2/27/2021

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            It looks like you got a warm reception in Houston yesterday & got to meet Judge Hidalgo. I’d love to hear what your impression of her was. Isn’t that Houston Food Bank impressive? I love that Jill got right to work helping out there.

I’m sure you heard that Houstonians are desperate for plumbers after everyone’s pipes burst last week. According to a PBS story at the end of Jan, kids don’t want to become plumbers even though they can make upwards of $200,000/year. They said it’s because kids now-a-days don’t like to get their hands dirty. I would be more explicit. It’s the poop. We’re disgusted by it. So, if we want to have more plumbers, we have to help them to overcome their visceral disgust response. Giving them some adorable puppies to take care of will do the trick.

            Here’s why. The dam I am taking care has been known to eat her puppies’ poop. It’s fun to see the revolted look on kids’ faces when I tell them this. I reassure them that’s how dogs keep their dens clean & conserve energy. If you think about poop as recycled food, aversion diminishes, making it easier to clean it up, so after a few weeks of picking up little turds, the young folk might be ready to try unplugging a toilet.

            I think women might be able to surmount the disgust response more readily than males, because all mothers of infants have to. Plumbing might even become a female-dominated field. That’s assuming they can overwhelm the old-boys network. I encourage you to put Monica Ryan, owner of Village Plumbing in Houston, in charge of this plumber recruitment effort. She’s got 75 employees & took over the company from her dad.

            On another matter, please send some encouragement to Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s Rep to the UN for his brave statement to the UN yesterday to hold the military accountable.

            Enjoy your visit to Delaware,

            PBWY,