Alex and ROL
Title
Alex and ROL
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"It has been several years (5, 10, more?) that Alex seems to question almost every suggestion made with regard to ROL."
Date
2012/2013
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Identifier
It_has_been_several_years
Text
ALEX AND ROL
It has been several years (5, 10, more?) that Alex seems to question almost every suggestion made with regard to ROL. He questioned the choice of places to hold the ROL; the dates for the ROL; the topics, and even the format. A few of us began to wonder whether he really wanted to continue our relationship.
When he moved so dramatically to the right, politically, most of our discussions began to take on a guarded quality—we found ourselves walking on eggs. From time to time, Alex had Sol as an ally, but one was never sure where Sol would come down when discussing domestic politics. There were get-togethers where Alex would come armed with a pocket full of 3 x 5 cards with all kinds of facts and figures calculated to refute any and all liberal positions that the rest of us held. For the past few years, it seemed that not discussing politics was the best approach.
The next bone of contention was sanitation and food preparation. This came to the fore when we started coming to Wildbrook. When we met at hotels and motels, food preparation was not an issue: we ate at the hotel or at restaurants. I suspect that noshing food caused Alex some discomfort because it meant that we all put our hands in a common bowl of pretzels or peanuts. At Wildbrook, Alex tried to supervise all of us as we prepared meals and cleaned up. He became our very own Howard Hughes.
I have recently concluded that it is not our germs, but our politics that disturbs Alex. He is uncomfortable spending two or three days in the company of all of us “left wingers.” I am afraid he is right. I don’t think I would be comfortable spending two or three days in the company of right wingers, even if they were my oldest friends. (However, I can’t imagine that my oldest friends can possibly be Republican.)
There are other aspects of ROL that make Alex uncomfortable. Since we have known each other practically all our lives, and since we are getting older, we want to know how each of us is doing, and how our children are. Alex really does not want to talk about such things. When it comes to the Roths, he demurs, and asks Bernice to “represent” them. So, if it was up to Alex, there would be no probing into personal matters.
Alex seems to revel in his role as a curmudgeon. He takes a position and stubbornly maintains it. He refuses to compromise. With regard to the length of ROLs, the shorter the better. He says that he wants to maintain contact with his friends, but seems to avoid face-to-face contact. E-mails are the perfect form of communication. Alex can sit at his computer and converse with all of us, without having to leave his desk, his room, his house.
4-13-12
Since I wrote the above, we have had another ROL at Wildbrook. It was to start on a Monday and go to Wednesday afternoon. Alex said he would come Tuesday and suggested that we all meet for lunch at a restaurant, his treat, and he and Bernice would leave the next day. He would also provide frozen food for supper, avoiding the collective preparation of a meal. He also brought his own breakfast for the next day.
Planning another ROL for the spring of 2013, it appears we are shooting for May 20-23. I have not heard from Alex. What Alex is promoting is Skype. I assume he feels if we all use t it would make getting together, unnecessary.
2-22-13
It has been several years (5, 10, more?) that Alex seems to question almost every suggestion made with regard to ROL. He questioned the choice of places to hold the ROL; the dates for the ROL; the topics, and even the format. A few of us began to wonder whether he really wanted to continue our relationship.
When he moved so dramatically to the right, politically, most of our discussions began to take on a guarded quality—we found ourselves walking on eggs. From time to time, Alex had Sol as an ally, but one was never sure where Sol would come down when discussing domestic politics. There were get-togethers where Alex would come armed with a pocket full of 3 x 5 cards with all kinds of facts and figures calculated to refute any and all liberal positions that the rest of us held. For the past few years, it seemed that not discussing politics was the best approach.
The next bone of contention was sanitation and food preparation. This came to the fore when we started coming to Wildbrook. When we met at hotels and motels, food preparation was not an issue: we ate at the hotel or at restaurants. I suspect that noshing food caused Alex some discomfort because it meant that we all put our hands in a common bowl of pretzels or peanuts. At Wildbrook, Alex tried to supervise all of us as we prepared meals and cleaned up. He became our very own Howard Hughes.
I have recently concluded that it is not our germs, but our politics that disturbs Alex. He is uncomfortable spending two or three days in the company of all of us “left wingers.” I am afraid he is right. I don’t think I would be comfortable spending two or three days in the company of right wingers, even if they were my oldest friends. (However, I can’t imagine that my oldest friends can possibly be Republican.)
There are other aspects of ROL that make Alex uncomfortable. Since we have known each other practically all our lives, and since we are getting older, we want to know how each of us is doing, and how our children are. Alex really does not want to talk about such things. When it comes to the Roths, he demurs, and asks Bernice to “represent” them. So, if it was up to Alex, there would be no probing into personal matters.
Alex seems to revel in his role as a curmudgeon. He takes a position and stubbornly maintains it. He refuses to compromise. With regard to the length of ROLs, the shorter the better. He says that he wants to maintain contact with his friends, but seems to avoid face-to-face contact. E-mails are the perfect form of communication. Alex can sit at his computer and converse with all of us, without having to leave his desk, his room, his house.
4-13-12
Since I wrote the above, we have had another ROL at Wildbrook. It was to start on a Monday and go to Wednesday afternoon. Alex said he would come Tuesday and suggested that we all meet for lunch at a restaurant, his treat, and he and Bernice would leave the next day. He would also provide frozen food for supper, avoiding the collective preparation of a meal. He also brought his own breakfast for the next day.
Planning another ROL for the spring of 2013, it appears we are shooting for May 20-23. I have not heard from Alex. What Alex is promoting is Skype. I assume he feels if we all use t it would make getting together, unnecessary.
2-22-13
Original Format
application/msword
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “Alex and ROL,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 26, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/177.