MidWeek Column

Rail is now a reality, and having ridden the loop from Aloha Stadium to East Kapolei twice, I found Skyline to be easily accessible, intriguing, eye-opening, and 51… as in mph we reached (the train averages 30 mph and tops out at 55 mph).

Seeing sites between Halawa and beyond UH West O`ahu from new vantage points is fascinating. Skyline is properly air conditioned, with relatively seamless stops and starts (but please- brace yourself when riding… this is public transportation, not a leisurely “It’s a Small World” Disney ride). The 45-minute roundtrip allows you to clearly watch clouds above Palehua Ridge, view Diamondhead and downtown across the horizon, peer down at myriad geometrically-wedged, small farms, and gaze at ornate church rooftops hidden from normal, ground level sightlines as you rise 40-feet above the streets while making nine stops. Skyline is the first new major, metro system in the United States since 1993. And yes, more consideration for bathrooms and additional parking, please.

Sit on the mauka side as you head out, then switch to makai for a completely different vantage point on your way back. New housing developments (like Ho`opili) meant to take advantage of Skyline are under way, with more to come. HART is happening; it’s time to get on board (albeit while still demanding accountability from those in charge). Additional housing alongside burgeoning businesses to come. Envision the transition along O`ahu’s leeward cost throughout the coming decade, with major Honolulu housing evolving, too. 

Sure, many local systems (political, planning, permitting, pricing) are archaic, dysfunctional or parochial, and the project has taken too long with a perpetual lack of momentum, but four-car trains are now moving in the right direction. These are the real starts and stops consumers have been looking forward to. After years of fumbles (wheels don’t fit, pillar and pad cracks, funding follies) rail is now running. There is a light (and a train) at the end of the tunnel. Thousands will hopefully find Skyline to be convenient, affordable, time-saving, and dependable. Of course there’ll be headaches aplenty during upcoming construction in Kalihi and downtown.

It took 37-years to build H-3 and it’ll take five-years now to finally build Aloha Stadium #2, but today we have a usable, state-of-the-art choo-choo that should provide possibilities for many who heretofore might not have had ample options. We now own the country’s first driverless, metro rail transit system.

Think about it…

Remember Mikey? You know, the kid in that old Life Cereal commercial where two young boys push a cereal bowl over to little Mikey to try the new, “healthy” cereal, only to be stunned when Mikey dives in, and one blurts out, “He likes it!”

So who was the Mikey who determined that you can enjoy a nectarine or apple skin, but not an avocado or orange covering? Who went out and brought back the “right” salad mushrooms…the ones that didn’t make you high, or kill you?

Someone decided to allow papaya to ripen and tossed the orange rind, but later on someone decided to shave an unripe fruit’s inside and turned it into a delectable salad? Just how long was the trial-and-error period to settle on cooking artichokes at medium heat for 55-minutes so that those delectable leaf bottoms are tooth-pliable? Who smartly opted to shave off those prickly leaf ends? Artichokes, sure; cacti, no.

Why would someone li hing mui things? Sure, it all worked out and perhaps was a neat preservative 150-years ago, but sweet, sour, AND salty together?! Genius! And how did a plum with spices become “crack seed”? Of course, back in the day, Yick Lung was voted most likely to “suck seed” (get it?).

And who knew that some fish must be cooked, some can be eaten raw, some are great when poke-d, and some should be completely avoided (trunkfish, stonefish, poorly handled blowfish- who made that call!). Would you order blowfish if told the regular chef was off that night, but Jimmy, the dish cleaner, was handling blowfish carving duties?! And why must some restaurants insist that I choose my lobster? I mean, they don’t allow me to pick my cow for a filet mignon.

Undercooked meat might seem to be a delicacy for some, but undercooked pork or chicken- not ready for prime time. Someone(s) figured this out… and lived to tell about it. Nuts, you say!? Er, cashews? Great… but raw- not so good (i.e.- possibly toxic).

And who figured what “edible” flowers to garnish meals with? Surely someone chomped on oleander or plumeria…  And that’d ruin a baby luau. In old Rome, they allegedly used food tasters. Court jesters- funny. Court tasters- not so much. Not a real secure career choice. Some undoubtedly learned by watching what animals eat. Not foolproof, sometimes logical, but surely food for thought.

Think about it…

In February, the City & County of Honolulu’s annual report “On the Status of Land Use on O’ahu” came out. It provides insight and page after page of facts, figures, and possible scenarios going forward as we ponder, perpetually, why we don’t have enough (affordable) housing in Hawai`i… and local people keep purchasing one way tickets to the mainland.

I don’t pretend to be an urbanologist (nor have I ever played one on TV), nor am I a city planner, builder, or architect, but I did find one chart particularly fascinating. The report provides the usual rationale behind our housing shortage, including “…limited land, geographical isolation, global demand, and income inequality.” 

O’ahu has just three land “use” districts: urban, agricultural, and conservation. Scanning a chart of land usage over the past 50 years, you might expect a gradual shift to urban land from either agricultural or conservation land. But you’d be mistaken. Since 1970, land zoned for conservation has remained remarkably steady at 41%. Preserving our `āina, I get it. The eye-opening numbers were the other two land types. Agricultural land since 1970 has fallen from 38% to 33% of the total. Urban land has grown from 22% in 1970 to 26% in 2020. That’s it; just a 4% shift.

You might assume that over the past half century, land formerly used for mainstay crops like sugar and pineapple might have (at some point) shifted. Not so. As a further example of the lack of redistribution of local land for possible housing initiatives, the report shows that between 2006 and 2020, fewer than 100 total acres on O’ahu were transferred to urban. To put that land mass into perspective, Aloha Stadium’s total fenced-in footprint is 98 acres. 

I may be oversimplifying here, but just 4% of Oahu’s land area has been re-zoned in the past 50-years. That seems astonishing, especially since the “housing crisis” has been an issue addressed repeatedly for over a half-century. Fast-tracking efforts being made now to provide more housing to more people more quickly are commendable. But you gotta wonder- what took so long? Why the intransigence? Sure, we’ll cherish more self-sustaining agriculture, but why haven’t we seen (at least) a few more affordable vertical units (a kama`aina Kakaako, if you will) over the past 50-years in other O`ahu locales?

I’m sure there are good answers, somewhere, but these seem like fair questions to ask.

Think about it…

Back when many of us were kids, summertime represented more than just a season; it carried a euphoric promise, the feeling of freedom, a step into the unknown, but you felt it was good. School was given a timeout, while “real” life lessons unfolded. A first job (caddying at age 12), a first kiss (of note), a first- and last- puff on a (regular) cigarette due to unseemly peer pressure.

And the music… indelible. Songs making a permanent mark in a good way. “Summertime, Summertime” by the Jamies, “Summertime” (Billy Stewart rolling his tongue!), “Summer In The City” (the Lovin’ Spoonful), “Summer” (War), “Summertime (DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince- Will Smith himself!). And the anthemic, anarchic “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper- with its hints of teen rebellion: “Out for summer/ out ‘til fall/ We might not go back at all”. Ooh, those rebellious years!

We did go back to school, of course, just as kids do now. But following three years of uncertainty, quarantine, and complete disruption on many levels, perhaps summer, 2023, will allow us to reminisce about those hanabata days and nights when we gripped a freedom that lasted for about 90-days. We eagerly anticipated the arrival of these dog days, year after year. 

Some summer incidents proved momentous, some summers featured plenty of “lazing on a sunny afternoon” (The Kinks). There’s a casual nature to summer you feel as a kid, less regimentation, relatively unorganized, fewer must-dos or must-dues. Social skills developed over summer evolved into new school friendships, relationships, and opportunities. First jobs that enhanced one’s concept of being responsible with a dash of accomplishment (I made my own money!). Dreams of what you just might wanna do later with your life…

Inevitably, adulthood arrives, and with it comes multiple responsi-bill-ities, obligations, commitments, seasonal stresses (no kiddie structure sans school in summer) and a redefined sense of world order (or lack thereof). We age, and sometimes pine for those languorous days as we lament the lack of time left- in summer, and perhaps in our lives. Summertime in adulthood rarely represents a clean break from routine, but perhaps still a time of pleasant diversion. 

So soak in the sun, the serotonin boost, the sentiments and the substance of summer (with sunscreen). Watermelon, corn on the cob, shave ice, lemonade, “laughing all our cares away” (Chad & Jeremy)- it all tastes better in summertime.

Think about it…

Tribes. They’re all around us; we’re all in them, to some degree. They’re strange in that we can belong to various tribes at the same time, yet this intricate, tribal mishmash comes into conflict quite routinely. You live next door to me, but we play on different AYSO soccer teams, go to different schools, prefer different religious affiliations. 

Tribes may help define us and provide a sense of belonging and purpose, very important for our species. But tribes may also define us in ways that are not so good, like what we see playing out across our frazzled country month after month. We used to civilly disagree with people and then go about our ways. Now, some can’t even stomach a family reunion or have given up on lifelong friends due to seemingly irreparable, social belief systems.

Locally, the existence of tribes helps to bond people… absolutely, but may also reinforce tired, reductive, simplistic stereotypes. Private vs. public school, leeward vs. windward vs. town, male vs. female, Oahu vs. Neighbor Island, ethnic origins, religious affiliations, pickleball vs. tennis, soft taco vs. crispy. The options are everywhere, as are many ridiculous distortions and/or exaggerations people make based on perceived tribal norms and prejudices. 

As the underrated, West Virginia band, Crack The Sky, wrote in its 2021 album, “Tribes”: “we take sides believing in our tribes”. I just don’t find it amusing when someone “jokingly” says to someone, “eh, pretty good for one public school kid!?”, or makes some aside based on ethnicity, tattoo, or body shape. Joke or judgment?

What if we acknowledge that we’re first all a part of a bigger tribe- the human one- and let the sects fall where they may, making judgments (if we must) about people based on real, personal attributes? Not what street they grew up on, what instrument or sport they play, what halau they join, or what deity they believe in or don’t believe in. 

In the end, if you possess a soul, shouldn’t people be recognized, befriended, or known for who they are, how they treat others, and what they do, and not from where they came, or who gave birth to them (over which we had no choice)?

“I got the answers/you got the answers/we’ll never change our minds/and so you know it” sing Crack The Sky. We often miss so much when we rely on repetitive and ignorant tribal assertions.

Think about it…    

Just like much of the political nonsense that plagues our country, sometimes you see or hear things that leave you with a sense of “…this can’t be real!” Alas, sometimes it is…

A second tourist here in four weeks drove a vehicle into the Pacific Ocean. After a digitally-dependent, distracted driver recently dumped a rental into the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor in Kailua-Kona, yet another wayward vehicle proceeded to plunge into the same waters. According to bystanders (via Hawai`i News Now), this driver “…thought the water was a big puddle”. Hmmm, one can see how the vast Pacific might look like rainfall run amok… Perhaps relying on focused, human eyesight would have proven to be a better methodology to employ. Luckily, no one was badly hurt in either incident, other than bruised egos and some wounded pride. 

From the sublime to the… whoa, what?! Artificial intelligence (AI) gurus have been warning anyone who’ll listen that rapidly-expanding AI capabilities could be catastrophic; they’ve used terms like “civilization destruction” (entrepreneur Elon Musk, 2023) and “the end of the human race” (physicist Steven Hawking, 2014). Leading tech companies are rightfully echoing this concern, some of whom actually embraced ethical stances on the sanctity of the internet before trendy likes, friends, followers, fans, and sycophants ruled their bottom lines; many have now basically eschewed ethics. A bevy of rules to theoretically dissuade rampant misuse of evolving AI science is coming, but will bad guys and evil doers care about or follow said rules? Surely, we’ll be seeing AI-created false copy, erroneous “facts”, and computer-generated pictures throughout the 2024 election cycle. As chatbot chatter runs amok, how can/should it be addressed? Wow…  life on Mars is starting to sound intriguing. 

The United Nations put bannisters in place post-World War II to deter nuclear-capacity nations from annihilating one another, but will 21^st century egomaniacal, evil emperors play by to-be-established AI norms? Many don’t play by accepted international rules now. And how’d you like to be a professor reading student papers while wondering- is this truly a student effort, or just 10-minutes spent tweaking an AI-spewed thesis? 

As Peter Gabriel sang in his wonderful tribute to late, anti-apartheid activist, Stephen Biko, “You can blow out a candle/ But you can’t blow out a fire/ Once the flames begin to catch/ The wind will blow it higher.” A I ? How ‘bout Aye Yai Yai…

Think about it…

We’re getting older, faster here, and that’s a problem. According to U.S. Census Bureau 2020 numbers reported in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 19.4% of our local population is in the 65+ age group, versus just 14.3% of the population in 2010. That’s quite a leap in a decade. And without enough safety net systems in place (including housing and medical answers) this aging situation will become a bigger drag on our local communities. 

While we lament the need for more doctors, nurses, teachers, affordable housing, and higher-paying jobs, to name a few wish list items, what we’ve gotten over the past decade is many more tourists and thus, a renewed sense of economic complacency. Tourism is absolutely essential for our economy, but the pleasant tax dollars and jobs provided have precluded forward-thinking efforts at establishing opportunities for more industries (and jobs) to locate here. You’ve heard this before…

If more working age residents move from Hawai`i, as has been the case for the past six years, and if many newcomer residents are retirees or remote workers, where will that leave us in a decade or so? If more middle-aged residents become senior family caregivers- whether they choose to or not- due partly to local cost factors, what will that do to our social networks, workforce, and sense of well-being as a state?

Hawai`i is not unique with its aging population, but we are unique in the limited scope of places one can go locally when the rent gets too high and services necessary for elderly care are simply not available. This growing (and aging) dilemma is compounded as younger generations opt to have fewer kids. Cost issues (employment, housing, childcare, child rearing, economic uncertainty, et al.) and concurrent mental consternation are providing natural barriers to potential parents.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in Hawai`i applauded the 2023 legislative efforts to help our elderly in need, with bills passed and personnel added in state positions to help meet growing needs. The pandemic simply exacerbated an aging population issue that’s been percolating here for years.

More energy placed on economic diversification plus continued focus on the needs of the elderly must be the action plan… let’s not regress to traditional “same old, same old” stasis as local tourism numbers rebound, like we accepted after the Kobe earthquake, 9-11 tragedy, 2008 worldwide recession, and 2011 Sendai tsunami. Our kupuna deserve better.

Think about it… 

We’ve been lucky. You know it; I know it. As we enter hurricane season this week, we must always remain vigilant and prepare accordingly, even during the doldrums. Because as anyone who’s been to Vegas knows, luck can change (except for those few we all know who simply insist that they win every time after they come back… amazing, or untrue?).

According to the Weather Company (an IBM business), August is the peak month for hurricanes in the central Pacific region, with many more events over the past 50+ years (74 total) than in the second most active month (July, with 45). September ranks third over the past 50+ years with 37 tropical cyclones.

If you look at our region’s hurricane tracking map over the past 30 years, you’ll realize just how lucky we really have been, as storm systems swerving like wayward drivers at times mostly missed our shores (and interiors). El Niño weather patterns affect water temperature, which affects the severity and direction of storms heading (or not heading) our way. It was an El Niño effect that blasted us with the costliest hurricane in Hawaiian history- Iniki, back in 1992. And Hurricane Iwa (also El Niño-ed) caused great damage and havoc locally 10-years earlier.

While we’ve had our fair share of swings and misses over the past few decades, it’s likely just a matter of time, energy, and ocean factors before we’re inundated with the next “perfect storm”, though any hurricane debacle would be far from perfect.  We’ve had our share of near misses, tropical storms, and distant hurricanes dump plenty of water, knock down trees, and result in flooding, but we’ve been lucky (there’s that word again) that we’ve not taken a profound, direct hit in decades.

Hurricane season in Hawai`i runs through November 30. Last year we saw just one tropical cyclone in our region- a below average number. Hurricane Iwa visited us in late-November, 1982. Hurricane Douglas missed us in July, 2020. Erick, Barbara, Olivia, Norman, Lane, Fernanda- they all dropped by (as tropical storms) or managed to stay away over the past six years. These are not invited guests. But they will come.

Stock up now on basic supplies and stay attuned to local weather reports, your first line of defense. And don’t take our lucky past as any sort of guarantee. The next one just may be on-target, intense, and devastating.

Think about it…

There is no mailbox in my neighborhood anymore. Apparently, some waste of space vandalized the old one twice, and the post office simply decided to remove it. Problem solved… kinda.

We’ve been advised not to leave outgoing mail in our home mailboxes and advertise it with the mailbox flag raised. That’s literally a red flag, letting lurking mailbox thieves know there’s something in there. As some correspondence does contain personal information, it’s probably sage advice. So, without traipsing around to adjoining neighborhoods to seek a free-standing, public mailbox, we now drop our letters off at the nearest post office… about 10-minutes away. One person’s predilection for causing anonymous angst impacts hundreds… on a regular basis. It’s sad how these things happen and we’re left to ponder, “how come?”

…like when vendors remove “your” bottle cap upon purchasing a beverage at sporting events. This apparently keeps people from slipping on full, dropped bottles, and also prevents misguided individuals from throwing the projectiles. But capless bottles are more likely to spill, and then someone might slip on the liquid. If I’m really intent (i.e. a moron) on tossing a bottle with the intent to do harm, I could just stuff it with some paper towels in lieu of the absent cap. And if I’m really a pre-ordained reprobate, I’d probably just bring my own cap from home.

If you think a bottle cap banishment seems odd, here are a few actual local laws… you cannot put a coin in your ear. Seriously. I assume that a coin earring is OK, unless you deface a legally minted coin to create said earring. Thus, if you ask someone for “a penny for your thoughts”, remember that he/she can’t pull it out of his/her ear.

It’s illegal to annoy birds (any birds) while in a local state park? You mustn’t even shoo them away while dining. Which local birds were queried as to what they consider “annoying” when this law was passed? Hmmm, perhaps it’s outdated, and thus time to set up an ad hoc committee, public forum, white paper, or research analysis to further delineate, because time flies… like birds.

Lastly (for today)… until recently, you couldn’t possess two alcoholic beverages in front of you at a bar at the same time. Apparently, if you partook of a slammer and both glasses contained alcohol, you could’ve been hauled off to the slammer.

Think about it…

“Ignorance is bliss”… until it’s not. The proverb that originated over 350-years ago is surely a truism for youngsters, but becomes less acceptable as we age and try to navigate our way through the real world- ignorance often leads to problems.

Math and reading scores across the U.S. dropped in 2022, while Hawai`i’s scores (for 4^th and 8^th graders) held their own or increased, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress… even amid pandemic issues. Nice job locally by the kids and teachers, but there’s still a long way to go.

While curriculum dos and don’ts continue to wreak havoc politically across the U.S., there are other areas of concern beyond reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. History scores for 8^th graders plunged, there was a decline in civics, and don’t even ask about economics knowledge, as half of the states, including Hawai’i, don’t push or require it.

Locally, the Hawai`i Council on Economic Education tried (in vain) to get economics ABCs mandated in some form in our schools for decades. According to the national Council for Economic Education, 40% of Americans have less than $300 in savings; just 24% of Millennials demonstrate basic financial literacy; and 50% of America’s youth will earn less than their parents. While it’s not all or always about money, understanding (and then acting upon) basic economic concepts might help us avoid or mitigate the next financial crisis (see the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis, as confusion reigned).

25 states currently mandate that students take an economics course in order to graduate- practical, available, basic knowledge. And learning more about history might encourage more people to become more involved and encourage greater engagement on civics, ethics, and social items. Ignorance and arrogance are not great platforms upon which to run a fruitful democracy.

If you’re a parent or a mentor, help kids learn more stuff about more stuff. There are fun ways to capture history’s lessons. I just took a short, 8^th grade history exam while reading about the recent, rocky student results. I flunked… badly. A wake-up call for me. And one can always learn the basics of when not to buy things (cars, homes, credit cards, Amazon “wants”) outside of one’s existing financial realities.

No, ignorance is not bliss at some juncture. We (the collective community) need to make sure our kids learn to make better choices on alluring options later in life.

Think about it…