Neighborly Advice

60, 50, even 40 years ago, there was a coffee klatsch neighborhood group of middle-aged women who met casually two or three mornings or afternoons a week to gossip and socialize.  These women gave solicited and unsolicited to whomever showed up.  They did not hesitate to try to improve the lives of the neighbors, especially young people whom they knew.  Conversely, young people just beginning a relationship would also stop by to ask the "aunts" what they thought of the new boyfriend (whether he or she was marriage material), how to deal with the baby who would not nap or the teenager who was behaving defiantly, and whether to take that job which did not pay as much but would lead to future opportunities.  The "aunts" had no credentials for giving this advice but did provide a common-sense perspective to those who they believed to be floundering.

For so many of us, we have lost the "aunts" in the coffee klatsch.  We may have co-workers at the office who hesitate to say what they really think, or "best friends" who we meet at a bar who are often in similar predicaments and can add little diverse perspective, or we hire psychologist and life coaches who do not give concrete, tangible advice, but pepper the seeker with "what do you think?" and "why do you suppose you did that?" types of responses to serious questions.

Rather than receiving tangible advice like "are you out of your mind" or "that's a really bad idea which will probably result in an unanticipated outcome" or "I don't think you will like what that choice will bring you", the majority of individuals struggling with serious problems must settle for psycho babble couched as guidance and blunder through life without utilizing common sense as a guide.

Through this blog, I intend to give advice and opinions, solicited and unsolicited.  What are my "credentials?"  I am a 62-year old Italian American woman, a wife, sister, a mother, a neighbor, an aunt, an employer, a past employee, a mediator, an arbitrator, and a person who has tried to study the vagaries of modern life.  Most of all, I tell it like it is--and always will. This will not be Dear Abby. I promise to give my unadorned opinion on the issues confronting so many busy Americans.  I will also ask some other "aunties" to weigh in on the tough calls.

My family has observed me giving advice throughout the years.  They tell me that it is generally good advice, but often ignored by their friends and associates.  Sometimes it has been taken with life-changing results.  And sometimes it has been followed and the person's life has been just a little bit better.

I propose to send some of these opinions out into the world at large and see what turns up.   Welcome to my coffee klatsch!