By: Dan Propp
Accordion to statistics, if 25% of a society is dirt poor and an equal percentage ‘stone rich’, then from a mathematical average everything appears fine. For instance, if the string section of an orchestra is out of tune and the horns absolutely at perfect pitch, On the average, everything should appear to be sweetness and light.
The strings attached to the consumers, in the middle, appear today to be dancing to a cacophony stuck to the valves of increasing taxes and rising costs. When a new leader is elected, the sounds are similar to Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony. There are gurgling brooks of promises and green fields of hope for the cattle to graze on. The media is in honeymoon mode as sweetness and light prevail. Distant thunder clouds are still in the green room, putting their makeup on and getting into character. Any foreshadowing is kept on hold until the star performer slips on stage left politically, or stage right. Then some prompting with a few measured murmurs will begin to emanate from the back chorus.
Those seniors fortunate to sit in today’s orchestra seats stoically and sometimes whimsically enjoy the performance remembering leaders such as ‘Lester’, ‘Follow John’, ‘Pierre’, Joe Who?, ‘Flying Phil’, ‘Ike’, etc. on the world, national, provincial and municipal stages. We reflect upon their soap boxes, entrances and exits.
Now, after the Campbell Soup, the thunder, the lightning, The Please Go Easy. ‘The Prince George Eventually’, the train slows down in BC. Peace and tranquility return to the pasture. There are rainbows in the sky, as we graze with idealism – despite the past – and hope for more than clever lines. As in Shakespeare’s King Lear, “‘nothing comes from nothing”, those of us in the middle, remain the fools, always hopeful those years of promises from the players on the left, the right and in between will materialize.
There comes a realization that under the big circus tent of provincial politics, the original ‘intent’ somehow becomes lost due to whatever ensuing ‘show-biz’ unfolds. With the lion tamers, jesters, and jugglers, anything is possible. As a new premier takes centre stage, we hope metaphorically that the main engines of public education, health, social issues and families will indeed reach Prince George sooner than eventually. With a little bit of luck and sincerity, hopefully, most of the politics will be completely de-railed or at least remain in the caboose. I KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON THIS ACCORDION OF MINE
I keep a close watch on this accordion of mine. I try to make sure the straps won’t fall off next time. I’ll make sure the buttons hopefully don’t get stuck and bring an extra squeeze box, if I don’t have any luck. Instrumentally, accordions are a challenge for the back to lug them on a bus or skytrain takes quite a knack. The driver says, “Are you leaving home again?” “Yeah”, I reply, “still looking for that home on the range.” The passengers look at me kind of strange. That accordion, just like me, is a dinosaur, yet it’s so much fun trying to bring back memories from Dino to Dinah Shore.
Visit www.danpropp.com for recorded song, radio interview and Arthur Propp’s memoir’s of Kristallnacht