"You look tired" is a faux pas

“You look tired,” I said to a neighbor without thinking. A friend who heard the comment considered it rude. If my neighbor actually wasn’t tired, I’d told her she looked bad.

How fraught remarks about appearance are! Even “You look great” might be interpreted as “You look a lot better than usual.”

Did phoning for Harris do any good?

When I told people that I was going to phone call for Kamala Harris, most said, “Who would pick up the phone?”

I too expected the experience to be a washout, but my conscience nudged me to do something to oppose Donald Trump. How many Wisconsinites answered the phone was surprising. After reaching lots of Harris supporters and only a handful of Trumpers, I felt pleased.

How much is a Tribune subscription? Good question.

As a responsible citizen and former newspaper reporter, I want newspapers to survive. You might think, therefore, that I could consider my Chicago Tribune subscription a contribution, like my contributions to public TV and radio. 

It doesn’t feel like a contribution, however — and not just because it isn’t voluntary and I’m not choosing the amount. The pricing policy seems shady. For example: