I recently ran into a buddy of mine by the name of Ron Petke. We had a nice little chat, and I reminded him about the time nearly five years ago when he filled in for me as a guest (not ghost) writer for my Thoughts from the Publisher. I then teasingly said, “If you think you finally have something else significant or witty to share with our readers, feel free to send it to me.” Well, earlier this week he did just that. I think he did a great job— enjoy!
Your Aunt Stella is telling you about some delicate operation she had: the procedure, the stitches, the outcome. You finally have to tell her “T.M.I.” and she stops abruptly because she knows the meaning of the acronym. My view is the world is being bombarded by TOO MUCH INFORMATION!
You go onto “The Facialbook,” and you learn that some acquaintance is getting a tattoo or someone posted a picture of kittens and puppies driving a covered wagon across a rainbow. Do I care?
You turn on the television, and you’ve got thousands of channels in all shapes, colors and languages to choose from but after channel-surfing you decide on I Love Lucy. You’ve seen it hundreds of times, but it’s still funny. In the middle of the last century, we had four to five channels on television that went off at midnight with The Star-Spangled Banner. But you always found something to watch and without a remote (maybe you had to use a pair of pliers to change the channel).
You get a new phone that doesn’t have buttons but responds with the outside world by use of a touch screen. You slip and slide trying to answer an incoming call but, alas, it goes to voicemail hell, where you still can’t access it.
Your friends send you pics of their vacation. In the past, vacation pictures were shared with friends in the den after dinner and you couldn’t wait until they were done so you could escape. Today there is no escape. They text you, and your reply is LOL, LMAO, or K. No one wants to talk anymore. Does a second-grader actually need a cell phone? Maybe. If they’re in their bedroom and they want a snack; no need for the child to actually communicate with the parent— just text out an order. It’s better than a drive-through.
Please understand, I think the Super Information Freeway is the best invention since sliced bread. It’s today’s Encyclopedia Britannica. You want to listen and watch Al Jolson sing “California, Here I Come?” It’s on the Youtube. You want to learn more about Monsanto, who brought you Agent Orange and DDT, and what produce not to buy? Just Google it and go to the website that teaches you how Monsanto bought out the small farmer and the politicians they backed during the election so GMOs would not be labeled.
I believe that a lot of our ailments, time speeding by like a bullet, and the ignorancing of America are due to “Too Much Information.” Try giving it up for a day, talk to your family and call me in the morning. You’ll feel better.
