This is less a full-fledged diary than an observation.
I am currently visiting relatives in Boston, and for those of you out of the area, one of the few stories to thoroughly saturate the media this week is "Deflategate," the unavoidable story about Tom Brady and the alleged scandal about deflated footballs during post-season play. News only to those outside the Boston media market, those without access to any media more advanced than lanterns from the old North Church, or hermits.
If I do not hear the name "Brady" when I return to the sanity of home, it will be an immensely welcome relief.
But my point is this, especially pointed toward fellow Boston com-patriots. The ONLY leg that Tom Brady has to stand on and fight the penalties implemented by the NFL is the fact that he belongs to a UNION. Without the union, he'd be up you-know-what creek.
Now I know, for the most part, that New Englanders are a fairly progressive bunch, but there's still a rather sizable core that isn't. So for these folks, when you think about the injustice you have experienced in your own working career, might things not have turned out differently if you had similar support?
I am not, nor have I ever been privileged to be a member of a union. And I will grant you that like other human-based organizations, they are not perfect. But they are designed to help and protect workers. Isn't that something we should ALL do more to support?