The first thing you are going to do is cry like a blathering baby while you hold a bottle of Modelo between your legs. Then you are going to open the refrigerator door just to find what you knew already, bare shelves and ugly little organic brown spots that ooze some ungodly stench!

But lo and behold, this misery will last a long, long, long time.

It’s all about appliances. The truth, the lucky few are doted on by every type of robot while the masses, wherever they are, cook out of dark cast iron pots over wood burning fires. As a bachelor, I fall somewhere in between these two sturdy pillars of civilization. But I really don’t want to get political or social or media or meta or YouTube. What I was trying to say is, we are closer to the masses then we even imagine. Our sole intelligent mastery over the inert beings who wait on us is; locate button – make sure the button is a green one – hold the button firmly with your index finger. This does not enhance my confidence, having now learned the depth of my own ineptness. So, I am happy pushing buttons. Any of you robot owners disagree with this thesis?

Now it’s time to go to the grocery store. I enter with real trepidation. Why you ask? Because this is the first time without my former wife. I was always relegated to pushing the cart. I would mumble little suggestions to myself while hoping she might subconsciously realize the notion I was having. But then again……….I didn’t try to learn to cook as hard as I could have. I realize now that we both had our part in the perfect harmony that was us. We could even second guess while we had second guessed each other. We lived in a kind of combat environment when disagreeing about a topic of interest. But we never came to blows.

Anyway, I just went way too far off topic. There I was in the grocery store alone. After I had gone a few rows, it was apparent that I was buying our old favorite brands. Every stupid little green can made me feel queasy. I actually recognized her on a botte of tomato sauce. She had her dark brown hair up. Large hoop earrings. Sort of cheesy – I mean me, of course. I left the store with very few things. It was a long awkward walk back to the car.

You tend to think of the past incessantly. Little scenes pop into your brain. This time all the images are positive. You do not have the energy or the courage to open the other box of brain photos. There is something melancholy about the lighting in the living room. Should I keep the light in the bedroom on in the evening? So many questions enter into the little cracks in your consciousness. This will result in difficulty going to sleep. You find a cozy spot on the couch and tend to prefer sleeping there than in bed. This could go on for weeks, assuming you haven’t gone to work or bathed every three days.

Welcome to the frozen aisle! I have begun learning the marvelous products the inhabit this refuge for bachelors. Marie Callender makes the most delicious small dinners. They even taste good cold, which is the condition they find themselves in after sitting in front of the television for a solid two hours! However, this is not my favorite isle. The winner is the side cold isle where the beer lives. So many brands so little time.

By the way, I almost forgot. If you smell up the bathroom really bad, like dead lizard guts bad, you do not have to worry about anybody smelling it.

 We must remember this even more than religion. Because this is the glue that holds together societies, big and small. Once the water of lies sink sinto the cracks of our foundation, it expands with flagrant rhetoric and bursts upon peaceful people with violence and rage.

We must demand honesty within ourselves and between our relations with others. We must treat each other with respect by being honest even in the face of public ridicule or worse. If we can accomplish these simple tasks daily, we have a chance to cleanse our rotten social air with God’s breath and peace, stability, and forthright vigor in the halls of power.