Remembering Dad: Everything Good Is Extraordinary

Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson

I woke up abruptly at 5:15 this morning -- and I think I know why.

First cause was the Rev. Clementa Pinckney.

I was intrigued by President Barack Obama's eulogy of him, which I read about recently in "From the Corner of the Oval" a book for which I otherwise had mixed feelings.

In June 2015, Rev. Pinckney and eight others had been gunned down in a church in South Carolina.

"What a good man," President Obama said at the funeral.

"Sometimes," he added. "I think that's the best thing to hope for when you're eulogized. After all the words and recitations and resumes are read, to just say somebody was a good man."

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Second cause is the recent revival, during the baseball playoffs and the start of the NFL season, of a June 2017 GMC marketing campaign, "Like a Pro," designed to celebrate "people who passionately life live to a higher standard."

The ad is insane. It asks:

Man, driving a GMC, who won't settle for being a "fine human being"

"How do you want to live? As a decent person? A fine human being? A good father? Friend? Son? Is that it? Good?"

The answer:

"Of course not."

The ad instead says that its target audience aspires to be "one of a kind," "Employee of the Month," "undeniable," and "like a boss." And that "we (the GMC car company) couldn't agree more."

Actually, I couldn't agree less. I think many people share that sentiment.

In introducing the campaign, a GMC marketing executive had proclaimed, "We’ve won the minds of consumers, and this is going to win their hearts."

There's evidence to the contrary. Sales for the GMC Acadia Denali, the model advertised in the most recent TV commercial I saw, fell nearly 50% last quarter.

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Driving down Route 287 in New Jersey earlier today, I watched the "distinctive" grille of a $66,000 GMC Yukon Denali bear down on another car in the right lane, change lanes behind me without using a blinker, and speed past. The driver was a seemingly entitled, self-important middle-aged white man, obliviously tailgating others in the passing lane at more than 80 miles per hour.

Undeniable. Like a pro. Like a boss.

Robert J. Varettoni, 1932-2005

It was early in the morning, before dawn. I had awakened with a start at 5:15, and dressed early to go to work.

The third cause of why I woke up precisely then?

Today is the 13th anniversary of my Dad's death.

5:15 was the exact time he used to wake up every morning to provide for his family during a 34-year career with New York Telephone/NYNEX/Verizon.

You can read details of his life in his obituary. These details don't tell you the most important thing about him:

Dad was a good man.

He wasn't like a boss. He was a boss.

If he taught me anything, it's that every good person -- and everything good in life -- is extraordinary.