Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
B3
Celebrating the joys of ‘oldness’
Senior
Living
Scott
McKay
Along my journey of growing
older, I desperately tried to avoid
my preconceived ideas of what old
looked like, such as wearing hear-
ing aids — which now I wouldn’t
live without — or using a pillbox,
until there were too many days
when I couldn’t recall if I took my
morning pills or not!
Since I’ve passed those two mile-
stones, I’ve started thinking that
instead of denying my age I should
celebrate my “oldness” and the
accompanying joys. (I’ll leave the
challenges for another day.)
But what is old? We’ve all heard
it is 10 years older than you are
now (which I’m continuing to find
surprisingly accurate), but is there
a better way to know? So, for those
of you who are curious, I found
this list of “scientifically validated”
indicators of old age. See how you
compare with my answers.
1. You fall asleep watching TV or
reading the paper. No, but at 3 p.m.,
I do start nodding off.
2. You become forgetful. Yes, but
it’s no different than the 20-some-
thing who can’t remember what
I just ordered on my Subway
sandwich!
3. You groan when getting up
from a chair or out of bed. No, but
for some reason my wife thinks I
do.
4. You say “Back in my day.” No, I
say, “Back in the good old days.”
5. You have an afternoon nap.
Yes, but they are now “power naps.”
6. You don’t know the names of
current celebrities. I do — if they
are over 65.
7. You have a low tolerance for
teenagers. No. I find teenagers
great. It brings back fond memo-
ries of my youth without having to
relive those days.
8. You only listen to music from
your youth. No. I listen to con-
temporary music that sounds like
music from my youth.
Over halfway through and look-
ing good!
9. You choose places to eat
because they play quiet music. Yes,
because I want to hear who I am
talking with — which is not easy
wearing hearing aids.
10. Choosing to meet friends for
lunch or dinner rather than a night
out for drinks. Yes. I need to be in
bed by 9 p.m.
11. You spend weekends or hol-
idays in garden centers. No. I try to
stay out of the garden — that’s my
wife’s domain — thankfully.
12. Gardening is a hobby. No.
See above.
13. You forget where your glasses
are. Yes, but I always find them —
on my head!
14. You choose clothes for com-
fort rather than style. Yes, because
who am I trying to impress?
15. You get a haircut to “suit your
age.” No, because I’m still figuring
out what my age is.
So how did you do? Did you do
better than my nine out of 15 “no”
answers? If so let’s go out and cele-
brate — but please, not too long!
•••
The members of the 1985
country music supergroup The
Highwaymen were Willie Nelson,
Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings,
and Kris Kristofferson. I received
correct answers from Steven
Woolpert, Barbara Cadwell, Susan
Ellis, John McEwen, Jess Birge,
Gene Uczen, Lana Tepfer, Tina
Castañares, Keith Clymer, Margo
Dameier, Mike Yarnell, Rose
Schulz, Jim and Jennifer Stager,
Doug Nelson, and Joy Nicholson,
this week’s winner of a free quilt
raffle ticket. And last week I missed
Beverly Thomas and Doug Nelson.
Remember when doctors
and even Santa Claus were used
to sell cigarettes on television?
That ended at 11:50 p.m. on Jan.
1, 1971, when the last cigarette
advertisement ran on The Tonight
Show Starring Johnny Carson. For
this week’s “Remember When”
question, what was the brand
of cigarette in that television ad
that tried to cash in on the wom-
en’s liberation movement with
the tag line, “You’ve come a long
way, baby.” E-mail your answers
to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com,
call 541-296-4788 or send it with
a short history of the Women’s
Tennis Association.
•••
Well, it has been another week
trying to decide which way is up.
Until we meet again, as they said in
the old west, “Poor is having to sell
the horse to buy the saddle.”
•••
“There are six myths about old
age: 1. That it’s a disease, a disaster.
2. That we are mindless. 3. That we
are sexless. 4. That we are useless.
5. That we are powerless. 6. That we
are all alike.”
— Maggie Kuhn
•••
Nutritious home delivered meals
and pick-ups are available for any-
one over 60. For more information,
you can call the meal site in your
area.
Hood River Valley Adult Center
at 541-386-2060;
The Dalles Meals-on-Wheels at
541-298-8333;
Sherman County Senior
and Community Center at
541-565-3191;
Klickitat County Senior Services:
Goldendale office at 509-773-3757
or the White Salmon office at
509-493-3068;
Skamania County Senior
Services at 509-427-3990;
Seniors of Mosier Valley at 541-
503-5660 or 541-980-1157.
The City Council: A fictional narrative of Rural Life in the American West
Episode 160: Tootie’s Quality Customer Service Training Program
■ By Jim Tindall
The Warhaven City Council
Uptown seat opened when
Pete Petrovich decided not
to run for reelection. Tootie
McDaniels ran successfully
for the seat without espous-
ing any formal platform or
agenda. As a Republican
with Libertarian leanings,
she was a proponent of small
government, yet Warhaven
was a trim bureaucracy;
there wasn’t much blubber
on which to take her fiscal
scalpel. Once in office, she
saw happenings with new
eyes, which occurs to many
elected officials — to any of
us thrust into new respon-
sibilities in any situation.
And fact of leadership that
has always been a gift to
Warhaven; quickly our
leaders learn the arts of
compromise and discerning
listening as two cornerstones
to progress.
As a consumer, Tootie
carried palpable indignation
at what she perceived as slip-
ping customer service. She
could cite many examples
of sales clerks who preferred
checking their phones or
just disappearing instead
of assisting the customer.
Her friends and neighbors
knew never to get her started
on the shortcomings of big
box stores. She believed
Warhaven City Schools did a
good job educating students
for their futures. But society
and culture were changing
and it couldn’t all be blamed
on the Internet.
As owner of the L & M
Merc, she relied on sincere
customer service to keep
customers coming back.
They could easily enough
drive to Garfield and not
spend their hard-earned
dollars in town.
In her public explanation
of the program’s essence,
Councilor McDaniels made
the following statements:
“While I realize the
Internet is a big part of
everyone’s lives, I believe a
worker ought to secure his
or her phone in a locker.
Employers are not paying
John or Jane to text and chat
or watch a cute kitty video;
they receive a wage — or
salary — for work-related
activities. This is certainly
not simply a problem with
hourly workers.”
There was grumbling in
the audience.
“If I am a customer and
need assistance and the
worker is engrossed texting,
what message does that send
ME? If I sense indignation
from that worker for this
interruption, that’s a big
turn off. Texting can wait for
break time. From the bottom
to the top of the chain of
command, a worker needs
to be focused on the needs
and goals of the employer.
If not, everybody’s value
diminishes.”
More grumbling and
recrossing of legs.
“Beside business eti-
quette another component
of the training is local
geography. Workers who
come in regular contact
with the public need some
understanding of the lay of
our land, its major roads,
its waterways, AND the
recreational options around
Warhaven. Have you ever
walked into a gas station for
directions and the person
behind the counter says, ‘Oh,
I’m new here. Sorry.’ Simply
unacceptable.”
She looks over at Mayor
Holman who nods for her to
continue.
“From day one a worker
needs to accept that he or
she is part of a team. If an
item is out of stock, the prob-
lem shouldn’t be blamed on
‘they,’ but rather, solve the
problem with a special order
or speak with the manager
who can call the warehouse.
You get my point. Blaming
management without
crafting a solution reflects
poorly on everyone in that
business.”
Sheila smiled. “That’s cer-
tainly true.” And she should
know, owning two successful
businesses in town.
Tootie said,
“Communication with the
customer begins before the
words. Have eye contact
with the customer, and
when appropriate, show
your sense of humor. When
every customer is treated
as a respected neighbor,
business gets done. There
should never be the loitering
of employee cabal confabs.
That speaks to a problem in
management.”
Someone in the audience
Illustration by Peggy Ohlson
coughed.
Orin asked, “Ms.
McDaniels, for the audience,
would you highlight the
logistics of the trainings?”
“Certainly, your hon-
or. The Quality Customer
Service Training Program
would consist of two
90-minute sessions for em-
ployees, one week apart. The
rationale for this timing is
that questions will arise, and
those can be fully addressed
in the second session.
Additionally, the chamber
will host a one-hour session
to apprise employers of
concerns for retaining qual-
ity workers. For example,
what parameters will you
establish for appearance and
personal hygiene? Consider
uniforms or a clothing
allowance to guarantee the
white shirt and black slacks
or the manicure or good
dye job. Perhaps dental
insurance is a crucial part
of your benefits package?
And what salary and benefits
will retain conscientious
employees? What is a living
wage? Is health insurance
indispensable?”
In bringing her concept
before the Warhaven City
Council, McDaniels gave
public birth to her Quality
Customer Service Training
Program. Tootie actually
wore three hats for the eve-
ning, for she was a business-
woman as well as the vice
president of the Warhaven
Chamber of Commerce.
The council chamber was
full. She had arm-twisted all
chamber board members to
show up to show support,
both moral support for the
idea, but also to offer fiscal
support for the program’s
inception and ongoing deliv-
ery of training services.
Tootie was confident her
colleagues on the council
would support her efforts.
Mayor Orin Holman
opened discussion among
the city council prior to
public comment, which,
he knew, was going to be
abundant.
George Ansbach praised
the idea and immediately
asked, “How can the city re-
spond with in-kind support
to keep the program’s budget
reasonable?”
Ike Moseseek proposed
that a meeting room in
the hospital would be one
means of saving money.
Sheila Black Petrovich
offered to explore grant ideas
in order to fund for generous
stipends for the attendees.
Public comment ended
up resoundingly in favor; the
council voted favorably, with
Tootie respectfully abstain-
ing, to proceed.
it does have four moderate-
ly bright stars that form a
squarish figure, the “key-
stone” of Hercules. Use the
chart that accompanies this
article to locate the keystone.
The keystone contains an
interesting object to locate,
the Hercules globular
cluster. Globular clusters are
gravitationally-bound, dense
groups of stars, in a spherical
shape. They are dazzling
through a telescope. The
Hercules cluster is the big-
gest and brightest of these
star clusters in our sky. Even
if you don’t have a telescope,
you can find it with a pair of
binoculars. It will appear as
a fuzzy “star.” Look along the
top side of the keystone, as
we see it, and see if you can
locate it!
Enjoy May’s night skies!
May sky features lunar eclipse
What’s
in the
Sky
Jim
White
Welcome to May!
Probably the biggest
event in the night sky this
month will be a full lunar
eclipse, occurring on the
26th. Lunar eclipses also,
of course, happen when
there is a full Moon, and this
one will be another “su-
permoon,” a bit larger and
brighter than normal. The
downside is the timing. The
eclipse will begin at about
2 a.m., and will be total by
about 3 a.m. The Moon will
still be partly eclipsed at
sunrise, about 5:20 a.m. You
will need a good view of the
southwestern sky to catch a
view. At 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. will
be better, when the Moon is
a bit higher in the sky. If you
don’t want to get up that ear-
ly, you can enjoy the bright,
full Moon on the evening of
the 25th.
The planets Jupiter and
Saturn are bright in the
morning sky. On both May
4 and May 31, the crescent
Moon will be located be-
tween the two planets, low in
the southeastern sky.
Mars is hanging in there,
still visible in the evening
sky, low in the west. It will
be moving through the con-
stellation Gemini, and will
be just to the left of the twin
stars Castor and Pollux at the
end of the month.
Venus will be prominent
in May, low in the western
sky at sunset. As the month
progresses, Venus will get
a bit higher in the sky and
easier to see. Venus is very
bright, the brightest object
in the sky other than the Sun
and Moon. Mercury will be
there too, and May will be
a good time to locate our
elusive innermost plan-
et. Mercury will be above
Venus, and will be brighter
than most stars. Look just
above Venus and a bit to the
left. On May 28, Venus and
Mercury will be very close, a
really nice conjunction. Look
for them about 9 p.m., right
after sunset (they will set by
10 p.m.).
A bright star that is com-
ing into view in the evening
sky is Vega, the fifth brightest
star in our sky, the king of
the little constellation Lyra.
Look for Vega in the north-
east after sunset, just above
Cygnus, the swan. Vega was
once our “north star,” locat-
ed close to where we see
Polaris today. That was some
12,000-13,000 years ago, and
it will again be over the north
pole some 12,000 years in
the future. Vega is one of our
“neighbors” at a distance of
about 27 light-years from
the solar system. Vega is
one of three stars that make
up the “summer triangle”
when they are high overhead
during our summers.
Above Vega, as we look
to the east in May, lies the
relatively faint constella-
tion Hercules. Look just
above Vega, and to the right,
and you’ll find Hercules.
The bright star Arcturus is
located in the constellation
Bootes, just above Hercules.
Although Hercules does not
contain any very bright stars,
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