In January of 2021 I made a list of wishes that I would hope to be able to see during the year, really without much hope any of them would come to pass. Well, looking at them this January, they for the most part didn’t. Let’s look and see…….
Hope 1 – church attendance would increase. In our small church it may have some, but I did realize that if I would hope for this, then I had to do my part as well. We have had some meetings and looked for change and I continue to hope for this with more enthusiasm than last year. Nationwide is it going up???? I hope so for all of our well-being.
Hope 2 – a news station that would fairly report the truth. Ha, that could never be further from happening. If anything, the media has become worse, and that is all media no matter which side you are on politically. We are being treated as if we can’t think for ourselves or even check to see if they are reporting correctly. I DON’T watch any national news and the local news casts are becoming worse daily. For example, two stories I saw last week on a local news channel. The first one stated that a national gas watch group estimates that gasoline prices would continue to rise until they peaked at about $3.45 in the summer. The newscaster got a funny look on her face and said that they are already that high here. She probably was lectured about that comment later. The second reported that inflation was expected to be around 5% during 2022. The very next item stated that a national food company was expecting to raise prices an average of 15% in January. Now I know that food is not the only thing that determines inflation, but really folks, if you think for yourself, you can see where this is heading. Our only hope is that because this is a mid-term election you will see some price decreases. We are treated as is we don’t remember anything and the only thing that counts is what we see in front of our noses at election time. Unfortunately, I feel this is true for many. Let’s hope not.
Hope 3 – the news will quit relying on scare tactics. Yeah right. They still spend over 50% of a newscast – at least locally on Covid. Might that be to cover up everything else that is going on? Look at the data they use. At first it was deaths, then when they went down it was overall numbers, and that is where we are at today again. Some research can tell us that this is not going to go away and we need to treat it that way. I fear that too many people are making too much money over this for it to go away or that when election time gets nearer the government is going to announce that pandemic is over and we will treat this the same way as the flu. This tactic is in their back pocket to use at an opportune time. Is Covid real – absolutely and me and my family do take steps to try to protect ourselves from it, but so do we with the flu and other diseases as well. Give us real information we can use and quit trying to scare us.
Hope 4 – You can attend sports and other events and not be hounded about them being super spreaders. Even though it is not reported – this has happened.
Hope 5 – Travel and enjoy being with your family – it is safe. Those who can think outside of what they are being told on the news and from our political organizations – CDC included – are doing this.
Hope 6 – States are approving constittutional amendments to limit terms for politicians. That’s a pipe dream!
Hope 7 – Suicide and drug fatalities are going down. I truly don’t believe that will happen until the right type of help becomes available and the doom and gloom forecasts that our politicians and media spout changes. We as individuals are going to have to help with that! Talk to each other – get to know each other – and stay off social media!
Hope 8 – The use of social media is declining. Even though we can see the harm that it is doing through apps such as Tic Tok – we the people are not smart enough to put it down. Parents – monitor you kids and don’t be afraid to say NO. That is a huge problem in this world right now. I am tired of hearing people describe themselves an influencers. Beware of these folks.
I still would love to see these things happen, but until we as individuals take our moment to speak our minds it won’t. These things can and are happening across many segments of our society but don’t expect to hear about it on the news or social media. Think for yourselves and do what is right. Love and respect everyone and calm down. We can do it!
Happy New Year folks. Let’s do what is right, treat each other with love and respect and make this year a great one!
Slow Down Country Pap 
I’m just going to comment on one of your hopes. The last one was about social media and parents. Having been a principal for several years, I talked with a lot of parents about their kid’s behavior. Too often, parents want to be their friend and not so much the parent or set boundaries. Setting a bedtime or monitoring what the kid was doing on the internet was viewed as a punishment they were not willing to enforce rather than good parenting. It’s really sad. I heard someone say recently that their kid would never (insert whatever) and the next thing you know, here comes that kid “nevering” like they have “nevered” before. I even had a parent sit in my office and tell me she was afraid of what her kindergartner would do to her if she went to sleep! How sad!
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