A DIFFERENT TWIST ON PRESERVATION

SAVE ENERGY, BUT DON’T DISCARD INCANDESCENT LIGHT; BUSINESSES NEED A BOOST, TOO

By Bette Dewing

Remember, there are eight days of Chanukah and 12 days of Christmas. So don’t put all your holy/holiday eggs in one basket. Fast movers, slow down. And smile, don’t forget that! Sing, too. Ah, if only sing-a-longs were, say, even a fourth as popular as concerts are. Music is good for what ails us when it’s beneficent in nature and doesn’t disturb the neighbors. (Ah yes, noisy neighbors are the number-one grievance to 311).

Benevolent sounds also protect us from now epidemic premature hearing loss. And we “save the environment,” too by making and listening to music that is unplugged. But nobody heading the unprecedented worldwide energy-saving crusade is pushing for this, or protesting the fuel needed to pump up plugged-in super-high-decibel music and sound.

And where’s the push against excessive electric lighting use, instead of banning the good for-what-ails-us kindly incandescent bulb? Lighting, like music and sound, has been so mindlessly “pumped up” this last half century in everyday places and over-the-top in theatrical, entertainment, sporting and other public events. The natural beauty of Christmas and other trees can’t be seen because of the excessive lighting now used to decorate them. Fluorescent and other so-called energy-savers, which unlike incandescents make us feel and look tired and wan, emit radiation and are not biodegradable.

To “save energy” healthfully and prevent untold human suffering—plus reduce the multibillion-dollar cost of traffic tragedies—then, doggone it, lower the speed limit worldwide. And in the interest of peace and goodwill, only use expletives that don’t need deleting like “Doggone it!”

In the Big Apple and other cities and towns, there’s a shamefully ignored small business crisis killing eateries and stores that supply everyday physical and emotional needs. Most lamentably, Borough President Scott Stringer told the highly concerned East 79th Street Neighborhood Association that his plan in the making to address this small business crisis cannot save the 38-year-old Café 79 restaurant diner on 79th and First. So many such needed places are endangered; so many have already been lost.

But now let’s thank John, Peter and all the Café 79 staff for the incalculable blessings this neighborly diner has bestowed upon the community for nearly four decades.

And the stores and restaurants imperiled by the Second Avenue subway construction need our business. Indeed, every legislative office party/event should be held or catered from there, and gifts and other goods purchased as well.

Again, here’s to patronizing small businesses, making our own music, unplugged, what else! Save energy, but only when it doesn’t do harm. Smile, but not at wrong-doing—then do protest it, even if you must do it alone. Use the “technopoly” stuff in great moderation (read Neil Postman’s book of that name!). Ditto alcohol; its immoderate use still gets a perilous pass. Be familial, friendly and neighborly. Speaking of excesses, forget “sexy!”

And here’s to the wisdom to know what to save, change and retrieve, not only on Christmas, Chanukah, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. As for change we need, the more birthdays we’ve had, the more they deserve to be celebrated, doggone it!
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dewingbetter@aol.com