As I pondered topics for this column I tried to think of what would be helpful. What would be insightful? What would be encouraging in the arena of utmost importance: the family. Then it struck me like a slap across my face. It was staring at me from my reading table. “The Man’s Guide to Women” by Drs. John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman. What could be more helpful, insightful or encouraging than explaining women to men? After all, didn’t I have some practical experience having been involved in an almost 40+ year marriage? Well, don’t ask my wife.

Sometimes I wonder how my mother did it, coordinating afterschool activities as a single mother when everything had to be set up that morning and, if something changes, well, everyone is out of luck. Nowadays parents can give children smartphones so that they are always just a text away.

How many times did your parents yell something like “Be Quiet!” There were usually several exclamation points following the words and the decibel level of your parent was anything but quiet. Likely it was because you, the child, were being noisy, loud, demanding or irritating.

Years ago, as elementary students at a tiny country school, our bus driver took us to school in his huge station wagon. That meant we kids got to talk with him for an entire hour – both ways. Good-natured and chatty, he would entertain us as he drove. True stories, gigantic whoppers, or funny gossip, it was all fair game to that man.

We live in a world where everything is based on comparisons, contrasts, and criticisms. Social media is a headlong, outof- control race to outperform and overshadow everyone. Unfortunately, social media is no more real than reality TV. Both are fictional farces designed to occupy our attention and divert our priorities. The obsession with impressing people who really don’t care about us is an exercise in futility. In reality, the only opinion of you that matters is the one you hold of yourself.

WHEN I GROW UP You were asked this question countless times when you were young and you’ve asked it innumerable times to little kids: “What do you want to be when you grow up”? A slightly different version of the question was put to me when I was young: “What do you want to be IF you ever grow up?” Based on my behavior as a child some adults weren’t sure I WOULD grow up. Regardless of your age it’s a good question to ask yourself.

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women— she loves to browse.

Jim Priest is CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma and can be reached at jpriest@okgoodwill.org. 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit I don’t know about you but I don’t spend a lot of time studying Chinese astrology.

A municipal judge in Cleveland, Ohio, was ordered to be removed from the bench on indefinite suspension on Oct. 18 and will undergo evaluation for her physical and mental health after a long series of bizarre incidents and behavior, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Some old people can still think fast An elderly man in Louisiana owned a large farm for several years. He had a huge pond in the back, and it was properly shaped for swimming, so he fixed it up nice with picnic tables, horseshoe courts and some apple and peach trees.