Have We Forgotten?

Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood, and Maureen
O'Hara in Miracle On 34th Street

Miracle On 34th Street is considered to be one of the greatest Christmas movies ever.  People always say it makes them believe in Santa Claus all over again.  For the length of the film, we're all a child again, getting into the Spirit of Christmas, as George Seaton's movie takes a hit at the commercialism that we've let Christmas become.

Over the years, we've somehow let it be thought that the picture is about Santa.  He's the main character, but the movie is about having faith.  Faith is an important aspect in life, and that is what Kris Kringle teaches to Doris and Susan, who've been leading lives of pessimism.  By the film's end, due to meeting Kris, they have both realized to accentuate the positive.

Another classic Christmas film is 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas".  It also deals with the commercialism that has sprung from the holiday, and Charlie Brown is the only one who is sickened by it.  Yet at the same time, he doesn't understand why we celebrate Christmas, and Linus, the wise sage of the group, explains it to everyone around.  It is a classic moment in television history. 

The only reason that scene made it into the show was Charles Schulz's insistence.  When CBS saw the finished special, they shrugged, saying, "Well, we don't have anything else."  Forty-five years later, despite the fact it's a huge seller on DVD, it is still a ratings winner ever December.

Interestingly, both of these films that attacked commercialism are now objects of it.  I don't mean the DVDs, but there are dolls dealing with both films.  Same with Christmas ornaments.  Look at all the books dealing with "A Charlie Brown Christmas" you see in the stores every year.  At first, we think it's cute, but then we realize . . . They just didn't get the meaning of the shows.

Charlie Brown would be appalled.

A Lasting Influence

Ernie Pyle at work in Normandy

Ernie Pyle was the most famous of all WWII war correspondents.  He wrote of all aspects of the war, ranging from the G.I.s to those who loaded the bombers to the people in charge of transport.  Pyle realized that it takes all types to win a war, and his writings showed this.  He never wanted to leave anyone out.  Many times, a G.I. would ask him to put his name in Pyle's column and he did, along with the G.I.'s address. 

During the war, Pyle got just as dirty, every bit as grungy, just as filthy as those he wrote about, as he traveled with them.  His weapon was his typewriter, and it did a great amount of damage to the Axis powers.  During the war, Pyle also managed to get three books written, one of them, Brave Men, receiving the Pulitzer Prize.  The final chapter of that sums up the entire war.

In it, Pyle states:"We did not win it because destiny created us better than all other peoples  I hope that in victory we are more grateful than we are proud.  I hope we can rejoice in victory-but humbly.  The dead would not want us to gloat."  He went on to say, "Submersion in war does not necessarily qualify a man to be a master of the peace.  All we can do is fumble and try once more-try out of the memory of our anguish-and be as tolerant with each other as we can."

When playwright Arthur Miller was hired to write a screenplay based on Pyle's works, he met with the columnist, who was home from the war for a brief respite.  Miller wanted to know what message Pyle was attempting to get across in his columns.  No message-Pyle simply put down the facts.  The two men didn't see eye to eye, but the film was eventually made by director William Wellman as The Story of G.I. Joe and would make a star out of Robert Mitchum.  The movie's title was also the first time the phrase "G.I. Joe" was used.

Ernie Pyle never saw the picture.  He was killed by a sniper on Okinawa on April 18, 1945. His last book was published posthumously and unfinished.

Yet his influence continues to this day.  Ernie Pyle's books are still in print, and the name G.I. Joe resonates.  A brand of toy continues to make it popular, and would never had done so, had the film based on his works not originated the phrase sixty-five years ago. 

He hasn't been forgotten, nor should he be.

                                                               

Popcorn Is Satanic

There are certain things one learns being a janitor. The first is that the general public does not treat a public area like they do their home.  (A janitor always wants to track them down for revenge.  If we could afford Fantasy Island, that is what we'd pay for.)

 The second thing we know is to make your glass cleaner strong enough to keep people away.  If you can smell it without opening the spray bottle - and it's still overpowering, that's about right.  Do the same thing with bleach water.  You may not have any nasal cavities left, but people will leave your spray bottles alone.

Third is that the ladies' room needs another name.  Ladies do not use it.  Women do.  And yes, there is a difference.  Anyone who calls women the weaker sex has never cleaned their restroom.  That's all I'm going to say, as this is a blog for the entire family.  I have stories, but it would make this an NC-17 blog.

Fourth: If the place where a janitor works has a snack bar, he's in trouble.  Nine times out of ten, they have a popcorn machine.  Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the people who buy popcorn drop it on the floor, leaving trails ranging from ten to fifty feet.  Or when they drop their popcorn bags and people take their shopping carts through it - - get the picture?

Number #5: A janitor's worst enemy are those (And don't you even dare tell me how cute they are!) toothbrush holders, etc. with the blue water that has the fake fish, etc.  Ever drop one of those on the floor?  Oilier than Congress and you have to throw away the mop head after you clean them up.  Interestingly, the floor stays oily for twenty-four hours.  You go through mop heads like tissue - - - and natch, your supplier sends you what he thinks you need.  So by the time you finally get more mop heads, you've grown a full beard, and someone has dropped another thing with the #$%^& fishies.

I could go on, as this is the tip of the iceberg.  As you shop this Christmas season, be nice to the janitors in the store.  They're having a rough go of it just as much as the salespeople.

And remember to not drop your popcorn.