My 3 Cents Blog

Welcome to my blog page, titled “My 3 Cents!”  The term “2 cents” goes way back to biblical times and if you’re so inclined to read more about it, there’s a wonderfully data challenged  (or unchallenged) site called Wikipedia that can shorten your life span by years (only slightly less than Facebook) with questionable available data.

I prefer to assume that one’s offering  an opinion was worth “2 cents”, more or less, and was first recognized in the United States in 1926. Given the current rate of inflation,  today’s 2 cents would be worth 26 cents, or 1 cent more than “2 bits” which back in the day (look it up on Wikipedia, if you want to know the exact day) would get you a haircut.

Why “3 Cents”? Why not? It’s doubtful if you saw three pennies on the street you’d stop and bend over and pick them up and yet The Threepenny Opera, (premiering in the 1920’s – it was a good decade), has great staying power.

I’m not proposing a regular posting (unlike this site’s Travel Tuesdays which should be great fun.) But from time to time when I experience an epiphany or feel the need to communicate with the world beyond my office window, I’ll share my 3 cents!

For instance, just yesterday I attended my first political caucus. I remember, as a child, watching the conventions with my father and being mesmerized by the banners, balloons, and brouhaha. (I also remember watching Steeler football games  Sundays on black and white TV with my dad which explains not only my interest in politics and football, but my affection for my dad.)

I’ve only lived in this relatively small northwestern town for six months, so I was curious. The school cafeteria overflowed with seniors with walkers, moms and dads with toddlers or varying ages, and college age singles. Latino families were scattered throughout the mostly white crowd and lots of FEEL THE BERN signs  were visible everywhere (OK, not in this picture, but they were there.).

Hundreds gather.

Hundreds gather.

I found a seat in the back with my HILARY sticker attached to my sweater, handed in my registration form and waited. I learned there’s a lot of downtime, no doubt necessary, at a caucus and knowing I wasn’t really interested in being a delegate on any level, I decided to exit after an hour.

On my way out the door, I spotted the young man wearing a HILARY T-shirt who had offered me a sticker on the way in. I had a terrific discussion with Brexton Isaacs about the current political climate (we agreed Democrats were not only knowledgeable but civil), what it was like to work on a campaign (he had driven from Colorado to Washington and was headed to Maine the next day), and how to pass time on the road (he had recently listened to G.H. Bush’s biography on tape and I recommended Ron Chernow’s  biography HAMILTON, noting the unabridged version would no doubt last coast to coast.)

Brexton Isaacs

School slogan works well.

I admired Brexton’s thoughtfulness regarding the campaign process and willingness to listen. Given the understanding of Washington Sate leanings, I left the caucus fairly certain Bernie Sanders would be victorious on this date.

This may be a little more than “3 Cents” worth, but you get the idea. Feel free to comment in a like, civil manner or not. 3 cents eventually adds up – it just takes a little time. You can look it up on Wikipedia.