Author: Matthew Groff

  • Short Story Review: “Occupational Hazards” by Jamil Jan Kochai

    (The short story “Occupational Hazards” by Jamil Jan Kochai appeared in the May 23rd, 2022 issue of The New Yorker.)

    (Yes, there are SPOILERS, so just go read the story!)

    I liked this story, and I liked this story a lot. And let me tell you why.

    “Occupational Hazards” by Jamil Jan Kochai tells the story of a man’s life, starting at Logar Province Afghanistan in 1966, and ending in the present day in West Sacramento, California. The story takes the form of job descriptions for different periods of this man’s life; from being a Sheepherder, to Grade-School Student, to Mujahid Recruit, to Refugee, to Lawn Technician, and so on. It was a form that, at first, I felt was a little gimmicky, almost like it was making lite of the subject.

    But as the story progressed, and as the boy became a high school student, his “job” is to be loyal to the constantly changing national leadership, then to the Communists, and to hear about purges and coups, and the disappearances of leaders, thinkers, and imams. A dread begins to fill the story, and even with a very basic American knowledge of Afghanistan’s recent history, we know that the Soviets are coming, and years of civil war and strife. I mistakenly thought that the cold dryness of the job descriptions would take away from the drama. Jamil Jan Kochai is in control of this story, and the effect of the descriptions, keeping them detached from emotions, only heightens the horror and tragedy that this man experiences. The fact that so much befalls him, but he keeps fighting, pushing forward, and seemingly holds all of this in. We know what this man does, but we don’t know how he feels about it. What does it feel like to lose loved on after loved one, to fight for your survival, to be uprooted and move half the world away, and try to start over in a new country and culture? But then the final job description comes, and there is such a cathartic release for this man as his new job is as a witness; describing to his oldest son, who has asked him questions, about Logar, and Afghanistan, and the brother who had been murdered at the hands of the Communists. That all that this man had done to survive, and build a life, to ensure that his children were all educated, and had opportunities, and still, he never forgot about his younger brother that he couldn’t save. Just heartbreaking.

    I also loved how this story rejected the sentimentality and cliché of this immigrant story. I think a lesser writer would have played on our emotions, and thus created a very predictable story. What Jamil Jan Kochai gives us is a very full-throated argument why immigrants are a necessary and vital part of this nation, but it is never preachy, or romanticizes this man’s experience. It also reminded me that for some people, getting to the United States is monumentally difficult, and it does deserve respect from the rest of us.

    This is the type of story where I wish I could shake Jamil Jan Kochai’s hand, and say thank you for sharing this.

    (Say, don’t forget to like this post, or share it, or leave a comment. I got bills to pay, you know.)

  • Arsenal Lost

    I can’t believe it myself, but Arsenal lost to Newcastle yesterday 2-0. Tottenham is in fourth place in the Premiere League, and if they can win or tie on Sunday, Spurs will earn a spot in next season’s Champions League. The thing I had hoped for might actually happen. And if they hold on to fourth place, then there is a good chance that Harry Kane will stay, and so will Conte.

    Ah, but it’s an “if.”

    If they can do it.

    And I have been around the block enough times to know that nothing is guaranteed until its over. Too many years of watching the Cubs blow it, and the Rangers, and the Cowboys, and the Stars, and the Mavericks, and pretty much any sports I have taken the time to follow.

    Do you really know what love is if you heart has never been broken?

    That’s kind’a what this feels like; my heart is about the be broken.

    But it’s also kind of thrilling as well.

    This season has been a roller coaster. From Harry Kane holding out, and the lack luster start of the season. Nuno getting hired then fired, and Conte coming in. Letting Dele go, and picking up Kulusevski, which has worked out great with Kane and Son. The defense is playing better, and it seems like things are going well.

    Which is why something awful may still happen.

  • Small Country Cemetery

    This weekend, the family and I, including the dog, started up hiking again. This is our third year, and I have mentioned it before, I am really looking forward to it. As New Yorkers, getting to the location of our hikes is half the battle. On average, we have to dive about 45 minutes out of the City, before we can hit some more rugged nature trails, and if we want to try our hand at more moderately difficult paths that are less trafficked, then we have to go an hour to an hour and a half away.

    Such was the case this weekend. We had decided to hit up Mountain Lakes Park in Westchester County, right on the New York/Connecticut border. This was our first time out there, and Google Maps ended up failing us. The app said we had arrived, but we were in the middle of a country road, surrounded by horse farms and BMW’s. So, I pulled the car over to the first public parking space I could find, which ended up being a cemetery off of June Road and 116.

    After I had figured out that we were like five minutes away from our destination, the wife suggested that we stroll through the cemetery; see what we can see. As far as I could tell, people were buried there from the 1780 to the present day. Quite a few Revolutionary War Veterans were there, from the 4th New York Militia. My seven-year-old daughter, who is very curious and inquisitive, had lots of questions for us. Why were so many people with the same name buried together? Do you have to be buried together if you are married? And sadly, she observed that many of the graves were for children, and wanted to know why so many kids died long ago? All good and honest questions that I would expect her to ask.

    Because families used to always live near each other, and married people normally want to be with each other forever, and sadly, medicine wasn’t that advanced long ago, and kids who got sick would sometimes die.

    But the kid kept asking us if we, me and the wife, wanted to be buried together. “I guess,” was my answer, not because I’m unsure we should spend eternity together, but because we never talked about it.

    The wife wants to be eco-buried so she can be plant food for a tree. I can live with that.

    I want to be buried someplace quiet and just have a boulder for a headstone. Like Jackson Pollock did. Only my name on it.

    We decided that whomever dies first, that their wishes should be honored, and the other one has to do the same.

    Seems fair. Either a tree or a boulder.

    Very Taoist in a sense.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Tottenham Wins, Hiking, and Crypto

    (What time is it? SHOWTIME!!!)

    I have no faith in the sports teams I support. I blame the lifetime of following the Cubs for that. Yesterday, going in to the North London Derby, and even though Tottenham was playing at home, I was not confident that the Spurs would beat Arsenal. Clearly I was wrong, as the 3-0 win was rather resounding, and Harry Kane was playing like he had something to prove. Tottenham is still one point behind Arsenal for fourth place, and they have to win their final two matches, and hope that Arsenal ties or loses at least one match. Looking at the schedule, Arsenal is playing the more competitive teams, but Tottenham has a habit of playing badly against bottom of the table teams, which is what they will be facing in Burnley and Norwich. I still stand by, that if Tottenham doesn’t place fourth, thus not making it into the Champions League next year, Harry Kane is gone, and I will add that Conte will take off as well. So, there is a lot on the line.

    Tomorrow, Saturday the 14th, my little family kicks off Hiking Season 2022. I am actually very excited about this, as this will be our third year. I have a feeling that we are working our way up to going camping next season. (In fact, I was looking for a place to rent this summer for a vacation with the express purpose of being near hiking trails.) But in the meantime, we are aiming to go for two hikes a month through the end of October, and expanding our range to further from the City, and hiking trails longer that an hour. Soon, I’m going to be that guy that gets up at the crack of dawn on the weekend to get a jump on the day. Three years ago, I never thought I would be here, and excited about it as well.

    My crypto is tanking. But I will buy low and sell high. I have a cunning plan.

    (Say, don’t forget to like this post, or share it, or leave a comment. I got bills to pay, you know.)

  • The Loss of Rights

    I hate to say it, but I think we all need to come to terms with the fact that we are about to live in a country where abortion will not be legal for the majority of American women. I don’t want to admit it, but this, I fear, is the country we are about to live in for the next 50 years.

    And it will be a domino effect. See, if the 14th Amendment was used to as the rational for Roe in the first place, then it just stands to reason that every ruling after Roe that used the same reasoning of the 14th Amendment is also in jeopardy. As we have seen in American history, the Supreme Court can throw out precedent anytime they want; for good or for ill, but it is the Courts prerogative to do that.

    What is more depressing than losing all of these hard-fought rights, is that Liberal and Democratic leadership is letting it happen. I’m sorry but holding a vote in the Senate that we all knew was doomed, and produced nothing is not a symbolic win; it’s meaningless. I won’t go as far as to say that Democrats show up to the gun fight with a knife, they show up with a guitar wanting to sing songs. All of these rights are doomed because Liberal leaders don’t know how to fight and win. They just know how to complain and hope someone else closes the deal. That is why the Democrats will lose huge in the midterms even though they have been given this gift of a rallying cry to motivate their base and independent votes. They could win this thing if they try to do things different, but they won’t. They will fuck it up by doing the same old stuff that doesn’t work.

    The only thing giving me hope, that maybe things can still change for the better is Chris Smalls, leader of the Amazon Labor Union, and the workers at that facility on Staten Island. Chris and his team were able to beat Amazon at their own game. How? By talking to workers, having a cookout, finding common ground, and focusing on the issue at hand. He and his team created a sense of unity and shared experience, and it got everyone to work together. If you haven’t been to Staten Island, it’s the Trump Country of NYC. There aren’t fire brand liberals out there, it’s conservative working-class people. If Smalls can get that group of people to unionize, then he knows something just about every Democrat politician doesn’t know.

    It’s close to the same point that Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodward try to make in their book Dirt Road Revival, which is about liberal Democrats in Maine going out and winning rural conservative voters back. They wrote an essay about it, and Chloe Maxmin was on Bill Mahar last week talking about her experience. In a nut shell, Maxmin’s point is that Democrats have to engage and listen to conservatives, and stand up for common values first, issues second. In other words; get ‘em to care, then you get ‘em to think.

    And the issue to care about is rights. This is all about rights. Women’s right, reproductive rights, healthcare rights, privacy rights, the right to live free. One party grantees rights, the other party takes them away. Which side are you on?

    Besides, in the whole history of the world, have you ever known a regime that took away a right from the people, and then stopped taking away rights?