Columns

Confused about phone etiquette?

“Don’t you dare call me without texting first!” blared a recent headline in the Wall Street Journal. Yes, forget about Taiwan and other potential hot spots; battle lines are being drawn over the divisive issue of modern telephone etiquette.

Needed: The common sense humor of Will Rogers

Our politics sure is divided these days. Tempers are flaring and minds are rigid and closed. Here’s the solution: the wit and wisdom of legendary humorist Will Rogers. “The short memory of voters is what keeps our politicians in office.” “We’ve got the best politicians that money can buy.

Should a sense of humor be mandatory for fathers?

Some fathers are entirely too serious. They’re paranoid about their children finding out that they had their own youthful indiscretions and regrettable choices. (“I don’t make mistakes. You can ask any of your six stepmoms.

Eyes rolled, but Zuschlag persisted

I remember well the day in 1971 that Richard Zuschlag appeared before the Lafayette Parish Police Jury and said that he and two partners wanted to start an ambulance service. The parish needed one badly.

Alito dust-up has nothing to do with flags

I have never been married, nor do I have any children. I grew up around married people. I descend from a whole line of married people. I have friends who are married people. I deeply admire married people, and I think that they tend to be among the happiest folks in the universe.

Trump’s conviction is not a surprise

I wrote in my column over a month ago that no one should be surprised over former president Donald Trump’s conviction in a New York Court last week. As we say in the South, Trump was a gone pecan from the get-go. There are a number of reasons why.

Ready for Pat Sajak’s final spin of the wheel?

June 7 will be a bittersweet day in TV history, as the final “Wheel of Fortune” hosted by Pat Sajak airs. Sajak announced his retirement plans a year ago, allowing himself time for a VICT_RY LAP, naming of a successor and cleaning all the spare bullion out of the sofa in the dressing room.

Memories of my free-range childhood

It was the first time in my childhood I had an excuse for coming home late for dinner, but nobody — not even the cops — would listen. In the summer of 1972, when I was 10, Tommy Gillen and I built a dam in the creek on the other side of the Horning Road railroad tunnel.

Last Island was favored resort, until the storm

Isle Dernière, the barrier reef more commonly called Last Island, is best known for the deadly storm that struck there in August 1856. But three years before that infamous storm the Houma Ceres, called it “the greatest place in the world to ride, swim, drink, dance, and talk love to the ladies.

Take what Harrison Butker said in context

When Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker delivered his commencement address at Benedictine College earlier this month, the outrage was primarily focused on his comments about a woman’s place in society.