There is so much to think about in the world today. Me? I'm thinking about Abraham Maslow.
Specifically, I'm thinking about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's one of those things I vaguely remember from college, specifically from a psychology class. Or was it sociology? Anthropology? I don't know, one of those "ology's" I took because I thought it was going to be easy and found out later it very much wasn't. Physiology? Definitely not that, because I'm not really sure what that is.
Anyway, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a way of ranking human requirements, from a base of food and shelter to self-actualization, which I guess is food and shelter and a flat screen TV.
Like most of us, where I land on that hierarchy has changed quite a bit over the last 30 or so days. The base is still taken care of, which puts me ahead of the game. But a few days staring out the window at the cows (they're walking west, in case you're wondering), has given me a new set of needs. For instance ...
I need to go to a baseball game. I need to sit in the stands, basking in the sun of a beautiful spring day and watching an exciting pitchers' duel. Heck, at this point I'd take shivering in the wind, watching a pitcher who can't find the strike zone with GPS and hitters who look like they're trying to swat flies with a tennis racquet.
I need sports. Live sports. A game, virtually any game whose conclusion came after April Fools' Day 2020. Elephant racing. Mule jumping. At this point, I'm not even picky enough to require a ball.
I need it to be harder to get a dinner reservation than a grocery pickup time.
I know and accept that I need to wear a mask in public. But I need to know I'm not going to indefinitely have to look like a narco gunman when I whip into the drive-through of my favorite bagel store. OK, I've been reading Don Winslow's "Cartel" series, so it's sort of top of mind.
I need to know what we're going to do with all these desk chairs and card tables after we get to go back to our offices. I need "office casual" to not include house shoes and pajamas.
I need to know we get to go back to our offices. Some day.
I need to feel like there's a plan. It doesn't have to be a plan I like. It doesn't have to be a plan I'm excited about. It just has to be a plan.
I need to know what people in the room were thinking when someone said, "So, he's excessively pierced, has a mullet, breeds big cats and is in jail for trying to have someone killed ... yeah, that's a story we need to tell."
I need to complain about traffic. I need to complain about crowds. I need to have to leave early to beat both. I need beating both to make a difference.
I need season three of "Succession." I need the new James Bond movie. I need season four of "Ozark." I'll even take knowing any or all of those things will actually take place and not be filmed on someone's cell phone while the actors are in their houses. I mean, I doubt Daniel Craig's living room looks like a secret submarine base. But I could be wrong.
I need to have a meeting with actual people in an actual room, instead of postage stamps on a screen. Although I do feel like I've been invited into a lot of homes recently. And I know whose children like peanut butter sandwiches with the crust cut off.
I need sanity to prevail, curves to be flattened and reason to be listened to. I need to get back to the normal. We all need to get back to normal. But I need to know that normal isn't temporary.
Needs change. I mean who would have thought, six months ago, that my needs would include stronger Wi-Fi and stretchy-er pants? OK, well, maybe the stretchy-er pant thing isn't totally out of the question.
But whatever the details, the basics haven't changed all that much, in reality. I need my family to be safe. I need people to be safe. I need life to go on. When it's safe. When it's supposed to. In a reasonable manner at a reasonable time.
That's always the biggest need of all.
Commentary on 05/01/2020