I read a riff the other day that said the American Dream used to include a nice home in the suburbs with a white picket fence, but that today’s big dream is just to survive (i.e., keep up with the payments) with maybe a little mad money on the side. Like it or not, that’s the 2011 reality that the best and the brightest are looking to fulfill. Eat healthy, stay in place, no falling off the treadmill.

Another thing that needs to change is people who work at offices always going to lunch. I just tried to reach three of four people at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and they’re all at lunch, networking and texting and yaddah-yaddah. Between lunches and arriving at work at 9:30 or 10 am and water cooler chit-chat and interminable staff meetings and personal calls there’s only…what, three or four hours to actually do the job and deal with the public (i.e., people like me)? Less?

I hardly ever “do lunch” and I’m fine. Lunch is just (a) a time-out tension reliever, (b) focused yoga time, (c) a 60-minute sensual rest-stop and (d) a daydream. I’m all for slacking…don’t get me wrong. But I have a 24/7 column to write.