Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all who may be reading this!

To me, Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate family. The busier that life seems to get for everyone, the more important it is to step back and remember all the things in our lives we have to be thankful for. Personally, I am thankful for the love of a wonderful husband, a great daughter, the best parents in the world, an extended family who is beyond description, friends from years gone by and new friends. Our family will be celebrating tomorrow, as some members actually have to work today - a family dinner with everyone present is our tradition. Each of us will bring a dish, and whoever has the most space available for all 14 of us is where we gather. We'll talk and laugh, and probably bicker a bit too - that's just how our family is. We'll have a glass of wine, relax and play with the kids and remind ourselves how very fortunate we are that we're able to spend the evening together, that we are all in relatively good health and count our blessings for everything we have, forgetting, even for a short time, about the things that we don't and have been wishing for....

The Family in the year 2109

What will the nature of "the family" be in the year 2109? It's hard to say, really. If one were to make assumptions based on history, I would think the family unit will continue to evolve, as it has over the past century. In the early 1900s, the family unit was a much bigger priority than it seems to be in the current day. Families worked together for success, particularly in farming, as every member of the family that was able worked in the fields in order for the family to have foot to eat throughout the year. Families relied on themselves and their own resourcefulness to heat their homes and cook meals, and so on. As we entered the age of electronics and technology, many family values began to fall by the wayside, and as electronics continue to dominate our culture, I think this trend will continue for many. Although family values for many groups have changed very little, for what seems like the majority, family values appear to barely exist. We are in the midst of the information and electronics age, and as these new technologies continue to advance, the family as we know it will cease to exist. Although I hesitate to speculate what it will become, history tells us that it will continue to disintegrate from what it once was. The technological revolution has been both a blessing and a curse...

Community

Community, to me, is the connection among the people who we work, live and enjoy life with. The family community is a big one, and the dynamics within a family can be intense. Yet no matter how challenging things can become in one's life, the family is always there to provide support and guidance. What ties families together can be nothing more than blood ties, but can also be friendships and marriages and children. The work community is another. The dynamic is different than that of a family but can be just as supportive and provide an outlet outside of one's family to vent frustrations and share "war" stories with. These people become our friends, whether or not we spend time with them outside of the work environment. These are the people that we can share our work frustrations and accomplishments with, because they are there, in the trenches with us every day, and deal with the same pompous jerks, kind people, irritating people and demanding supervisors that we do. It is a connection to share inside jokes and laughter, and to buckle down and band together to get the job done - and get it done right. Then there are are comrades who we play with. Whether it is a pickup game, paintball, beach volleyball or whatever, we bond with these people as well, as we share a common enjoyment of some sport or athletic event, and cheer each other on to success.

"Honor Codes" on College Campuses

While they will not have the desired effect on every individual who attends college, I do think that "honor codes" are a good reminder for those who may be tempted to take shortcuts or try to pass someone else's work off as their own. I do, however, feel that these are effective only to a certain degree. Even before society's evolvement into the current "it's all about me and what I want" type of attitude, there were always people who took what didn't belong to them or used things that didn't belong to them without permission - and there always will be. For those who might be teetering on the edge, trying to decide if they will or won't cheat, these "honor codes" may have a deterrent effect, if the individual fears the consequences of their actions. But, as with any law or policy, there will be some who have no fear of consequences and proceed to do exactly what they want to do. I think that this mentality is becoming more prevalent in today's society, in part because values and parental teaching of those values, respect for authority and boundaries have changed over the past few decades.