the pooh-pooh-pooh

I will not place a wager on this, but I believe I was about 5 when I remember hearing my first pooh-pooh-pooh being said. It was my Grandma Braff sitting at the dining room table in her official yet unofficial seat to the left of my mother at the part of the table next to the kitchen (this seating arrangement I later learned was the just in case seat, just in case my mother could not make one more schlep into the kitchen),who muttered a phrase which, who knew, would have a long lasting meaning to my life. Upon the muttering of the pooh-pooh-pooh I do remember my Grandma Braff taking a salt shaker and throwing the contents of it over her left shoulder then immediately her right shoulder.The pooh-pooh-pooh was usually said when the conversation was about the death of a friend or family member and during that conversation someone sneezed. It seemed that shouting the pooh-pooh-pooh no more then a split second after the utterance of the words death or dying was a sure fire way to ward off the evil spirits who might assume because you sneezed your health and life were at jeopardy also.When I was a bout 7 Grandma Braff and my mother explained that it is always a good thing to be proactive in worry. If you knew you had something to worry about then most likely knowing that is was worrisome made the worry a little bit less. Uh huh! Breathing, eating, sleeping going to the bathroom all natural occurrences and basic human needs, in our house to worry was just as important.

When I worked at the Houston Jewish Community Center I had the opportunity of meeting Rabbi Abraham Twerski (Dr. Abraham Twerski is a psychiatrist and founder of Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, one of America’s leading facilities for addiction treatment.) His work with addiction/spirituality/and self esteem had always motivated me and  was honored to have had the chance to spend some time speaking with him. I picked him up at the airport in Houston upon his visit and due to extremely slow traffic I was able to spend about 2 hours schmoozing. I knew, if anyone might have insight on the impact of the pooh-pooh-pooh on my life it would be Rabbi Twerski. I shared with him the history of my pooh-pooh-pooh and how now as an adult I was still worried about worry. I explained how that if I did not worry I thought that the worst might happen. I explained to the Rabbi the origin of the pooh-pooh-pooh being handed down from my Grandmother to my mother to me. Rabbi Twerski listened intently to my stale of the pooh-pooh-pooh and when I finished placed his hand on my shoulder. He said you should not worry about worrying but be cautious  of where your worry is leading you. Lessons from your Grandmother or Mother have a purpose in your life, but be purposeful in how you use those lessons. He then said, Gerry, the question to ask is does the worry remove the aspect of fate or is it fate itself? he noticed the contortion of my face as he spoke, and with a little jingle in his voice, Oy, don’t worry about answering that question now.

As an older adult I have become very aware of politics/social issues/ and the men and women who can and do set the direction of this nation. As an older adult I have grown to worry more and more about the direction this nation is headed for. Discrimination/bigotry/ racism/homophobia/misogyny/ have become key ingredients for electability for the T-Publican party. the division between church and state is no longer considered an American attribute but more of an American annoyance. The poor are villains/ the unemployed are leeches/the elderly deadbeats and the louder some politicians shout their negative epithets the more popular they become. As an an older adult it seems all I do is worry that this nation I love and am a proud citizen of is going through a make-over into theocratic fascist demagogy. I worry that the future will be bleak and dismal. I worry that too many of us seem to be complacent with current events and thus stuck with a future not of their own making.  Today as I read more headlines about teaching creationism in schools, politicians insisting that public schools are discriminatory to good Christians the Supreme Court permits voting rights education opportunities for minorities to end women should be seen but nit heard all I want to do is find a salt shaker throw salt over my should shout pooh-pooh-pooh because all I have heard is the death of democracy and the death of a nation. I am worried!