Each year at this time, as thousands of 5-year-olds experience their first day of kindergarten, I know the mix of joy and dread they are feeling. I’ll always remember my first day of school – that sunny September day in 1944 in Summit Hill in nearby Carbon County – with pain and embarrassment. For days before, I chattered non-stop about starting school. My mother had bought me new clothes for the big day. She wanted to take my photo before we left, a precious keepsake to be tucked away for the ages. My father ceded matters such as discipline and logistics to my well-organized mother. In a …

Senior citizen Dale Schneck of Schnecksville reached into the beer cooler at Weis Market along Route 873 in North Whitehall Township, took out a 12-pack and presented it to clerk Linda Henninger for purchase. “I’ll need your driver’s license,” she said. “Don’t think I’m old enough?” frowned the 82-year-old Schneck as he opened his wallet. Henninger explained that everyone who wants to buy alcoholic beverages at Weis, regardless of age, must present a driver’s license or a valid photo ID. As Schneck attempted to show her the license that was still in the wallet, she said, “I’ll need it out of …

As we are in the heart of commencement season, I am reminded of how I got snookered – big time – 14 years ago.As publisher and editor of a newspaper in Oswego, N.Y., I wrote two weekly columns.Always on the lookout for good ideas, I decided to use as the basis for one an email I received from a close journalist friend. It was said to be the commencement address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997 by well-known novelist Kurt Vonnegut, author of Slaughterhouse Five.I was smitten by the practical and irreverent tone of the message. In it Vonnegut is alleged to have said: “Do one…

For every recent generation, music has been the soundtrack of our youth.I was lucky to be a teenager during arguably the most important music upheaval of our lifetime: the advent of rock ‘n’ roll. Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” and Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” were two of the big hits that ushered in the rock era in 1954.Just before the rock revolution, the early-'50s produced a number of major hits and performers, including the likes of Frankie Laine (“I Believe”), Tony Bennett (“Rags to Riches”), Patti Page (“How Much is that Doggie in the Window?”) and Joni James (“Why Don’t …

Editor’s Note: We’re running this column in conjunction with the 2011 Lehigh Valley Auto Show March 31-April 3 at Stabler Arena, Rauch Fieldhouse, West Pavilion, Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus. The show runs Thursday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (55+) and $7 for children ages 6-14. Free parking. www.glvautoshow.com Rock ‘n’ roll legend Elvis Presley was an expert on fantasies. Not only did he live one with his climb from obscurity to become one of the most recognizable persons in the world, but he was famous for …

I don’t know about you, but the never ending number of passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) we need to operate our computers, do our banking and perform other vital life functions is driving me nuts. I live in mortal fear of forgetting some key password when I need it most. Of course, I am warned nonstop not to carry the password or PIN for my bank and credit cards in my wallet because some nefarious individual will steal them, and with them, my identity. Just for fun, I counted all of the passwords and PINs I have to operate the various accounts associated with them. I was …

When I hear or see the word “free,” I become tingly all over, but, increasingly today, ecstasy has given way to skepticism, wariness and, yes - I admit it - cynicism. You see “free” no longer seems to mean free. Just to make sure the word hadn’t undergone a definition shift in recent years while I wasn’t looking, I consulted the newest Webster’s dictionary. There it was – still the same unequivocal definition: “no charge.” Can’t get much more specific or simpler than that. When I watch TV, I hear commercials for scores of products, but the new rage these days is upselling. Annoying pitchmen, …

Customer service seems to be an oxymoron today. Too often when I come back from a shopping encounter, I feel as if I have  been in a skirmish. I am agitated and riled. I want to rush to the window, throw it open and shout to my neighbors, "I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more." It seems as if every other day I encounter uncaring customer-service representatives who, I swear, seem oblivious to solving my problems or, for that matter, even acknowledging my presence. I’m a polite shopper: I say "please," "thank you," and I’m respectful. I went into a convenience store the other…

 With the 100th anniversary of former President Ronald Reagan’s birth being celebrated this week, I recall the day I met him at the White House nearly 30 years ago.  It all started with the Mailgram that arrived on July 2, 1981, signed by Reagan, and inviting me to join him other administration officials for a briefing and luncheon at the White House on Monday, Oct. 5 to discuss the economy, other domestic issues and foreign policy. At the time, I had been the editor of The Express (now The Express-Times) in Easton for only three months. The president had survived an assassination attempt on …

The sanitized version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, due for publication in this month, comes nearly 50 years too late for this embarrassed former English teacher. NewSouth Books is publishing the revisionist copy of Mark Twain’s classic novel that will eliminate the “n” word, which appears 219 times in the original, and replace it with “slave.” When I read the news, I wondered out loud, “Where the heck were you when I needed you?”  I endured my most-embarrassing moment as an educator in the fall of 1962 when I was teaching an English course at Washington (N.J.) High School, now a …

When Wilson Borough Council appointed Edwinna Howey to a vacant council seat last week without advertising its availability, Council President Leonard Feinberg defended the move by saying that Howey was the best person for the position. He also justified the decision by saying it saved the borough the cost of advertising for potential candidates. Howey found out about the vacancy – created by Councilman David Schug’s resignation -- because she hangs around the borough office from time to time, heard about the vacancy and applied. Faster than you can say "Is anyone else interested?” the …