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Originally Posted by bestmickey
What the he(doublehockeysticks) is going on in this world today? Another woman's belly is cut open and her baby stolen from her body. Another child dies because he's been locked in the car while his mother spends 3 or 4 hours in the nail salon getting prettied for her wedding that same day.
It's getting to the point that I'm thinking about not looking at any more news stories. If I can't control it, I feel I want to just ignore it. Leads to a much happier existence!
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bestmickey,
At the risk of sounding way too much like my alter ego, Lucy from "Peanuts" with her little booth and her Advice 5 cents sign, I completely understand what you are saying.
When I was still working I actually put a lunchtime buddy on a news moratorium. Each day she was arriving at lunch wanting to talk about all the things from the horrors that are on the news. I could see her anxiety was rising by the day.
I felt so bad for her, but it was also driving people away from our usual let-down-our-hair lunches.
Finally, I said, "Lunchtime Buddy, I have known you for a long time. You are my friend. This is really getting to you. The media is everywhere and we are far too informed. It is a screen on every wall like in Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." That is the temperature at which paper burns. In the novel books are burned and the goal of every family is to have a television screen on each of 4 walls in their living rooms. The characters in the book were constantly surrounded by the media."
I continued, "Lunchtime Buddy, please try to not watch any news for two weeks and see how you feel."
Lunchtime Buddy actually took my 5 cents advice and felt better.
We cannot fix this stuff. So much of it is truly hellish. My advice to Lunchtime Buddy was a few years ago. The screens now leave our homes and go with us everywhere.
If anyone here is interested in remembering about "Fahrenheit 451" that was originally published in 1953, just google around until you find the summary and read it on your personal screen. How ironic is that? And the book is called science fiction.
Anyway, that's my Advice 5 cents for today.
bestmickey, you say that you are thinking of putting yourself on a news moratorium. It worked for Lunchtime Buddy. And we got back to having a little fun conversation at lunch, too. I wish you the best. It's not easy. I know.
Boomer Lucy