Remember

Tonight I would like to write about anything, anything other than what is actually happening in the world.  I would like to write about football, or parenting, or red coffee cups or AC/DC.  Anything other than terror and refugees. But these are the things on my mind.

Three suggestions as we navigate this mess.

1. Remember that the bulk of news-media outlets are for profit businesses.  Their main concern is NOT that you get the news, but that you get the news from THEM. They do a great job of making us think they care about us, but their main concern is profit.  And by the way, if the link you refer me to also has links for “35 Celebrities Who Have Aged Terribly” or “25 Nerdy Child Stars That Are Now Hot,” I’m taking everything on the page with a grain of salt.
2. Remember what you do for a living.  You may have an opinion on how a global crisis should be handled, but it’s easy to flippantly throw that opinion around when no one is actually looking for you to make decisions regarding that crisis.
3. Remember what your mom told you.  If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.  I get it.  It’s hard to be nice when Evil seems to be winning.  So let’s change “nice” to “constructive.” Social media has been an ugly place to be these last couple days.  If you’re going to add something to the conversation, add something constructive, and no, tearing down the person with whom you disagree is not constructive. Your language matters.  In times such as these, sarcasm is nothing more than a coping mechanism, no different than posting pictures of our guns, a way to make us feel safe and right and justified. But it doesn’t help.

It’s a serious time.  We need serious people thinking about more than themselves to come up with serious solutions.