Friday, September 20, 2013

Hope for the Human Race?

There can be days when being in the news business wears a person down.

I was on air Monday-Friday during the middle of the day in Toronto during the Paul Bernardo trial. There was no escaping the horrible details, since I had to say them out loud four times an hour for the six weeks of that trial. It was tough every day, although not as tough for me as it was on our reporters who were in the court room. One of our two reporters took a stress leave immediately after the trial and as far as I know, never did go back to work.

These days, it's the disgusting details of the Jeffery Baldwin case that make me cry when I get home.

But every once in a while, there comes a day when there are good-news stories to energize and lift my spirits.

Today, I have at least three reasons for hope for the human race:

The Pope has said what many people have been thinking for a long time, suggesting Christians spend a lot less time dwelling on abortion and contraception and homosexuality, and a lot more time living the central tenants of Christianity; you know, the love and mercy stuff that guy, Jesus, was talking about.

In Boston, a homeless man found a backpack full of 42-thousand dollars in cash and traveller's cheques. After no doubt asking who the hell uses traveller's cheques any more, the guy found a cop and handed the bag over.

Cops in Boston told the story of the homeless guy and the money, and a total stranger in Virginia started a crowdsourcing fundraiser for the homeless guy on gofundme.com. As of this morning, it has more than a hundred thousand dollars donated to it.

The homeless guy's name is Glen James. The guy who started the fund is Ethan Whittington. I want to remember their names, not the names of the monsters in the news.

Friday, September 13, 2013

10 years and still eating mushrooms

One of my father's favourite jokes (and there were many), was about a woman widowed three times. It was told as part of a conversation between two old ladies and went like this:

"Three husbands, all dead and buried?"
"Yes."
"What happened to the first one?"
"Poison mushrooms."
"Oh, my! What happened to the second one?"
"Sadly, he, too died of eating poison mushrooms."
"And the third?"
"Fractured skull."
"How did that happen?"
"He wouldn't eat the mushroom stew."

My dad would tell this joke in response to my Sweetie and I waxing eloquent about the amazing mushroom soup at the place we go every year to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This will be year ten. Mrs. Mitchell's in Primrose never, ever fails to delight. I am starving myself all day to save room for tonight's terrific meal.

I plan to try on my wedding dress again today, too, just to see whether I've eaten myself out of it in the last few months. Even if I can't, it will not be a huge tragedy. Ten years in, one gets a bit more sanguine about these things.

Sweetie and I have been through quite a lot in the last 3653 days, and we both have chosen to stay, no matter what the crisis; to find a way to the other side. I'm looking forward to a calm and happy second decade of wedded near-bliss.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

On Social Media Etiquette

Facebook, Twitter and a blog are as far as I've gone so far with my social media connectedness, but I must confess to feeling as though I might be missing the boat on new cool sites. I have no instagram or Tumblr account, I distrust Linkdin and I'm not even sure what Vine is, but it's the latest 'it' thing, apparently. (I suspect the very fact I would call something an 'it' thing would instantly disqualify me.)

You're not still on myspace, are you? ewww. Although, I bet myspace will be seen as hip and retro before long; I hear vinyl is making a comeback, too. I keep waiting for calligraphy to also become cool again, but no such luck.

If you have a love/hate relationship with social media, come sit by me. While we love knowing stuff about people we don't see often, let's admit that much of what we all post is tedious, torturous personal PR. We all know it's a rare person indeed who will post unpleasant or unflattering information about themselves on facebook. It should really be called bragbook. A couple of my friends staunchly refuse to join because they consider it to be a never-ending high school. They have a point.

The first thing I did when I signed up for facebook was to block a couple of people with whom I had unfortunate dealings, including a former boss, a former boyfriend and the worst of his odious friends.

This week, almost by accident, I discovered to my chagrin that unfriending can go both ways. Usually if someone overshares or if their posts are badly spelled and annoying, it's easy to avoid seeing those posts by simply removing the person from my facebook news feed. (Rest assured, it's only for other people, I would never remove YOU from my feed!) The removed overposter is none the wiser and I don't have to see the latest pictures of their obese cats; it's win-win. Now, if a removed person drifts across my consciousness, I can still look them up and know what's going on in their lives. This week, I did happen to look up two women whose feeds I had removed, and discovered to my surprise, I was no longer 'friends' with either of them! Clearly, I've offended or hurt them in some serious way. Or maybe they don't know the trick of removal without the drastic step of 'unfriending'?

Here's where it's high school: I'm somewhat hurt that these women took me off their friend list even though I had basically done the same thing to them. So why are we using the word, friend, exactly?

And really, how soon can curling season start? I clearly need a life off the Internet.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Chilling Words

A comment I overheard while at work a few years ago has stayed with me to this day, and every time I think of it, I feel a little scared and a little sad. Scared because I fear this is how a lot of people in positions of power think. Sad because I now know this is how a lot of people in positions of power think.

The person said the following:

"The Board will make the decision I want them to make because I will give them the information they require to come to that decision."

Just let that sit for a minute. They'll make the decision I want made, because of the information I will provide. This wasn't at town hall and has no connection to some of the stuff people have been reading about when it comes to politics in Collingwood, but it reveals a certain mindset, one that puts putative decision-makers in a position they don't even know they're in. It's the thinking that landed US soldiers in Iraq. (Weapons of Mass Destruction, anyone?) It's I fear, Standard Operating Procedure.

After you've thought about the thought process it takes to come out with such a statement, take a few minutes to read Ian Adams' very interesting piece in the Enterprise Bulletin about how decisions were made about recreation facilities in Collingwood.
Click here to read it.