To A New Decade

With only a week remaining in the decade -- one that seemed to speed by, no? -- it's natural to look back over the 10-year period that helped define a new reality for this country and the world.

We can begin with September 11, 2001. We can end with the global financial crisis of 2008.

In between, we staged a preemptive invasion of a foreign country. The Supreme Court was needed to determine the outcome of a presidential election. Katrina revealed the dark underbelly of a government all too slow to come to the rescue of its poor. A devastating tsunami ravaged Southeast Asia. Viruses with peculiar names -- SARS, avian flu, swine flu -- scared us. We elected an African-American to the highest post in the land. Hundreds of thousands lost their homes; millions lost their jobs.

We watched space shuttle Columbia explode. We struggled with inequities (Wall Street vs. Main Street) and geography (the ability to see Russia from one's home). We observed as reputations were forever tarnished due to 'performance-enhancing' drugs and 'transgressions'. We learned to post, text, and tweet on our smart phones -- all while driving. We only talked as a famine and civil war decimated Somalia.

We said good-bye to far too many greats: Walter C., Peter J., Ted K., Eunice K., Paul N., Red A., Marcel M., Soupy S., Cyd C., Norman M., Bill W., Bea A., Arthur M., Michael J., Shana A., Richard P., Saul B., Betty F., Hunter T., Rona J., Zalman Y., Beverly S., Luciano P., Mary T., Robert M., Deborah K., George H., Johnny C. to name only a very few.

And in the decade's waning moments, we failed miserably in Copenhagen yet, somehow, created the framework to deliver health care to all U.S. citizens.

A horrific, tumultuous, maddening, life-changing decade. One with rays of hope sprinkled in, but only every so often.

I, for one, am ready for a new decade. One with a passion for helping those in need, strong economic growth, and a commitment to the planet. And a whole lot less death and destruction.

So, please, join me in a toast to 2010 and a new chance to show that we're capable of learning from the past. Here's to:

• Recycling, composting, tiny carbon footprints and the smell of fresh-baked bread

• Actually looking forward to reviewing your 401(k) statement and a return to affordable university tuition

• New jobs, less debt and genuine smiles

• A return to true investigative reporting and the FCC requiring Fox News to drop 'News' from its name

• 'Please', 'thank you', and holding doors
  

• A passion for helping others -- regardless of their continent -- and a commitment to consider those in need as family

• A return to the essence of banking as practiced by A.P. Giannini, the founder of Bank of America, who provided egalitarian banking services to the "little fellows", as he put it, in the mainstream and immigrant communities of California
  

• A real playoff system for college football and our teams being a part of it

• Driving less, walking more, and saying 'hello' to those you pass on the street

• Sharing good music, great books and fabulous wine

• Friends, family, joy and love

• Replacing 'no problem' -- as a reply to 'thank you' -- with 'you're welcome' or the very gracious 'with pleasure' (No problem?! I say "thank you" and you say "no problem"? You only filled my water glass or brought me the bill. I certainly hope it wasn't a problem!) (Sorry. I really don't like the expression. 'No worries' is only slightly better.)
  

• An eagerness to learn from others, especially those you most disagree with

• The Democrats for getting their act together on health care and the Republicans for completely and utterly missing the point that their job is to help people, and lastly
  

• The end to war and the beginning of a united fight to end hunger worldwide.
  

Let's get the next 10 years right, starting with 2010.

Happy New Year! Welcome to the second decade of the 21st century.