Please, Please, Mr. Postman, Reuse Those Rubber Bands

I thought I was the only one who noticed all of the rubber bands that letter carriers left behind on stoops, in lobbies, and on the street. Apparently not. Nancy Miller of Glendale, Queens was disturbed enough to write amNew York, the free daily, a letter-to-the-editor about this problem( "Little Things Count, Even Rubber Bands," 05/12/09), stating that "if the Postal Service didn't waste so much money on rubber bands, only to have them tossed on the street, then maybe they could save some money there."
I've made it a habit to pick up and reuse these rubber bands. I have two jars full of them. It's a safe bet that the Postal Service spends a fortune on rubber bands each year. And if they're wasteful with these items, what other items should we suspect are wasted? Paper clips? Ballpoint pens? Scotch tape? Paper?
Eliminating this problem alone will not get the Postal Service out of its current financial woes, but it will at least make it possible for the money saved to be used to improve service and thereby increase customer satisfaction.
If the rest of us are being encouraged to follow the three Rs--Reduce, Recycle, Reuse--then the Postal Service should be encouraged to do the same.

Just Asking

I have one question: while the NYPD are devoting time and manpower (and taxpayer dollars) randomly checking backpacks, handbags, and briefcases on the subways, buses, and commuter trains, in an attempt to keep us safe from terrorist attacks, what are they doing about the possibility of car bombs being used?

Here's One Way to Improve the Public Schools

The one thing I've noticed over the years while wading through the vast amount of campaign literature sent by various New York City Democratic candidates is the mantra regarding the improvement of the city's public schools: smaller classes, increased teacher pay, and more after-school programs. (No doubt this mantra will be repeated in this year's mayoral race.)
What all of them never talk about are innovative ways to teach the curricula. I believe it would go a long way toward turning the schools around and making the subjects more interesting and challenging to teachers and students alike. What good does it do to have a smaller class if the content and the manner of teaching a subject puts the students to sleep?

The Power of Ink

"Printers Ink is the Greater Explosive." (Written on a framed painting.)--from Ferlinghetti: The Artist in His Time by Barry Silesky (Warner Books, 1990) [Biography of Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.]

Who Am I?

Question: His book became the first of its kind by an African American author. Who was he?

Answer: James Baldwin.
The book, Giovanni's Room, is the story of two male lovers--one is an American, the other is an Italian--living in post-war Paris. It's homosexual theme was so controversial that Baldwin was advised not to publish it for fear it would ruin his career. Baldwin ignored such sentiments and the book, published in 1956, has become not only a classic gay novel, but an American one as well.
Learn more about James Baldwin at your local library.

On Writers

"The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps."--Robert Benchley, American humorist.
From The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners, edited by Geoff Tibballs (Carroll &
Graf, 2004).

A "Turn of the Century" Problem

Here's a problem for William Safire or Richard Lederer or some other language-usage maven to solve--the proper use of the term "turn of the century." It either means the end of a century or the beginning of one. The writers quoted below clearly don't agree on its meaning:

"At the turn of the last century[that is, at its end], the dot-com collapse made e-commerce a dirty word among investors as headlines proclaimed the death of online business...."--Alvin and Heidi Toffler, Revolutionary Wealth (Knopf, 2006).

"At the turn of the twentieth century [that is, at its beginning], Long Beach [on Long Island in New York State] boasted the largest hotel in the world, a 1,100-foot long behemoth that promptly burned down."--Edward Kosner, It's News to Me (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006).

"When [Hubert Harrison, the Afro-Caribbean orator and thinker] moved to New York City at the turn of the twentieth century, [he] brought a multicultural Crucian* background, reading and writing skills, intellectual curiosity, and a feeling of oneness with the downtrodden--all of which would be important in his future work."-- Jeffrey B. Perry, Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918 (Columbia University Press, 2009)

Which usage is correct?

*Harrison was born on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, in the Virgin Islands.