See, I have to blame it on Mike Royko, because for some reason I believed he always fictionalized everything. And with a name like Studs Terkel, why would I believe this guy existed except for some journalist's avid imagination. My loss.

A few times last century someone simply wrote down or in some other fashion recorded what we do, and simply created a work of indelible importance. Simple yet groundbreaking. The Kinsey Reports. The Man with the Camera. Working. Sure, everyone works. And we all think we understand what we do. And then we start talking about it and it becomes Terra Incognita, something we never really understood at all.

If you have some time, check out the NPR report much later:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3892055
Or Hard Times:
http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php
I don't know if the era's officially passed, but between Royko & Terkel, it's two I'd rather have hang around for a while. But life doesn't work like that. We all have to go sometime. So let's just say I'll be keeping a seat warm for you at the local tavern. Just in case you decide to drop in.