my implant set in place. I spent time catching up on some phone calls that I had been unable to make in the mountains. One of them was to my cousin who had suddenly and tragically lost her nephew in an accident. Her beloved Chris and his wife had gone on their dream trip to the Florida Keys. One moment they were joyfully riding on a rented scooter and the next they were hit head on by the driver of a Ford Explorer. The young man died instantly. His wife was sent to the hospital in critical condition. When the calls came to the family back here in Houston there was a sense of disbelief, as though it was all somehow a terrible mistake. 
