Stories by Gary Smith

OPINION | GARY SMITH: How dare stores force me to walk past a display of merchandise I’m not interested in? In keeping with the spirit of the moment (or temporary insanity -- sometimes it's hard to tell these days), I'm going to voice my outrage at the sheer audacity of major retailers to push parti... June 2, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: A thrill or just too much? Two YouTubers for youngsters are teaming up I read something the other day that is either the best news imaginable or promises to be the end of life as we know it. I suppose there is a third way, I'm just not sure what it is.Blippi and Ms. ... May 26, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: A house is a house, but its role as “home” makes moving a challenge Very soon I'm going to do something so terrifying and life-altering it potentially may alter and/or scar me forever.I'm going to move.That's "move" as in "from one house to ... May 19, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Even when it’s early, across the pond and no longer linked to our culture, Americans find meaning in ceremony I'm afraid they lost me at the orb.Specifically, it's the Sovereign's Orb, the golden globe surmounted by a cross that apparently serves as a reminder to the monarch of Great Britain that ... May 12, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: With SpaceX in charge, it might have been “Houston, we have an opportunity!” Among my many shortcomings is the reality that I often struggle with definitions.I'm not sure what an "idiom" is. I tend to get "similes" and "metaphors" mixed up. It... April 28, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: What’s so wrong with having strong opinions, loosely held? I've been led to believe a clear sign of intelligence is the ability to hold two competing ideas in your head at the same time.I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the concept of &qu... April 21, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: A new recipe for workplace success — just add water First off, I want to say for the record that I very much am a fan of water.All of my favorite (and even my least favorite) oceans, lakes, rivers and streams are made of it. If it weren't for water... April 14, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: “I don’t know” is the kind of phrase people ought to embrace I have come to the conclusion that the most useful phrase in the English language is "I don't know."This is, of course, a sweeping generalization that covers the population as a whole. R... April 7, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: The planets align for a cherished parent-daughter moment I'm not sure whether the politically correct or, frankly more accurate term is "old wive's tale" or "urban myth" (I think, for so many very good reasons, "urban myth&q... March 31, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Is giving someone a “thumbs up” a passive-aggressive act? Today I rise in defense of the humble "thumbs up," a gesture so beloved it really shouldn't need defense but apparently does.Seems that a not-insignificant portion of our population, or ... March 24, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Maybe all the nominees won at the Oscars, just in their own universe I watched the Oscars the other night.OK, that's not exactly true. I was generally and frequently in the same room where the Oscars were being watched. And when I was actually in the room where the... March 17, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Journey of a lifetime: From junk to cherished memento and back to junk again It's ironic, actually. Of all the things you may have owned in your life, some that have the least dollar value might be the ones you'll never let go.In a drawer in my house, along with cuff l... March 10, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Up, up and away: What could those flight attendants be thinking? The completely imaginary, didn't-actually-happen scene that played in my head while traveling recently made me realize, whatever the future holds, I'll never take on the profession of flight a... March 3, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Shedding some light on the correct direction of light switches As far as I can tell, the root of one of our biggest problems is that we believe human beings act in reasonable, defendable, understandable ways and that, while we may not necessarily agree with the o... February 17, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: The truth hurts — and so does everything else From perspective gained both by living as long as I have and by the recent completion of one more year of survival as the earth circled the sun, I feel qualified to comment on a few things. Remember, ... February 10, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Isolated at home again, memories bring back an uneasy feeling First off, everyone exaggerates. For instance, I just did.Exaggeration, in fact, may be the cause of all of the world's problems (see there, I did it again!). It's certainly the cause, if not ... February 3, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Why read Prince Harry’s book? The dysfunction he describes doesn’t sound all that different than what a lot of families face This is the time of year and the sort of weather that has a lot of us updating our reading lists. Or just pulling the blankets back over our heads because it's cold and we don't want to get up... January 27, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: As the calendar turns, self-examination suggests why we don’t do more of it With the old year safely behind us and another notch on the birthday gun belt about to hit, it seemed to me like as good a time as any to do a quick inventory. Unless, of course, I realized you should... January 13, 2023

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Christmas came and went: Why are the outdoor lights still on? The following is a public service announcement: It's time to turn off the outdoor Christmas lights.I'm not saying you have to take them down. That's a personal matter and a decision to be ... January 6, 2023

Gary Smith: A Durant run run I found myself in Durant, Okla., the other day. Which could be, but wasn’t, a line from the worst country song ever written.Let’s get this out of the way right away: It’s pronounced ... December 30, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: A Durant-rant on the challenges one will overcome to get one of the kids home for Christmas I found myself in Durant, Okla., the other day. Which could be, but wasn't, a line from the worst country song ever written. Let's get this out of the way right away: It's pronounced Doo-rant. And the... December 29, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Babies’ lives have just begun; how in the world is it they already come with so much equipment? At the onset, let me state that I realize I'm sailing into pretty choppy waters here.As a person who has lived most of his life "observing" the actions of others, I have on numerous occa... December 23, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: A loved one’s decline, death is an opportunity to embrace the entirety of life Who do we lose when we lose someone?It's more than semantics, that phrase. It's meant to convey more than just the facts of the matter and has a host of similar turns. Our loved one is no long... December 16, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: The green bean casserole … and other signs of a mother’s love So I was taking my typical post-Thanksgiving break to ponder some of the larger questions of life, our existence and the meaning of it all. Some of you might call it a nap, but just because my eyes we... December 2, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Parenting advice from the people who drove their kids around unbuckled? I would suggest that one of the greatest gaps in human understanding is the one between parents' belief in their ability to raise children and their kids' belief in those same parental abiliti... November 25, 2022

Hello, ER, my old friend … I believe there is a point on which we can all agree, regardless of our feelings about the most recent election, the college football season, the moral fiber of the current World Series Champions, the... November 18, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Fewer Americans know a service member; honor them anyway For most of my young life I remember one constant. My dad kept a bag in the hall closet.It was dark blue and nylon, standard US Air Force issue, which meant it was long on practicality and durability ... November 11, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: The cost of wisdom is just a few hundred arcade tickets Just the other day I experienced an almost metaphysical insight into the very nature of the human condition and the forces that drive us despite the reality that our striving will be largely in vain a... October 21, 2022

Becoming an influencer Just to establish a fact to which my children would certainly and vehemently attest, I am not a trend setter.I do not know and have for some time not known what is fashionable and I am certainly in no... October 7, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: There’s winning and losing — or both — in the Two-Team Tango When the Lovely Mrs. Smith and I, along with the two of our progeny born outside the confines of Northwest Arkansas, moved here several years ago, we discovered we were actually part of a wave of folk... September 30, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Avoiding the “enormity of what awaits” promotes some creative dodges At the appropriate time every year (more or less, depending on if I actually look at the calendar and realize "Oh, geez, it's almost New Year's!"), I sit down and make my annual New ... September 23, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Judge ye not thy quiche and pumpkin spice Once upon a time (and yes, I am old enough that stories about my past start with "once upon a time"), an author named Bruce Feirstein had a best-seller entitled "Real Men Don't Eat ... September 16, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: New smartphone app delivers an uplifting experience It seems that people collect all sorts of odd things beyond what people would normally expect: works of art, baseball cards, wine, etc.Then there are sugar packets. Celebrity hair. Coffee cup lids. On... September 9, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: A temporary loss of mobility reveals the limits of a compassionate society One of the many irrefutable laws of life is that, regardless of what you and anyone else does, everyone else's job is easier than yours.It's also true that everyone else's life is easier t... September 2, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: What’s that? The start of school? Why is there a line of traffic at that building? A tale of two households:Household with children: "It's the first day of school. Yeah! Let's at least fake some enthusiasm! This is going to be a super great fun year and we're going ... August 19, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: “Grease” wasn’t the word for me, time after time Let's talk about bad movie choices.Over the years, I've made quite a few. And like films themselves, the reasons they were bad choices don't necessarily have much to do with the movies. It... August 12, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Long ago memories of NBA great Bill Russell, thanks to a phone company The Major League Baseball trading deadline has come and gone, and its passing has reinforced one of the facts of my life: Even though I'm a longstanding sports fan, I have officially reached the p... August 5, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Overdone seasonal comments can have a weathering impact The recent heat has me thinking: Is the most annoying thing you hear during a heat wave "Hot enough for ya?" or "It's not the heat, it's the humidity"? I'm asking for e... July 29, 2022

Blue blood, blue vocabulary In earth-shattering, critical news of the sort that will shake our collective faith in what is good, decent and acceptable in the world, a member of the British Royal Family has committed a transgress... July 22, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: The middle ground isn’t such a bad place to be when it comes to annual physical In these difficult and fractured times in which we live, there is often a movement around what is called the Third Way.You may be familiar with the Third Way concept. It's the process or plan some... July 15, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: An in-law’s unexpected death closes the distance of years, geography From a distance, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise, and while sad, it's not totally out of the question.In a world where events conspire to create great tragedy every day, where confli... July 8, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Going to a wedding? Check those pandemic numbers one more time, please We are now officially in the heart of Wedding Season, that time when people are more likely to compel their parents to put on lavish shindigs celebrating their eternal love rather than just take the c... July 1, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Why does car travel in Northwest Arkansas often feel like the road to perdition? I don't remember the exact designation according to the AP Style Manual that I used to swear by, back when I did this for a living and my response to editors who wanted to change something was to ... June 24, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Clearing the air not easy, even by committee There are distinct disadvantages to being of "a certain age," specifically the age at which I now find myself.And I'm not even talking about the way my knees feel. Or the 45 minutes it t... June 17, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: The toughest negotiator in the house is a 2-year-old I spent the weekend negotiating with a 2-year-old. It did not go well.OK, it didn't go disastrously. I mean, both of us exited the experience with no trips to the emergency room, which I tend to s... June 10, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Capacity for forgetfulness means it’s always a new TV season For some reason (general forgetfulness, tiny little attention span, inability to remember names or faces or names and faces, all of the above), I can't remember the plots of television or movie se... June 3, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Americans have demonstrated exceptionalism in their achievements; why does a cure to violence elude the nation? It started out to be such a good week.Tiring. Active. Busy. But good. A weekend at the PGA Championship with my oldest son, where, to mangle a phrase from Mark Twain, the coldest winter round of golf ... May 27, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Raising your kids may get complicated, but it’s not payback There is a phrase I hear every now and then. It shows up around the time we pry a toddler from a jungle gym in clear contrast to her desire to stay on it and despite the threats and bribery directed h... May 20, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Back at the office, footwear is where the rubber meets the road All right, I'm big enough to admit it. I have a problem.And yes, narrowing that down to just one problem is a bit of an effort, at least for those who know me well. We could start with blurting ou... May 13, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Even if Musk manages the medium, opinions on space aliens won’t change I'm about to commit one of the cardinal sins of column-writing. I am about to admit, in print, for anyone who cares to read, that I don't care about something.Yeah, I know. It is possible, eve... May 6, 2022