I Know Absolutely Nothing About ... But My Opinion Is...

North Miami Beach, FL July 11, 2001 Aaron H.
Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.

I KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT.BUT MY OPINION IS.

The New York Times Op Ed page today is filled with timely topics. I know
absolutely nothing about all but one of them but - my opinion is just as
good as anyone else's opinion!

Here are the timely topics from left to right: 'The Lost girls' by Maureen
Dowd about the Levy/Condit "scandal". 'Soft Money's Scanty Leftovers' by
Donna Brazile. And 'Outside the Box' by Paul Krugman sort of about
"Lockboxes" left over from the last election. At the bottom of the page
there is a fourth essay about 'Unprepared for Class' by Jonathan Zimmerman
that is about education. I know something about that. Today, I won't write
about any of these things because it is absolutely obvious that since I know
nothing about three quarters of the buzz going on in our world no one is
going to read what I write. To top that off, no one will read what I write
about education either.

The reason for today's essay is because I have been writing about something
I know quite a lot about: Puppetry. Sadly, puppetry is not newsworthy. The
story is "The Tangled Strings Caper" (tentative title). It is flowing nicely
whereas the opinions about other people's opinions have been difficult to
garner and reap. I find that the advice I read about writing what you know
is very good. I have so many ideas about where this story could go. I have
to contain myself and ration my time to the early morning hours. This is the
time when I usually write condensed one-page essays about, you know, about
things I know absolutely nothing about. And, because my opinion is just as
good as anyone's opinion I have been writing those opinions almost daily for
a number of years.

Actually, this is what our political, cultural, ethical, and commercial
upsets are actually about. We talk a lot, listen little, get very angry and
spout our little ideas which show how shallow our (my) ideas actually are.
If I send you fewer of these you will know I am writing a lot about what I
know.
Carol's Evaluation:10+ out of 10.