Muhammad Naeem

“Teachers change the world, one child, at a time,” so the saying goes. If I go by the way teachers have changed my kids, then God help us all! Nobody said that the change has to be for the better; it could also be for the worse. My wife and I are seeing this worse unfold in front of our very own eyes and there’s no teacher in sight—literally. Zoom meetings don’t count.

A lot of our citizens take America for granted. They never learn to appreciate the true value of this great nation of ours or what it truly stands for. Yes, we have the MAGA crowd, and they somehow feel superior to the rest of us in being American, but they don’t know what really makes America great.

I am a big fan of fads. For me, fads provide a good study into a culture's whims and impulses, and highlight where we are psychologically as a nation. Some fads are short-lived even though they spread fast, but some do endure the test of time, if only to lose public enthusiasm slowly. Remember fidget spinners.

I learned a very valuable lesson this election year. I was taught by my daughter what makes a hero. I am, what some would call, a know-it-all, and I learned that my daughter had given me that status to such a point that it distorted her own thoughts to fit with mine. This realization and its eventual undoing were an eye-opener for me. This know-it-all fell a tad short of expectations.

I just finished watching the most riveting reality show in the history of television. There was a lot of drama, a great deal of suspense, weird plot twists, and a lot of uncertainty about who would survive at the end. It was a nail-biter and it kept me on the edge of my seat for days.