Little Brett, Big City

Family Ties wrapped up its 7th and final season 31 years ago.  So did other iconic 80s TV series Miami Vice and Dynasty. I lost interest in those two by that time in 1989. But who didn’t love the annual Krystle-Alexis beatdown?   I was too busy to follow specific shows when I was at Bowling Green. MTV was always on, like a roommate who never went to class and threw the best parties every night.   But I did watch the Family Ties finale. I had always appreciated the Alex P. Keaton character. Too conservative of course, but I was totally into his drive to hit the “Big Time.”   The series’ last episode spoke to me. Alex had accepted his dream job with a Wall Street investment firm and was packing quickly to move to New York. Ohio was already history to him.   His excitement and eagerness to leave was a bit much for his mom, Elyse. In her eyes, Alex was too gleeful, too quick to exchange their family life together for the “bright lights, big city.”   “Elyse, he...

I was proud of my new briefcase. A mahogany leather beauty with brass clasps that sprang open once you dialed the discrete lock’s combination. And it was solid. Solid as a rock. It was a graduation gift from Aunt Karin and Uncle Louie, my only relatives to have finished college too. I carried it with me on the train ride from Ohio to New York because it held my most precious cargo – my resumes. I couldn’t wait to pop it open during a job interview and hand the recruiter a resume. The case would signal that I had arrived, ready to be a Manhattan yuppie. But it was heavy. So heavy, I had to switch arms every five minutes whenever I held it. And after carrying it for blocks and blocks in my only (wool) suit in late summer, I was drenched in sweat before any of my meetings. It was so heavy it toppled off of my lap in one interview, spilling all of my resumes and writing samples on the floor. I still got the job, but I should have seen it as an omen of how...