Stories by Gary Smith

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

OPINION | GARY SMITH: An attachment to “House Hunters International” raises one question: Why? In these troubled times I more frequently find myself turning from the sublime (or, in most cases, the horrific) to the ridiculous when it comes to TV watching.Specifically, I'm hooked on "Ho... April 29, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Being mask free isn’t the biggest issue aboard airlines According to a recent federal court ruling, I don't have to wear a mask on airplanes anymore.This particular ruling was met by extremely intense and deeply polarized reactions throughout the natio... April 22, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Cutting commentary from Gary Scissorhands This is how things go off the rails.A while ago, I needed a pair of scissors. Not sure I remember what for, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest I needed to cut something. Either tha... April 8, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Northwest Arkansas has chickens, trucks, jobs, shops — and a heaping helping of luck We're lucky.We know this, right? Oh, we may want to chalk it up to foresight or talent or hard work, and it is a lot of those things. But some of it, maybe more of it than we'd like to admit, ... April 1, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: A family get-together brings back the joys of living, but covid lurks The Lovely Mrs. Smith and I, as well as some of the progeny and progeny's progeny (grandprogeny?) and their spouses (the progeny, not the grandprogeny...yeah, I know, gets confusing) all took off ... March 25, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: The “Good Old Days” can be hard to find, but they’re still around for someone The time frame might not be exactly right since it was so far back in the past, but as best I can recall, it happened about three weeks ago for a solid afternoon. For a few hours, I had the Good Old D... March 11, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Employees appear to want a return to the workplace, but with day-to-day options I broke down the other day and did it. I went back to the office.And by "the office," I mean that big place where lots of people all used to go every day to get their work done, not that roo... March 4, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Arkansas gets another dose of winter precipitation, begging the question: Why does sleet exist? I'm a big fan of informal polling, mostly because I'm too lazy and cheap to do actual polling or even research other actual polling, and because acknowledging the existence of actual polling w... February 25, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Did Americans forget how to drive during the pandemic, or did they not know to begin with? As someone known to give his opinion on a regular basis, it tends to create that warm, fuzzy, smug feeling on those rare occasions when that opinion is proven to actually be correct.I mean, a blind pi... February 18, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Hot glue? Burned fingers? The crazy things grandparents will do to make sure grandkids realize, later, they're loved How was your weekend? I spent last weekend building teapots.OK, not just building teapots. I also built teacups. And also saucers. Let's not forget the saucers.By "build" I don't mea... February 11, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Online puzzle becomes a Wordle-wide success Apparently, whatever else I'm doing, I should drop it and start playing Wordle.I say this because Wordle seems to be, if not all, at least a lot of what people are talking about right now. Which, ... February 4, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: The lonely dress shirts in the closet beg the question: Has working from home made me go too casual? I did something the other day so completely out the realm of what I've been doing for the last two years that its very novelty overcame the fact it was completely mundane and otherwise unspectacul... January 28, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Is staying at home as a result of the pandemic really such a bad thing? I have a question I've been asking myself a lot lately, and it really requires an answer.Am I staying at home, locked in my house, not venturing out into the world because I'm afraid of or sor... January 21, 2022

OPINION | GARY SMITH: Is a symptom of covid an impatience with testing? At a time when it seems we're predisposed to becoming obsessed with just about anything and everything, we as a country appear to have become obsessed with yet one more thing – testing.Not &... January 14, 2022

GARY SMITH: When to take down the Christmas tree, and other important holiday decisions The holidays are quickly winding down, which means we're all facing critical decisions that are going to have to be made fairly soon or we risk dire consequences.Ok, not vaccinations. I mean, at t... January 7, 2022