Changing Times

Perhaps after President Obama gets some sort of 'gun law' passed he could turn his attention to the escalating loss and suffering caused by 'social media.' The latest victim is the United States Postal Service; it has been 'shot-down' Saturdays!

This now generational social media love affair and the addiction to electronic devices is a growing sickness, which is slowly but surely eroding interpersonal communication skills of younger folks and causing real fatalities. In your spare time come to grips with this picture: Illinois has a seat belt law and the police can and will have those periods of strongly enforcing that law. However, the reality of the seat belt violation is this: I am the only person put in harms way not wearing the seat belt. On the other hand, a driver 'texting' or cell phoning jeopardizes other lives. HELLO!!

My grandkids are frequently telephoning me to ask for help developing a school 'paper.' Writing is not an exercise familiar to school children. Actually, most school districts no longer even teach cursive writing. Personally, I receive hand written letters from one person on this planet; Tom McGraw a former East St. Louis sport teammate lives in Springfield, Missouri and enjoys writing letters and I sure enjoy getting them. Stop and consider how much a person may care about you when they take the time to sit down, gather thoughts and write them in a letter. On this subject of 'caring for others,' I would ask you to recall the countless times that you have been in the public place and notice people, who are seemingly together (physically with one another) but are ignoring each other as they engage in 'texting,' emailing or cell phoning?

Now, the news comes that I will get NO MORE Saturday mail. I am sadden because I will miss talking with my mailman about the weather, politics and sports. Oh, I can wait for the mail to come Monday because at age 74, my mail is rather predictable and pathetic. My mail consists of dues notices from the Masonic Lodge and Scottish Rites. I have belonged to those organizations for 35 years and I financially support their worthy causes but I never attend any meetings; they remind me of the Cub Scouts, too many passwords and secret crap! I also get endless mail ads about hearing aids, senior retirement homes and funeral internment planning; I should want all my mail (everyday) cancelled.

I end up throwing away most of the mail. My wife keeps retrieving the hearing aid stuff. If I get hearing aids, I want the kind that are easy and quick to remove because there's little these days worth hearing, especially song lyrics.

I can't wait for spring when I can sit on my backyard swing and ponder God's beauty and get away from man's self-absorption.