I like to be a well-informed citizen.
When 9/11 happened I was 12-years-old and just kinda didn't get it. I was in Mrs. Striby's pre-algebra class and instead of lessons we got to watch the news. Most of us talked and doodled.
My war-hawk attitude was also that of a 12-year-old, in that they hit us so we needed to hit back. I look back at my naivete and feel like I didn't give the day, the time, the victims the respect deserved. Frankly, I was a preteen in the upper-middle class bubble of Alpharetta and the hardest part of my life was finding jeans to fit my 5-foot-7, 95 lb. frame. I hadn't the slightest understanding of grief or tragedy, so there was no way to comprehend the day's events.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I don't really know the ins and outs of our military action in the Middle East - and trying to catch up 12 years later is overwhelming. So I wanted to pay close attention to our action in/not-in Syria. I like the idea of being a well-informed citizen - making voting decisions based on the pletora of material I've read about current events and proposed legislation, always ready to start a moral debate about governmental decisions, and being the one to say, "Yes, but they just came out with a study/interview/new witness that says..." while discussing the news.
Through my six years of undergraduate and graduate journalism school, I tried to stay current - though there is an ongoing joke that journalism graduate school is the best way to insure you don't have time to keep up with actual journalism. During my summer working for Turner in the CNN center, I had my little desk TV tuned in to CNN nine hours a day. I listen to the radio as I get ready for work and the first thing I do at work is check my email and open cnn.com.
I'm doing it.
Now the second part of this story is that I am terrified of being robbed/murdered/raped/jumped - both at night in any type of parking lot and in my own home. This has been the case since I was about 8 or 9 and it is completely irrational. So I Googled how to quit being so terrified of nothing and the number one response was to stop watching the news. And, by golly, I think they're right.
Between the need for ratings and the state of our society, every day's news brings a more shocking headline or gruesome story. I (stupidly) followed the case of a man who was planning to kidnap, rape, torture, murder and EAT children who was just put away for 26 years - luckily before he could carry out any of his plans. I looked through the photo gallery of evidence found in his house which includes a child's onesie, restraint mechanisms, a butchering set, cannibalism videos, a soundproof dungeon, and a cage.
Completely sick. And it's a different thing every day. A woman pushes her groom off a cliff, teens beat a veteran to death for fun, a gunner shoots up the D.C. navy yard. If you pay enough attention to the news these days, it seems that all there is in the world is evil.
I got tired of all the bad this morning so I went to HLN.com, which is usually softer news, and the cover story is "14-year-old girl snatched in Georgia home invasion." So I click on the "Feel Good" tab and the first story was "Were Bama sorority recruits nixed for race?" Not so feel good, huh? So...in one last effort...I click on a link of all the animal stories - because nothing will boost your mood like a puppy. The first two stories were "Teens post video putting kitten in microwave" and "Extreme sadness ahead: Celebs mourn their pets."
So here is my thought. I have an excellent life. Not only was I lucky enough to be born in an incredible country to even more incredible parents, but I've gotten myself to a great place, with a great company, and a great man by my side. Things are really awesome these days, which is not the case for the majority of people.
Life in general is not always great - friends and family pass away, people get sick, bills pile up, relationships crumble, accidents happen. For the most part, people are just trying to get through whatever storm they're weathering. So can we really blame the American public for not wanting to regularly ingest the horror stories we call "news"? I'm starting to think that ignorance really is bliss, and maybe Americans are on to something. Maybe a news hiatus will remind me of all the positive in life, because keeping up with the news is a surefire way to bring yourself down.
To leave everyone on a positive note, here is a great story about a mother openly accepting her son as he comes out of the closet. Here's to the uplifting stories.
