Many of us unconsciously do things that sabotage our ability to create wealth. We spend more than we make, never saving. We fail to give when our heart prompts us – short-circuiting the Law of Reciprocity in which benefits would be returned to us. Another example: We don’t show up at our best at work on a consistent basis. Being our best includes a great attitude, proper dress, good grooming, skin care, and having high energy because we are well rested. 

Because of the foundation they laid, Northern Virginia has become one of the richest and fastest-growing economies in the country. Northern Virginia is finally getting some of the money and attention it deserves from the state government down in Richmond. Tysons Corner, Reston and the Dulles Corridor were developed. Metro was built out into the suburbs. Dulles Airport was transformed from an isolated airport into a thriving domestic and international hub. And George Mason, where I now teach, has become the largest public university in the state and one of the up-and-coming state universities in the country.

These days, however, the 123 Club (which takes its name from the nearby state highway) is a pale shadow of its former self, lacking an agenda, strong leadership or a membership that packs much political clout. And in that respect, it is not unlike most of the other business organizations in the Washington region, including the Federal City Council in the District and the Greater Washington Board of Trade, whose ambition and influence have declined over the past decade.

In many ways, these organizations have become victims of their own success, having achieved what an earlier generation of leaders set out to accomplish 30 years ago. Many of our remaining problems — too much growth, wages and property values that are uncompetitive, too many high-skilled jobs that are unfilled — are the sort of high-class problems that most other regions would love to have. Without the urgency created by some crisis or long-term decline, business leaders have been free to focus their time, energy and money on building their own companies.

There are other reasons for the vacuum in business leadership in the region.

In the past, the backbone of these organizations were the presidents of local banks, utilities, retailers, construction firms and real estate owners and developers, along with the managing partners of the big local law firms. Because of two decades of mergers and acquisitions, however, many of the biggest homegrown companies have been bought up by out-of-town firms mostly either based elsewhere or whose leaders have no roots in region.

Meanwhile, the other big companies that have remained here or moved into the region have become so big and so national and global in their reach that their top executives have little time or instinct to get involved in regional economic issues. Such issues tend to be left to regional managers or vice presidents for external affairs who lack the visibility or the ability to commit their organizations to difficult or controversial initiatives.

Washington Post reporters or editors recommend this comment or reader post.

“He died as he lived,” Mr. Paterno’s family said in a statement. “He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been.”

News of Mr. Paterno’s death Sunday morning touched off an outpouring of grief and admiration on the Penn State campus in State College. Hundreds flocked to a statue of Mr. Paterno at the school’s Beaver Stadium. The base of the statue was decorated with scores of candles, flowers, T-shirts, and blue and white pom-poms. A moment of silence was observed at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., before Penn State’s basketball team played Indiana University.

The specter of Mr. Paterno’s failing health had loomed over the campus throughout the weekend. Inaccurate reports of his death began surfacing Saturday night, fueled by an incorrect report posted on a school student Web site, Onward State. That report went viral, spread by social media and picked up by a number of national news organizations, which later issued corrections.

Mr. Paterno’s ascent, followed by his sudden firing at age 84, formed one of the most tragic narratives in modern athletic history and constitutes something of a conflicted legacy. He was the most successful head coach in the history of major college football, but the circumstances of his dismissal led to a stain both on the football program and the man who ran it for so long.

Affectionately known as “JoePa,” Mr. Paterno began his 46-season tenure as Penn State’s head coach in 1966 after having served as assistant coach for 16 years. His teams won a record 409 games over that span with five undefeated and untied seasons and two national championships. He was the all-time winningest coach in major college football history. Moreover, his players and his team had one of the highest graduation rates in the country among athletes.

Mr. Paterno was shaken to the core last fall when a grand jury report alleged that his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, had sexually assaulted underage boys.

Sandusky, Mr. Paterno’s longtime defensive coordinator and trusted lieutenant until he retired in 1999, was charged with assaulting eight boys over the course of 15 years, some of them while he was an assistant coach. Following the release of that report, other alleged victims also began to come forward. Sandusky had made contact with the boys through The Second Mile, a charity he founded to help troubled youngsters.

The Sandusky case was not the first off-the-field issue Mr. Paterno’s program had faced in recent years. According to an ESPN report in 2008, between 2002 and 2008, 46 Penn State players had been charged with a total of 163 crimes. In March 2011, Sports Illustrated published arrest numbers for all the schools it listed in its preseason Top 25 teams in the country. Penn State tied for fourth, with 16 players on the 2010 roster who had been charged with a crime.

Would a second Super Bowl title move Eli past Peyton in the ranks of all-time great quarterbacks?
(Jeffrey Phelps – AP)

2. And speaking of Eli Manning, if he can lead the Giants to a Super Bowl victory in February, a feat that looks less improbable with each passing week, we might have to reassess the unofficial Manning family quarterback rankings. Eli’s always been considered a notch or two below brother Peyton and perhaps even a notch below father Archie. But a Giants Super Bowl victory would leave the Super Bowl rankings as Eli – 2, Peyton – 1, Archie – 0. That has to mean something.

This isn’t to suggest that a Giants victory would catapult Eli past Peyton into the ranks of the all-time greats. No, even were he to retire today, Peyton would be considered one of the top 10 of all time . . . perhaps top five . . . perhaps top three. Eli is nowhere there that. But what if Eli did lead the Giants to a Super Bowl victory, and what if Peyton’s career in fact is over? Eli looks like he still has a long career in front of him and, remarkably, still appears to be improving in some aspects of the game. He is a more precise passer than he was just two years ago, and he seems to play with almost as much confidence as his brother. Could he catch Peyton on the all-time list? Well, anything’s possible, but that sure seems unlikely.

3. And speaking of the Mannings, Dad Archie has deservedly taken some heat for opining publicly about whether the Colts should draft Andew Luck. This isn’t the first time that Archie has stuck his nose in his son’s business. Few remember Archie’s comments when Eli was coming out of college, saying that Eli would never play for the Chargers, who owned the first pick. Eli’s hangdog expression when the Chargers in fact drafted him despite Archie’s warnings was priceless. But, of course, Archie’s statements led to the Giants trading for Eli a few minutes later. You have to admit that worked out well for Eli. But for his father’s intrusiveness, Eli wouldn’t be playing in football-crazy New York, and he wouldn’t have a Super Bowl ring.

4. And speaking of the Chargers, who inexplicably retained the GM and coach tandem that has led a talent-filled squad into the depths of mediocrity, how much do you think they enjoy seeing former first-round pick Eli Manning leading the Giants to the NFC championship game? And how much do you think they enjoyed seeing former quarterback Drew Brees teaming with former halfback Darren Sproles to lead the Saints into the playoffs? Look, Philip Rivers is a fine quarterback. But as history has proved, he’s no Drew Brees and, apparently, he’s no Eli Manning either.

5. And speaking of the Saints, was it just me or did Sunday’s Saints-49ers game look peculiar? It had been so long since a team from Northern California hosted a playoff game, and we’ve all grown so used to seeing playoff games played either indoors or in overcast weather, that seeing a game played on a brisk sunny day seemed odd.

Patience is paying off for the 49ers with former No. 1 pick Alex Smith.
(Tony Avelar – AP)
6. And speaking of the 49ers . . . where the heck did this season come from? The next time someone tells you that coaching is meaningless, point to this 49ers team. Somehow, Jim Harbaugh and his staff took a 6-10 team that seemed headed to fight it out for a shot at Andrew Luck and, with a shortened training camp and little roster turnover, turned them into a team that is effective on both sides of the ball.

7. And speaking of that, he may never be able to compete with Aaron Rodgers, but suddenly Alex Smith looks like the quarterback the 49ers thought they were drafting seven years ago. The last few minutes of Sunday’s game, when he led two improbable scoring drives — that’s an Alex Smith that 49ers fans have been waiting for and thought they’d never see. That’s what the right coaching staff can do.

8. And speaking of the right coaching staff, what on earth are the New York Jets doing? And when did Jeff Fisher become such a hot commodity? And why?

9. And speaking of Jeff Fisher, new Rams coach, the hosts and callers on sports radio keep talking about the Rams trading away Sam Bradford and using the second pick to draft Robert Griffin III. Interesting thought. But until someone in the Rams front office suggests that is a possibility, it seems highly unlikely. Why? Because the Rams have already invested countless millions in Bradford, that’s why.

10. And speaking of countless millions invested in a quarterback, Sunday’s game against the Patriots certainly feels like the game that could make or break Joe Flacco’s career with the Ravens. Teammate Ed Reed made some comments to the press about Flacco that may have accurately expressed Reed’s concerns about Flacco, but aren’t the type you want your team making before a championship game. Flacco already had a chip on his shoulder about not being considered an elite quarterback. Sunday, he can either prove everyone right or prove everyone wrong.

More from Washington Post Sports:

Early Lead: Has Eli Manning arrived as an elite NFL QB?

Cruz, Nicks, Giants’ passing game is taking over

Is New England’s defense peaking at the right time?

Early Lead: Flacco says Reed’s comments are ‘not that big of a deal’

Carlos Rogers discovers life after Redskins

President Obama? No. George H.W. Bush in his 1992 State of the Union address, delivered 10 months before voters made him a one-term president. No other president has been able to claim that dubious, single-term distinction in the last three decades.

That could change this year as Obama, his approval ratings low and joblessness high, can expect a tough fight for another term. His State of the Union address on Tuesday will serve as the highest profile argument for why he should keep his job.

But Obama’s task as he heads to Capitol Hill is a particularly difficult one. He is building a populist campaign message around his fight with an “obstructionist” Congress, only partly controlled by the opposition Republicans. He also will be making his case for another four years at a time when the economy, while showing signs of improvement, is still viewed by most Americans as a huge problem.

Obama’s message is aimed at dual audiences Tuesday — Congress, the target of his political animosity; and the American people, the target of his political ambitions. How he delivers the argument will test his rhetorical dexterity and set the tone for the year ahead. The next day he leaves Washington for a trip through five swing states where he will seek to amplify his State of the Union message.

“Governing is one thing, campaigning is another — and the latter becomes far more pronounced in an election-year State of the Union,” said Robert Dallek, a presidential scholar. “One of the themes you’ll hear is a failure of Congress. That could come in a call to stop thinking about politics and start thinking about the good of the nation. Of course, many of them don’t share that view and that’s where the tension in the room will lie.”

Obama’s senior advisers say he does not intend to shy away from his recent attacks on Congress or of the economic policies promoted by his Republican rivals, although he may sand off the sharp edges he has employed outside the Beltway in recent weeks to make his case.

Advisers say he will use the State of the Union to echo and expand on the economic themes he raised last month in Osawatomie, Kan., where he offered a populist defense of imperiled middle class ambitions. Many in his party believed it was his most effective economic address to date.

“Those were the themes, and this will be the blueprint for how to get there,” said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the direction the president will take. “It will be thematically consistent. But, as a State of the Union speech, stylistically it will be different.”

(Daniel Acker – BLOOMBERG)

The figures come as Republican efforts to pass legislation allowing federal agencies to fire tax delinquent federal employees have slowed and as the White House continues to crack down on improper payments made by agencies to delinquent government contractors and federal beneficiaries.

About 98,000 federal, postal and congressional employees owed $1.03 billion in unpaid taxes at the end of fiscal 2010, according to records provided by the Internal Revenue Service. The total number of delinquent employees dipped slightly from 2009, but the amount owed jumped by $32 million.

The figures are “totally unacceptable and disrespectful to hardworking American taxpayers,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “If you’re on the federal payroll, the very least you can do is pay your taxes.”

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).
(Image via CBS News)
Chaffetz and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) have authored bills that would force federal agencies, the U.S. Postal Service and congressional offices to fire employees who purposely avoid paying taxes. Exceptions would be made for employees suffering from family turmoil or working to correct significant financial hardship. Chaffetz’s bill was approved by a committee last spring, but Coburn’s still awaits consideration by a Senate panel.

“Nobody’s going to take any joy in firing someone,” Chaffetz said in an interview. “But there’s enough people there that are simply thumbing their nose at American taxpayers that it’s not acceptable.”

(RELATED: Which federal workers owed taxes in 2010?)

But on Capitol Hill, 684 employees, or almost 4 percent, of the 18,000 congressional staffers owed taxes in 2010 – a jump of 46 workers from 2009. Four percent of House staffers owed $8.5 million and 3 percent of Senate employees owed $2.1 million, the IRS said.

At the Executive Office of the President – encompassing 1,800 employees of the West Wing, the Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council and the Office of U.S. Trade Representative, among others – 36 staffers, or 2 percent, owed a $833,970. The amount owed increased by almost $3,000 from the previous year.

Civilian employees of the Defense Department — the federal government’s largest employer — fared the worst. More than 25,600 workers at the departments of the Army, Air Force and Navy owed a combined $225.7 million, while another 4,600 civilian Pentagon employees owed $39.4 million.

Among uniformed military personnel, 2 percent of active-duty troops and 2 percent of reservists owed a combined $339 million. Three percent of the nation’s 2.1 million retired military personnel owed $1.6 billion, according to IRS records.

Delinquency rates topped 3.8 percent at the Department of Education, where 176 workers owed $4.2 million, and at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where 391 staffers owed $5 million.

At the U.S. Postal Service, 25,640 employees, or 4 percent of the 667,000-strong workforce, owed $269.6 million. Figures for USPS dipped from 2009, likely due in part to ongoing staff reductions.

More than 2,000 employees, or 3 percent, of the Social Security Administration owe $20.1 million in unpaid taxes. Five staffers at the U.S. Tax Court owed a combined $62,508 and another five at the Office of Government Ethics owed $22,160. Fewer than 1 percent of Treasury Department employees, including the IRS, owed $9.3 million, the agency said.

Just under 2 percent of the 1.8 million federal retirees tracked by the IRS owed $470 million at the end of fiscal 2010.

Overall, American taxpayers owed $114.2 billion in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties at the end of fiscal 2010, according to the IRS.

The agency has tracked tax delinquency among current and retired civilian federal and military personnel since 1993. Annual reports are compiled for agency heads, but the listings are only released publicly by lawmakers or upon request by the news media.

Follow Ed O’Keefe on Twitter: @edatpost

Further reading:

Federal workers who owed taxes in 2010. (Sortable table)

$9.3 million in overdue taxes owed (From Sept. 2010)

Obama administration gives groups more time to comply with birth control rule

For more, visit PostPolitics and The Fed Page.

Read more on PostPolitics.com

Survey paints portrait of black women in America

In Florida, Romney takes aim at resurgent Gingrich

Romney vs. Gingrich highlights GOP unease

One week ago, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was coasting toward a likely victory in South Carolina — a win that would have put him on a glide path to the Republican presidential nomination.

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign stop in Ormond Beach, Florida January 22, 2012. REUTERS/Brian SnyderThen came a duo of debates in which former House speaker Newt Gingrich shined and Romney stumbled — badly — when it came to the issue of releasing his tax returns.

Romney looked caught off-guard when asked about the issue on Monday’s debate and downright defensive by Thursday. Less than 24 hours after his South Carolina drubbing went official, Romney reversed course and announced he would make his 2010 return — and an estimate of his 2011 return — available on Tuesday.

“This is one of the few unforced errors of the Romney campaign to date,” said one senior Republican strategist granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Voters demand transparency, and what they saw as a sideshow became a central tenant of an unhelpful discussion that cost them.”

It’s remarkable that a candidate as disciplined as Romney and a campaign that has functioned at such a high level throughout the race would so badly misjudge the political danger of his tax returns.

And, like all major political problems, it grew from relatively innocuous-seeming circumstances.

Just before Christmas Romney was asked by NBC’s Chuck Todd about releasing his returns in the context of his years spent at Bain Capital. “I can tell you we follow the tax laws, and if there’s an opportunity to save taxes, we like anybody else in this country will follow that opportunity,” Romney said. “But we don’t have any current plans to release tax returns, but never say never.”

Roughly a week later, Romney shifted position, slightly, in an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell. He said that if elected president he would “consider” releasing his returns. But, Romney’s answer was less important than Mitchell’s follow up; “Is there some secret?,” she asked. “People know you’re wealthy.”

And that’s when Romney’s tax returns went from a molehill to a mountain. The story became less a conversation about the fact that Romney was rich and more focused on whether there was something he was hiding by being so unwilling to release his returns.

Romney’s hesitancy to answer tax return questions in the debates last week made things worse, as did his admission that his tax rate was “probably” 15 percent. (Last week Romney also said he planned to release his tax returns in the spring.)

Romney’s team insists that his double-digit loss in South Carolina had almost nothing to do with his unwillingness to release his tax returns and almost everything to do with what they describe as a lack of aggression when it to Gingrich.

And, there is nothing in the exit polls that allows us to get a handle on how much the tax return issue factored (if at all) into how South Carolina voters made up their minds.

Still, Romney’s quick reversal on releasing the returns — not, accidentally, on the day of President Obama’s State of the Union speech — is all the evidence you need that the campaign had decided that it was a political boil that needed to be lanced.

The lesson? You never know when a small issue becomes a major problem. (Another proof point of that theory:
Hillary Clinton’s stumble on driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants way back in October 2007.) Because of that, vigilance is required. Always.

Gingrich fundraising increases: Gingrich’s campaign says it has seen a surge in contributions since his win Saturday, pulling in more than $1 million in a 24-hour moneybomb.

Even as Gingrich surged to victory in South Carolina, he did it with what was still a pretty meagerly funded campaign. Most of his advertising came courtesy of a super PAC supporting his campaign that received $5 million from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.

To the winner go the attacks: Gingrich also got the true frontrunner treatment Sunday, with attacks flying his way from all directions.

Romney, in a speech in Florida, called Gingrich a “failed leader” whose tenure as speaker ended “in disgrace.”

“We’re not choosing a talk-show host,” Romney said. “We’re choosing a leader.”

Romney proceded to attack Gingrich’s work for Freddie Mac and attempted to tie him to the housing crisis, which is a major issue in Florida

Santorum, who opened up several lines of attack against Gingrich at Thursday’s debate, continued in that vein Sunday, saying the former House speaker is an unreliable leader.

“When Newt was speaker of the House, within three years the conservatives within the House of Representatives tried to throw him out, and in the fourth year they did,” Santorum said in Florida. “Why? Because he wasn’t governing as a conservative.”

Meanwhile, Gingrich says Romney is a “very good salesman” selling a “really weak product” and says he’s been “dancing on eggs trying to find a version of Romney that will work.”

Fixbits:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Sunday that he would consider being on a ticket with Romney.

Saul Alinsky, explained.

Nate Silver explains how the paradigms of a presidential campaign have changed.

Previewing a key redistricting battle in New York.

Can freshman Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) avoid a primary?

Must-reads:

“Rick Santorum wins! And still can’t catch a break” — Melinda Henneberger, Washington Post

“Meet the super super PACs” — Dave Levinthal, Politico

“Newt Gingrich launches fund-raising, organizing blitz” — Sandyhya Somashekhar and Karen Tumulty, Washington Post

“Line of Scrimmage Forms Over Union Bill” — Monica Davey, New York Times

“Five Consequences of Gingrich’s South Carolina Win” — John Heilemann, New York Magazine

Read more on PostPolitics.com

Survey paints portrait of black women in America

In Florida, Romney takes aim at resurgent Gingrich

Federal employees owe $1.03 billion in unpaid taxes

Romney vs. Gingrich highlights GOP unease

(Dogfish Head Craft Brewery)

“It’s being trucked to market as we speak,” said Dogfish president Sam Calagione of the new beer, which will be available in kegs and four-packs of 12-ounce bottles.

Tweason’ale is fermented from sorghum syrup and a dark buckwheat honey, and flavored with strawberries that the brewery mashes in a wood press. It’s got a brisk, champagnelike carbonation and a subtle, sweet-tart fruitiness. The honey, added to the brew kettle near the end of the boil, adds a floral aroma but not much in the way of sweetness or body. Tweason’ale is light on the palate, and at 6 percent alcohol by volume, moderate by Dogfish standards.

In one respect Tweason’ale is atypical for Dogfish Head beers — it’s lightly hopped, “a couple handfuls into the 100-barrel kettle.” Calagione believes the sorghum, which he describes as having a slightly bitter, earthy flavor, dries out the beer sufficiently.

Calagione doesn’t do focus groups but does read his e-mail, and he says his latest release came about because his most frequent request has been for “a gluten-free beer with gusto” — that is, a beer with its own unique style instead of a pastiche of an amber lager or pale ale. He intends to release Tweason’ale four times a year, in the intervals between Dogfish’s regularly scheduled seasonal beers. The four-pack holder, designed by Marq Spusta, shows the courtship of an anthropomorphic strawberry and a bee during the four seasons of the year. It’s designed so retailers can rotate the package so the correct season faces outward.

Calagione isn’t marketing Tweason’ale solely to celiacs; he believes it will appeal to craft beer drinkers in general and to wine drinkers as well. His next offering, due out in early February, should likewise attract the attention of the wine crowd. Noble Rot, says Calagione, is an ale fermented from barley and wheat (51 percent) and from viognier and pinot gris grapes infected with botrytis (49 percent). This fungus dries out the grape and concentrates the sugars. Infected grapes can produce a rich, sweet wine, and Calagione expects they will make a fruity and complex beer in the saison style.

As if he didn’t have enough heaped on his plate, Calagione is planning a major expansion. He recently got 40 acres adjacent to his brewery rezoned for industrial use; he plans to build a new warehouse and bottling facility on the land. That will allow him to install a second brewhouse in his current warehouse. Potentially, he could boost his production to 600,00 barrels a year, a lofty peak attained only by New Belgium, Sierra Nevada and Boston Beer Co. among craft breweries.

Dogfish Head isn’t the only brewery reaching for the stars. Lagunitas Brewing Co. in Petaluma, Calif., has taken possession of a new German-made 250-barrel brewhouse that could eventually ramp up output to that same 600,000-barrel-a-year level.

Lagunitas’s plans, however, hit a bump when the ship carrying the equipment encountered a storm en route to California. As one brewery employee described it, a crane came loose from its moorings and rammed the lauter tun, one of the brewing vessels, reducing it to scrap metal.

A replacement is on its way. But the incident put a crimp in the brewery’s production schedule, and Lagunitas was unable to brew its normal winter seasonal, Brown Shugga’. Not wanting to disappoint its fans, the brewery put together a kitchen-sink beer with a quicker fermentation time: a multigrain double IPA, full of citrusy hops and brewed with barley, wheat, rye and oats.

The beer was named Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale, and the packaging contained a lengthy mea culpa that read in part:

“It’s a mess that we can not brew our Brown Shugga’ this year.?.?. There is nothing cool about screwing up this badly and we know it. Maybe we can sue our sorry selves.?.?.”

The beer was such a hit that Lagunitas is rereleasing it with the name Lagunitas Sucks Holidays Leftovers Ale.

You lead a charmed life whenever your mistakes turn out to be successes.

Ask him how he’s doing, and he says, “Okay. I’ve had better days. Better weeks.”

Melody owners Jack and Suzy Menaseposted the announcement on their Web site on Jan. 3. “We are a family owned business and it has been our privilege getting to know many of you so well,” it read. “Melody was not just a store; it was a community where customers shared the joy and magic of great music.”

Neon orange stickers mark every item in the shop, littering the place like funereal confetti. Signs all around the room read “Entire store now 20% off. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.”

Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor of the New Republic, is lingering just inside the entrance.

“Jack told me on Sunday,” he says. “He told me the bad news and we just fell into each other’s arms. .?.?. I can’t imagine being without them. I came in here the first night I got to D.C.

“There’s not a bin in New York City or L.A. like that bin of classical new releases,” he insists, pointing to the display by the door. “You come here to learn. For serendipity. .?.?. What you’re looking for turns out to not be what you’re looking for. It’s what’s next to it. It’s an experience.”

It’s true: The cacophony of the store is something the Web can’t replicate. It’s right there in the structure. In Melody, opera is sandwiched between blues and jazz, which sits beneath a giant poster of Justin Bieber’s Bambi-in-the-headlights gaze. Buddy Guy bumps into Gilbert Sullivan. The Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” grabs at the Ramones’ “Rocket to Russia” across the way from Debussy. Chopin backs up to the international section, which may as well be the United Nations, the way every nationality is properly represented.

In the back, Jerry Lanning is mulling over the jazz selections, just as he’s done two or three times a week, every week, for — how long?

“Forever,” he says. “Forever. I was here in 1977, year one. They always had what I’m looking for: the best selection of jazz in town. I mean, most other record shops haven’t even heard about Sue Raneyor Blossom Dearie.” When Melody is gone, he says, “It’ll be sad. Very sad. It won’t be the same.”

He flips through another row of CDs. “You think about it too long, it’s like you can’t even breathe. It’s like you’re drowning.”

* * *

That Melody is closing is not nearly as surprising as the fact that Melody didn’t close years ago. The store had managed to remain, for an unrealistic amount of time, immune to the reality that Melody is an institution almost entirely at odds with the way people purchase and listen to music.

Most listeners demand that music be acquired instantly and transported anywhere. Melody traffics in the art of the browse, the appeal of the bulk. Someone who craves efficiency would sooner download a song on iTunes than wander down to Dupont Circle and search through the store’s stacks. But surely this is news to no one: Try to remember the last time you bought a CD, not at Target or Wal-Mart or Best Buy, but in a small store like Melody.