Upstander Reflections

Ode to the Essentials  -Mike Walsh  This one goes out to the angels working the register and the saints stocking the shelves.  For the docs seeing patients, the MA’s taking vitals, and the nurses still running twelves.  Three cheers for the heroes who care for the elderly and those who cradle our young.  For the police on the street, the firemen at the ready, the paramedics on another run. Raise a glass to the postman and the delivery women. They risk their lives for our supplies.   And another for the tradesmen and the truck driver. Their work keeps us alive.     Let’s hear it for the restaurant workers as they cook our meals behind closed doors.   And for the farmers and manufacturers as they toil to restock our stores.  Thank God for the gas station attendants and mechanics keeping us on the go. God bless the garbage man and the sanitation worker a debt to you we owe.  To a...

The last few days in the classroom before school was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19 were both scary and odd. Teachers are no first responders or frontline soldiers. However, our job is unique because, in times of distress, everyone’s kids look at us for guidance and support. It doesn’t really matter what we say or what we teach during these times. What matters is how we act.  You could feel the eyes of the students. “Is this okay?” They were wondering. With every frantic parent coming to pick up their kid early, the kids left behind looked to see how you’d react. “Stay calm, Mike.” I thought in my head. “Why are so many teachers out?” They asked. If you know the truth, do you share it? You don’t want kids to panic but you also know they can sniff out a lie. There’s a student having a nervous breakdown in the hallway. He’s being tended to. Just walk by. Everything’s fine. At the end of the day, you pass out some more handouts from the State of Illinois and Chica...

The year 2020 will live in infamy. In American history, it will rival the years of 1776, 1860 and 1941. In 1776, our republic was born. In 1860, our republic was split. In 1941, our republic was attacked. In 2020 our republic…  Hindsight is 2020. By looking at the past, I can see clearly that we are at a pivotal point in our history.  In 1776, the writing was on the wall. The Stamp and Townshend acts were nearly 10 years old. The Boston Massacre happened in 1770, the Boston Tea Party in 1773. In 1775, Patrick Henry gave his famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech. Americans had a choice to make. Live under tyranny or risk everything. The rest is history.  Our new country forged ahead but soon we were at another turning point. 1860. In the years leading up to that povital year we grappled with our institution of slavery. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in 1852, sparking widespread support for abolition in the North. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1...

Justice for All  -Mike Walsh  “ I pledge allegiance…  To corporate tax cuts and veteran teachers  with endless student loan debt.  To dwindling pension and retirement funds  and rising healthcare costs.  ... to the flag… That flies from my front porch but is too often at half staff  on the flagpole at school.   We stand for the flag.  Why do we stand for the killings?     ...of the United States of America,  We need to see the school counselor and talk about our past and our future.  When we bottle it up,  we have outbursts like  Charlottesville and El Paso.   ...and to the republic for which it stands,  Ring! Ring! Ring! Welcome back, everyone!  They say hindsight is 2020 but foresight is all we have. Will our republic stand in 2020?    one Nation... Teacher! My blindfold doesn’t fit right....

Preface: Last week when confronted with the news of the mass arrests of undocumented workers in Mississippi and subsequent separation of families in the process; I was appalled at the double standard of “justice” in our nation. Pundits flooded the airways with support for one side or the other. Most of it sounded like BS to me.  I struggled to formulate a response that properly magnified the absurdity of the situation. However, an idea came to me late one evening last week. Below is a satirical news article I wrote that attempts to highlight how unjust and unproductive raids like last week’s are in curbing illegal immigration.         Nearly 700 Corporate Executives Detained in Landmark Immigration Raid  -Mike Walsh  Sobbing, eleven year old Madeline Wynne spoke to the camera. “I need my Dad… he’s not a criminal!”   Madeline’s father was arrested along with nearly 700 other corporate executives charged with ...

It’s summer, and that means road trips. We’ve taken a couple long trips to West Virginia and Northern Wisconsin but mostly we have just been tooling around to various places closer to home like beaches, pools, parks and family-friend houses. Call us old fashion (not a stretch for me, I know) but we don’t bring our own music. We don’t use a phone. We don’t have playlists or mixtapes. We don’t even use the CD player. We just listen to the radio. Sure we have our favorite stations when we’re close to home but we also just like to press scan to see what comes up. In the middle of places like Ohio, Indiana or Wisconsin it’s often some evangelical Christian not so politely or subtly letting us know that we’re going to hell. We take that as a good reminder and then we move on to the next station. One time here in Chicago, I popped into a store for a minute and when I came back the kids were listening to Polish rap. Nate liked it so… Leah, Maddie and Nate getting goofy in the b...