Shift Happens

I grew up in the outlying suburbs of New York City in the 1960s and ’70s. Like other middle-class kids from the area, I spent many a weekend being dragged around by my mother to go shopping at stores like Abraham & Strauss, Caldor, and Bamberger’s. On family road...

Gradually, Then Suddenly

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually, then suddenly.” ERNEST HEMINGWAY, THE SUN ALSO RISES There are plenty of times when events catch us completely by surprise. Maybe what happened was completely...