I wrote this entry back in 2012. It was a far more innocent time when you could write about gratitude and actually have something to write. Sadly, today we seem to be beaten and downtrodden by those we have entrusted to be our leaders. It’s hard to trust anyone today in any position of leadership. So, let’s forget about the state of 2019 America and remember the good old days of 2012.

May 1st is May Day. Back during the Cold War the Soviet Union would parade out their ICBMs to celebrate the Russian worker. They didn’t have toilet paper but they had some big ass missiles. I remember that we used to celebrate May 1st as the Feast Day of St Joseph The Worker to kind of shoot down the May Day thing.

Well, the reason I am writing about this tonight is that I was waiting for my train and there were these two college students handing out May Day Rally newsletters. Apparently, there will be a march in the spirit of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The 99% are marching against the 1%.

I talked to one of the students and commiserated with him about the economy and job prospects. He was a grad student getting a degree in Social Anthropology. In the day when if you are not trained for a specific job, not a university professor, he will have a tough time. I didn’t have the heart to ask him about his student loans.

Then I came home and as soon as I got in the house Eileen made me watch Oprah. It’s Monday…(remember my Monday Monday blog?) and both the Rangers and Yankees are on and I have about 11 points to eat so the last thing I wanted to do was to sit down and watch Oprah. Don’t get me wrong I love Oprah but the Yankees, Rangers and those points, come on.

But I sit down and watch. She really does have great shows and tonight’s was about gratitude. She had a panel consisting of Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra and a couple of other interesting speakers. The short message they had to deliver was that we all need to be in a state of gratitude. Regardless of what our station in life happens to be, we must show gratitude.

I thought of the college students and the May Day  Rally and the Occupy Wall Streeters and I was wondering if they feel gratitude? I would expect they don’t. I am not sure if you asked me as I was getting off the train tonight if I was grateful, what I would say. But watching Oprah tonight I hope I would say that I am.

There was a time when I was probably more grateful than I feel right this second. An ache here and a case of the shingles there and you can get crabby and not feel especially happy and certainly not grateful. That’s why you need Oprah to sit you down, via Eileen, and dope it out as my Uncle Al used to say.

I am grateful for everything I have, all the people in my life. The people I work with. The people I used to work with…I have lots of them in my life. The people who read my blog. I may be going into singing Bing’s “I’ve Got Plenty To Be Thankful For” if I don’t watch it. (By the way, that song is from Holiday Inn when he is cutting into Mr. Jonesy the turkey.)

I would bet that even on a Monday night you could identify quite a bit for which you are grateful. Perhaps you are grateful that I am going to be ending this blog…

Now!

Goodnight everyone and thanks!