And, this COVID-19 thing has pretty much tapped out that buffer zone I always maintained. So when that happens I sit down at the keyboard and let it all flow on this blog.Well, not everything. There are some good things that I still enjoy, like Butter Pecan Ice Cream and Coconut Cake! I guess that isn't that bad. Or, talking to an old friend, Milly, after her tenure as a sectional write of the Nancy Drew Mysteries. Milly. I've wanted to reach out to you so many times over the years. I know you must be looking down an just shaking your head. It was things like this that we talked about when the city desk was slow news wise. I Miss you Mil.
What has been nagging me of late is that I watch the news (local mostly) and some of the specialty shows where some guest are interviewed in studio on the air. There are those that I simply say, "not on my TV." The David Letterman replacement for one. Colbert thinks he's funny. Actually, he's pretty sad as a host. Jimmy Fallon is another one. Letterman and Carson had class. These two yahoo's don't even come close to class.Fallen, for one screams all the time. He can't be excited in a normal tone. I like Ellen but I don't like her games where she splashes her participants into the gooks some producer cooks up. Pitiful. No way is it funny. Actually, it plays on peoples emotions and I don't like that. Never have. Never will.
It might sound like I am an old stick in the mud. If you think so from these, my past couple of paragraphs, I'll forgive you once. But don't think that I don't have the right of my opinion just as much as you think that you do also. Having said that, it brings me to my main point.
People don't listen to what they say. Then they wonder why there is so much confusion all of a sudden. It all started with my 11th grade English teacher. She is the one that agreed with me on that very point and used me as an example in here class to prove to the others and drive home that point,"people don't listen to what they say." Since that year, it is the only thing that I note about people in a conversation. For years, I just let it slide. It wasn't worth the time or the energy. If they could not understand the point that the English teacher was trying to make---and it was a very valid point as I found out from her being the go-to-student for that kind of thing.
During the pandemic when I sheltered in place after my surgeries, I watched more TV than I normally do. But, almost instantly, I noted one phrase that people being interviewed seemed to be using like a broken record. "Welcome to the show," the host would say. The cookie cutter replay from the guest was always , "Thanks for having me." My reply was, "She/He didn't have you. Your mother did." That phrase insults every mother when their kid tells someone else that some one else had birthed her/him and didn't even realize what just came out of their mouth. Women used the phrase more than men but even the men of a full range of ages did also.
Then, suddenly, last week, I was watching an interview about COVID-19 from a board member of one of the larger health insurance companies of some sort. I almost stopped dead in my tracks. The host did his normal lead in. "Thanks for coming today," he said. The the earth beneath my feet rumbled. The guest replied, "Thank You. It's a joy to be here today." The air just seemed refreshed suddenly around me.
Former Dallas Police Chief, David Brown.Now, head of the Chicago Police Department. This was a good man!
Chief, you said, "don't forget the shoes." Here they are, Sir! Happy New Year, too.
