Phil Connors (morose): OK, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties cause it’s cold out there. It’s cold out there every day.

Every year…EVERY year, I unplug from the world’s problems, take a few hours, and watch Bill Murray in Groundhog Day repeat himself over and over until he finally abandons his self-centered ego and enjoys living a long and happy life.

What’s this got to do with ethics?

While enjoyment is not an ethical value, I would argue that if we take ourselves too seriously all the time we can feel controlled by our own self-control. It’s time to stop smelling the fertilizer and smell the flowers.

Here are a few questions I put to weatherman Phil Connors.

Jim: Good to see you today. Happy Groundhog Day.

Phil: Don’t mess with me, pork chop.

Jim: Cheer up Phil, tomorrow is another day.

Phil: Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.

Jim: You seem a little cranky today. Have you had your breakfast, yet?

Phil: I don’t suppose there’s any possibility of getting an espresso or cappuccino this morning, is there? Too early for flapjacks?

(Let’s take a break for a little musical interlude before returning to our interview.)

Now, back to my interview with Phil.

Phil: Just a sec, Jim, I see an old friend. NANCY? … NANCY TAYLOR?

Jim: Do  you have any other close friends?

Phil: Ned Ryerson?

Jim: Are you asking me or telling me?

Phil: Didn’t we do this yesterday?

Jim: Same day.

Phil: Can I be serious with you for a moment?

Jim: Sure.

Phil: People are morons.

Jim: What can you tell folks on the East Coast suffering under the heavy snowstorms?

Phil: OK, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties cause it’s cold out there. It’s cold out there every day.

Jim: No, how about something a little more serious…from the heart.

Phil: When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. … Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn’t imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.

Jim: Very nice. What makes you so poetic?

Phil: I’m a god. I’m not the God I don’t think.

Jim: Any closing words?

Phil: Cinderella story… out of nowhere … former greenskeeper… IT’S IN THE HOLE!!!

Jim: Wrong movie.

Phil: OK, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties cause it’s cold out there. It’s cold out there every day.

Jim: Didn’t you say that?

(This commentary will repeat tomorrow!)