Vacations are a Necessity…Not a Luxury

Since most of the readers of CityWatch are “high achievers” you have undoubtedly faced the situation where you feel you can’t afford to take a vacation right now because of a million different reasons. Many of these boil down to one…without your presence things will fall apart. 

Really, they are just excuses … not reasons! Getting away from your day-to-day routine for at least a week gives you some perspective. It sparks your creativity.  It renews your appreciation for your friends and family. And most of all, it allows you to truly see the forest for the trees. 

In case anyone noticed, I have been gone from the pages of CityWatch for four weeks. When our illustrious publisher, Ken Draper, heard I was “going on vacation,” he countered that I would have plenty of time to write … no,no,no! 

Don’t get me wrong.  I love writing for CW and I really appreciate your sharing with me your ideas and criticisms. I am always amazed at the audience CityWatch has built over the last thirteen years.  With so many other options available, it is truly humbling that you choose us on such a regular basis. 

The impetus for this vacation was an important family celebration on the East Coast.  Those of you who have children, grandchildren and other family members scattered across the country know the feeling of having all of the people you love under one roof for an entire weekend -- especially when there are no fights or embarrassing moments. 

So first stop -- New Jersey -- where gas is exceedingly cheap, the foliage is very green after a horrendous winter that never seemed to end -- and constituents are increasingly critical of what is happening in their state. 

As a news junkie, I always try to read the local newspaper to see what is happening. I must admit that I am also looking a “story.” It is a habitual and automatic habit I have developed after being a journalist for so many years. 

Governor Christie was planning on announcing his candidacy. The papers were full of “BridgeGate”, budget troubles, and stories of towns still not rehabilitated from Hurricane Rita. Contrary to the Governor’s bragging, New Jersey is suffering from many of the same ills that have befallen others using the same policies. 

From New Jersey I went to Quebec City in Canada. Canada to me is an enigma. It appears so civilized! Other than Toronto’s crazy former mayor, we don’t see much “colorful news.” 

I turned on the TV to get some US news when I heard a big discussion about getting out the vote scheduled for the fall.  They were talking about getting a larger voter turnout and discussing proportionate presentation and voter ID. 

That is when I realized instead of CBS, I had tuned to CBC -- the dominant Canadian network station. Many of Canada’s problems mirror ours. They have three major political parties: the Conservatives, Liberals; and the NDP (New Democratic Party,) as well as regional and other smaller parties. Reading some of the political commentary and blogs, it sounds just like us. The issue of voter ID, dealing with returning veterans, education, racism (aborigines,) getting out of the Middle East, etc. 

There isn’t a country in the world that doesn’t have problems and Canada is no exception, but when the decisions came from the Supreme Court on both marriage equality and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Canadians I spoke to said, “What took you so long?  Same sex marriage was legal in Canada more than a decade ago and their Universal Health medical system may have difficulties, but there are no huge groups trying to undo what basically gives all Canadians a real safety net. 

The laugh-out- loud web posts were copies of US tweets with our enlightened electorate saying they couldn’t stand the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality and were moving to Canada.  

Meanwhile, marriage equality has not pushed Canada into “Sodom and Gomorra.” Polygamy has not been on the rise, nor have incestuous marriages -- all of which our “religious “groups have predicted.  In fact, the Old Testament never castigated polygamous marriages. 

There was an article on one of the Canadian websites talking about the improvements to the healthcare system.  A report was submitted several years ago and, even though the suggestions were sound, they were never acted upon. Maybe there are good suggestions for tweaking the ACA. 

Whenever I travel outside the US, I really love talking with people, whether it be taxi drivers, wait staff, people on tours, etc.  From Quebec City, we took a ship to Prince Edward Island, Halifax, Bar Harbor (finally got internet connection) and ended in Boston.  It was awesome to see so many three generation families traveling together. Because the satellite internet was spotty, I was basically “disconnected.” The first day I was frustrated, but by the fifth day I didn’t even check to see if it was working.  

So what has all this to do with “vacations?” We are so fortunate to live in Southern California because there are so many wonderful places and events that don’t cost a lot of money and many that are free. We all need to be able to step back from what we are doing and regain some objectivity. And for all of you “workaholics,” of which there are probably quite a few in this audience, time with your family and loved ones can’t be replaced. One never knows what is going to happen tomorrow! 

I know that my vacation has provided me with a slew of articles to write that were not on my previous list. It has enabled me to solve some frustrating challenges and has definitely renewed my enthusiasm to try and engage all of you in substantive and some not so substantive topics. 

As always comments are most welcome.

 

(Denyse Selesnick is a CityWatch columnist.  She is a former Publisher/journalist/international event organizer. Denyse can be reached at: [email protected]) Prep Editor: Linda Abrams.

-cw

  

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 55

Pub: July 7, 2015