Words and Actions Matter

My father grew up west of Chicago: first on a farm, then in Rockford, Illinois.

His family moving to Rockford wasn’t so much a matter of seeking a better way of life, as bad weather and worse economics forcing them off their farm.

Then they experienced what we call the Great Depression. And that’s another topic. Topics, actually.¹ (You might enjoy reading what I said in footnote 1. Then again, maybe not. 🙂 )

‘You Can Do So Much More’

In the years leading up to World War II, my father was just another Irish kid in Rockford’s schools. That’s when an English teacher asked him about his plans.

He hadn’t given the matter much thought, but he did have a plan. He figured he’d graduate from high school. Then he’d get a job in the watch factory.² After that, he’d work until he died or retired, whichever came first.

It strikes me as a good plan, given his circumstances.

The English teacher wasn’t so sure.

‘Oh, Bernard’, she said, ‘you can do so much more’.

I see her point. My father’s smart, articulate, observant, and intensely interested in everything. So am I, and I’m drifting off-topic again.

Many decades later, he told me that his English teacher’s words got him thinking about a future that didn’t include working in the watch factory.

Either way, he’d probably have included ROTC in his high school experience.³ As I said, he’s smart and observant. It’d been obvious that a major war was brewing, so getting prepped as an officer made sense.

But including college in his plans — that’s an idea he said wouldn’t have occurred to him, if an English teacher hadn’t seen more than just another Irish kid in him.

He didn’t entirely turn his back on watches, by the way. The top of a dresser in his basement study was nearly covered by pocket watches.

Actions and Outcomes

My father would probably have had a good life, if he’d followed through with his watch factory plan. But then he wouldn’t have met my mother. And I wouldn’t be here, writing about what his English teacher said. So I’m glad that conversation happened.

The point of all this, if there is one, is that what we say and do matters.

Sometimes it’s pretty obvious.

If I heave a rock toward someone’s window, for example, broken glass and an irate homeowner are a near-certain result. Telling the homeowner it was an accident probably won’t help.

Sometimes we can’t know what will happen. Not clearly.

My father’s English teacher almost certainly didn’t see that he’d have a short career as a teacher, and a much longer one as a librarian. And I don’t think anyone saw me coming. Other than God, of course, and that’s yet another topic or three.

Since what we do and say matters, I figure that saying and doing what makes sense is a good idea. That’s obvious, but it’s still a good idea.

I’ve talked about my father, responsibility, and vaguely-related stuff, before:

• “Respect, Relationship, Responsibility, and Stuffed Animals” (May 16, 2026)
  • Me: Respect and Responsibilities
    • Dignity and Being Human
    • The Why and a Little How of Marriage and Family
• “My Dad, His Friends, and Free Roller Coaster Rides” (March 28, 2026)
  • Background: The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression
  • Reasons, Uncertainty, and Good Ideas
• “Sewer Repair, and Applying Ethical Principles” (February 7, 2026)
  • Finding Morals, Within Reason
    • Health
    • Neighbors
    • Home Maintenance and the Universal Destination of Goods
• “King Josiah, Consequences, and Love” (September 13, 2025)
  • Sin is Real, Forgiveness is an Option
    • “…Our Written Obligations”
    • Love and Forgiveness
    • God’s Love
• “Beyond George Floyd” (June 6, 2020 )
  • Allegiance and Aspirations
    • Love and Justice
    • Emotions and Reason, Faith and Neighbors
  • Something Worth Trying
    • Opposing Crime and/or Evil
    • Authority: Legitimate and Otherwise
    • The Common Good and Automobile Flambé
    • Life, Death and Neighbors
    • Human Lives Matter — All Human Lives

¹ The 1929 crash had roots — as usual, it’s complicated. The investor/economic angle has been exhaustively hashed, rehashed, reheated, and served with various viewpoints as seasoning.

I’m reasonably sure that bad weather and resulting food production issues were also a factor.

That’s an idea I got from my father, back when he spent as much time as he ethically could at the reference desk, reading whatever he pulled from the shelves when he wasn’t answering questions (“Early Diagnosis, Tardy Treatment, and a Gimpy Hip” (January 25, 2025) Shock at the Reference Desk). This would have been during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.

While writing this post, I looked for authoritative online resources discussing North America’s weather/climate in the 1920s. This is what I found:

• Wikipedia
  • 1920 North Dakota blizzard
  • 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak (“This article needs more citations….)
  • April 1920 tornado outbreak
  • Dust Bowl (“This article needs more citations….”)(1930, but in my opinion part of a long-term weather/climate event)
  • Interwar farm crisis
  • Rural American history
  • Timeline of the Great Depression
• “Carolinas Precipitation Patterns & Probabilities” An Atlas of Hydroclimate Extremes
  CISA (Carolinas Integrated Sciences & Assessments)
  • 1920s Drought
• Significant Weather Events of the 1920s”
  NWS Nashville, Tennessee (June 28, 2024)

With time and effort, I might find more local and regional meteorological records for the period which are both online and not behind a paywall. But weather and climate during the 1920s doesn’t seem to be a particularly hot topic, and I’m running out of time this week. Besides, I’m in my mid-70s, and don’t have the energy of a 40-year-old kid.

² Nearly a century later, here’s what I found about timepieces and Rockford, Illinois:

• Wikipedia
  • Haight Village Historic District
    • History
  • Illinois Watch Company (“This article includes a list of general references but lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations….”)
  • Seth G. Atwood
    • Time Museum

³ ROTC:

• Wikipedia
  • Reserve Officer’s Training Corps