The Old Coot wants a day
off!
By Merlin Lessler
One day a week! One day
without any COVID-19 news. Is that too much to ask? Nothing in the newspaper,
not a word on the radio and especially nothing on TV! I know the news media has
to focus on tragedy; that is news; it’s our fault, our human nature; we can’t
help but rubberneck as we pass by an auto accident, a house fire, a mob of
protesters. If media only covered good news they would go out of business. But,
one day free of Corona Virus hysteria wouldn’t hurt readership, wouldn’t hurt
TV and radio ratings.
Do we really need a daily
tally of deaths? New cases? Overcrowded hospitals? No! No! No! We need a day
off. And, not just old coots like me. Everyone needs a break. The virus has
hurt us, the media is finishing us off with their overkill.
They once kept us focused
on ongoing tragic events by marking the number of days. “Day 128 of the hostage situation in Iraq,” –
“Day 6 of wild fires in California.” It’s day 277 of the pandemic in the USA as
I write this, but marking the day isn’t on the media agenda; daily hysteria
is. They’ve been effective in making us
afraid of many things, even the weather, even normal weather like cold spells
in winter, hot spells in summer, wind, rain and thunderstorms. They’re now feasting
on the Corona Virus.
We don’t need the hype; we
need a mild-mannered spokesperson like Smokey the Bear used to be when he said,
“Only you can prevent forest fires.” That was before they ramped up his message
and changed forest fire to WILD FIRE! The Corona the Bear version could avoid
the hype and simply say, ‘Only you can prevent the spread of the Corona Virus;
please wear a mask.” That would work for me. Especially, if the media gave us a
day off.
Comments? Complaints? Send
to - mlessler7@gmail.com
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