Jay Greeson: Opinion: On Christmas traditions, a comedian's charity and a departing politician
Dec. 4—Christmas traditions are as varied as gift ideas and holiday music.
For a lot of us, it's not fully Christmas until you watch "It's a Wonderful Life." Or maybe it's the joy of the Jelly of the Month club Clark gets as his bonus in "Christmas Vacation." (Side note: You 20-somethings who work at places not named TVA, ask your parents what a Christmas bonus was. It was a cool concept back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.)
For some — like my kids — it's "Home Alone." And it made the news that the McCallisters' house where little Kevin fought off the intruders and (spoiler alert) saved the family existence from that creepy old dude is available to rent through AirBnB.
Heck, the actor that played Kevin's brother, Buzz, will be your host for the right price.
You have to believe that after that movie dropped — and with the sequels — that Buzz believed bigger things were in store right?
Bookings for one-night stays through the holidays open Monday afternoon.
A silver lining
Maybe there is a potential crash course of charitable contributions in our current cancel culture ways.
We live in an age of a delicate balance between cancel culture and consequence culture, and maybe Dave Chappelle has found the most impactful way forward between those converging circles.
Chappelle is a comedic genius who has come under fire of late for comments and quips about the transgender community during a Netflix special. It made a few of the papers.
Well, Chappelle is turning the passionate attempts by protesters to cancel his act and stop his alma mater naming the school's theater after him into an interesting fundraising challenge.
Chappelle on social media said he plans on moving forward with and attending the naming of the theater in April unless his detractors donate more money to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts than his supporters donate.
That's a call for folks to put their cash where their cause is, friends.
Mince meetings
Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd, R-East Brainerd, announced earlier this week he will not seek re-election when his seat comes up next year.
Some will say good. Especially the school board members he torched in some released emails this week. Some will say bad. Especially the folks he championed in East Ridge.
Boyd seldom shied from a fight and had the worst poker face of anyone this side of Tunica.
But he was passionate. That's a quality that will be missed, even from those who will not miss Boyd.
Obit observations
Jack Barker died last month. He was 98.
His visitation and service were Thursday.
Barker was an accomplished businessman, a World War II veteran, a supporter of the arts and his service included glowing words from Alan Cates. And friends know this: If Alan Cates speaks well of you, you are good by me.
But beyond his world accomplishments, his obit mentioned that Barker was the epitome of a "friend" and noted the circle of life in which we live and how it was captured by this Thomas Markham quote: "There is a destiny in life that makes us brothers. No one goes his way alone. All we send into the lives of others returns again to our own."
A friend indeed.
