Jerry's Kids

Did you know the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon has been going for 45 years? I didn't either. Man... that's a long time. That's long enough to see eight Presidents, several energy crises, a few recessions, lots of military 'actions,' a moon landing and NASA's abandonment of that achievement, the construction and destruction of the World Trade Center, and the gradual replacement of the American family farm with big agribusiness. A long time.
   It's been on long enough that people take it for granted. Or ignore it. For my money, it hasn't been the same since Ed McMahon's been gone. I grew up listening to him calling out 'roll the timpani!' and pointing at the old analog number board. I remember it was a great big deal when they made it to $1 million. As the 24 hours progressed, Jerry went from the movie Jerry - wacky and loud and funny - to the fatigued, punchy, angry Jerry, who would look into the camera and dare you not to pledge a dollar. I always thought he would come to my house and shake me down if I didn't give any money. Good times, good times...
   I got to thinking, what else has been around for at least 45 years? No TV shows, except the nightly news. McDonald's, I suppose. IBM. The Rolling Stones. The military-industrial complex Eisenhower, of all people, warned us of. Chevy. Ford. Wal-Mart.
   Do you see how the things I can think of are large corporations, or things made possible by those corporations? That frightens me. The only permanent things are faceless entities run by anonymous bean-counters.
   Help me out here. There has to be something that's persisted for 45 years that isn't bound by corporations. Something pure and good and unstained by association with money-grubbing bastards. Right? Anybody got any ideas?

This is what I wrote last year on Labor Day. It still stands.