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Bad News

I don’t watch the news. To be honest, I haven’t even watched television in over a decade. My friends feel compelled to tell me what’s going on in the world; as if I don’t find out for myself when I walk out into the world. They tell me that the world is in shambles… that there’s a recession and a depression. They ask me how I feel about all the bad things going on today. I haven’t heard any bad news.

The banks aren’t loaning money as much –

Good, they got in this spot for putting too much money out. Loaning to people with good credit… which only means they’ve developed a habit of spending money they haven’t got.

The credit card companies are cutting people’s credit line –

Good, people have grown far too accustomed with spending money they don’t have to buy things they don’t need. A country, not of Asian Americans or African Americans but brought together in that they are unified as “consumers.”

Natural disasters along with increasing terrorist attacks are claiming thousands of lives a day –

Great, with doctors playing god and the average life expectancy increasing to 78, people have grown to take their time in this world for granted. We need a wake up call to what mortality truly is and constant reminder of how precious each moment is. We need to be humbled.

Harsh financial times are making adults apprehensive about having children –

                This world is too heavily populated as it is. The world is not getting any bigger and yet every year 1.8 million more people come into this world than leave it.

Major corporations have laid off hundreds of thousands of employees –

                Most of those people hated their job anyway. Every morning their ties felt more like nooses and the required apparel was nothing more than a costume to a role they were exhausted of playing. Every morning in their 45 minute commute they fantasized about quitting. Turning off an exit and having breakfast at the park. They lacked the courage and will to do so. To many of them, the kindest thing their boss ever did… was let them go.

Millions of people have lost their health insurance –

                So people can’t continue compromising their health by drinking, smoking and not exercising? With the obesity rate skyrocketing, not only is the population getting bigger… but so are the individual people that make up the population.

So many companies are going out of business –

                Not enough. The bars are filled to the brim. Casino parking lots are completely filled. I still see Bentleys on the road and Rolex watches on wrists. No one took into account the social cost of “low prices.” Our need for cheap prices for family goods has left much of our family unemployed. Everything paid on the internet… people staying home because there’s “nothing to do” has created that exact reality… no one goes out… businesses go down.

Stores and shopping malls are closing across the country –

                Oh no! All those people will be forced to finally spend their time more constructively? The horror! The endless cycle of “work for 5 to spend for 2” will hopefully come to an end.

I haven’t heard any bad news. But I would love to hear that it’s gotten worse…

Tell me that text messages cost 25 cents each… so that people can realize the value of words.

Tell me that cigarettes cost $15 a pack… so that people will find a more useful way to use their hands.

Tell me that eharmony, cupid and have shutdown … because people have decided to “meet” people when they meet people.

Tell me that millions of cable subscribers can’t pay their bill and have decided to entertain themselves.

Tell me that video games have gotten so expensive that kids have to go back to the park to play.

Tell me that gas is $8 a gallon … so the sidewalks will be filled with strangers engaging in conversation

Tell me that cosmetic surgery has gotten so expensive and so unavoidably painful … so people will finally learn to accept the beautiful way that God made them.

Tell me anti depressants and pain killers have doubled in price and that all the people who can’t afford their medications are finally crying and getting past the pain and not just numbing it away. Perhaps then, people will strive to cure and not just cope.

Tell me that we’ve run out of credit card numbers … so that people will learn to spend money they actually have on things the actually need.

Tell that myspace and facebook have crashed… so that we can remember that a friend is more than just a pic and a click. Because if you can claim to have thousands of friends… you most likely don’t have any at all.

Tell me that we’ve gotten to the point where we’re rationing food… so that obesity would become an impossibility rather than a commonality.

Tell me that teachers finally make more than bartenders, for once.

Tell me that movie ticket sales are down and those celebrities can only afford 3 houses.

Tell me that the casinos have all emptied because people have decided only to gamble on love; where the risk is actually worth the reward.

Tell me that foreclosures are the highest they’ve ever been… so that families who ordinarily only got together once or twice a year are living together in one house. That way, if they want to say, “good night” or “I love you” they simply have to shout it down the hallway.

Tell me that technology in all its “glory” has failed, completely and millions of people are putting their faith back in God or at least, in themselves.

I want it to get bad. I want it to be the “worst” it’s ever been. Money will never solve the problems it created. I want us to literally get to the point where we can not afford to be foolish… we can not afford to take the simple joys for granted. We became so fascinated with electronics, gadgets and web services because we became so unimpressed with ourselves. We’ve allowed ourselves to get distracted by whatever the brightly colored lcd screens tell us to look at. We’ve slept through most of our life while our sleep is troubled by the bill we still have to pay for the mattress.

So, go ahead…tell me it’s bad. Tell me it’s horrible. I want it to get bad… because I want so badly for it to get better. This path was never intended for any of us. The only way to proceed is back whence we came.

5 Comments leave one →
  1. September 17, 2009 4:49 AM

    Talk about a silver lining! I didn’t think there’d be a human being alive who could see the bright side of mass casualties due to natural disasters!

  2. Teri permalink
    November 13, 2009 12:51 AM

    Hey… it’s your rollerskating gal. 🙂 lol

  3. January 2, 2010 3:33 PM

    Great blog!…with the exception of “putting their faith back in god.” People need to by putting their faith back in “themselves”…not rely on people, the bible, the media, the internet, corporations telling them what to do or not to do.

  4. That girl in the front row tonight. permalink
    November 23, 2010 1:45 AM

    Had to let you know
    though your face didn’t show
    your words made it clear
    you have a beautiful soul

    You gave me a card
    even though I found it hard
    to make eye contact with you through that mask

    it led me to this site
    to type about tonight
    since I couldn’t speak to you face to face

    you spoke of 6yr olds
    and it made me feel kinda old
    it also reminded me of this teaser below
    thank you so much! I hope you enjoy….

    1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

    The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, insert the giraffe, and close the door.


    2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

    Did you say, “Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the door”?

    Wrong answer.



    Correct Answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory.

    OK, even if you didn’t answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.




  5. kelly mcnulty permalink
    February 19, 2014 9:52 AM

    I agree with almost all here, and it is sad but true that with major tragedy may come effective evolved change. however, it is still very difficult to watch so much suffering. i hope that it leads to good change, but for so much life suffering now, the change will come too late. it is a grey area n a quest of human nature n what will ultimately drive us. greed or compassion?

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