OF A GOLDEN AGE

one of my high school friends died after an emergency illness. we were passing friends: hung with the same crowd, talked every day at school. he was one of the funniest, friendliest kids i’ve ever known. we met for the first time when i was in fourth grade and he was in second and we each had a part in a school assembly.

recently i had sent him a facebook message to say i was glad we knew each other but wished we’d been better friends. he answered:

“now, for my own form of smushiness. i’ve talked to a lot of people from high school since i’ve graduated, kids that were older than me, kids that were in my grade, kids i told to fuck off in the hallways once or twice, and there seems to be a general consensus amongst them all: they regret. they regret not taking a chance and asking that one person out that they liked. they regret not going to more parties or not studying more or taking for granted all those late night talks with friends about topics that really matter in life. i’ve found a similarity in folks from my grade. they regret not talking to you. whether they’re caleb and too dumb to really understand what they were feeling, cain and too shy to even try, or true (yes, true had a hard on for you even if he’ll never admit it) and too dumb to believe in himself, they all regret in some form of another not saying, “hey you really, really tall girl, how’s it going?” i think of you as something of an educator of a generation of OHS students, for you taught us some valuable lessons.”

life is too short not to spend time with people like this, people who are genuine and funny and who enrich your life and make you feel like a better person.

i thought you should know that i just scored 212 points in one turn at scrabble.

across the united states, minimum wage laws vary wildly. the federal minimum wage is $5.15, but states individually have laws reaching as high as $7.63 in washington, and san francisco has an ordinance raising its minimum wage to $8.50.

there are states with no minimum wage laws:
alabama
arizona
louisiana
mississippi
south carolina
tennessee

states whose laws reinforce the federal minimum wage law:
arkansas
colorado
georgia
(guam)
idaho
indiana
iowa
kentucky
maryland
michigan
missouri
montana
nebraska
nevada
new hampshire
new mexico
north carolina
north dakota
oklahoma
pennsylvania
(puerto rico)
south dakota
texas
utah
virginia
west virginia
wyoming

states whose minimum wage is higher than the federal:
washington ($7.63)
oregon ($7.50)
connecticut ($7.40, $7.65 by 2007)
vermont ($7.25)
alaska ($7.15)
washington, dc ($7.00)
california ($6.75, $8.50 in san francisco)
hawaii ($6.75, $7.25 by 2007)
massacchusetts ($6.75)
new york ($6.75, $7.15 by 2007)
rhode island ($6.75)
illinois ($6.50)
maine ($6.50)
florida ($6.40)
minnesota ($6.15)
delaware ($6.15)
new jersey ($6.15, $7.15 by 2007)
wisconsin ($5.70)

and a few states with minimum wages lower than the federal:
(the federal overrides in this case)
kansas ($2.65)
ohio ($4.25, lower for some businesses)
(virgin islands [$4.65])