Hayter’s article for March 27, 2022
“Abnormal is the new Normal"
Excuse my tardiness. I was watching the beginning of the news when I remembered our scheduled meeting. My priorities get all jumbled sometimes. It’s been that way all my life, but it’s not my fault.
When I got to be a teacher, I hated to preach to the class about getting stuff done on time, because I knew what a hypocrite I was being. Instead, I might tell a class, “Look, I’m among the worst procrastinators on the planet. For example, the test I’m giving you tomorrow, I haven’t made out yet. I’ve discussed how a bill becomes a law and how amendments get passed. I just haven’t decided on the questions to ask. But, it’s coming. I’m starting on it right after Rockford Files.”
I tell you that to tell you this, I’m approaching my deadline, but have yet to figure out what to talk about. It’s a lot like last week. This time I got delayed by the news. I only watched four news events before bailing.
The first story had to do with President Biden addressing NATO. Europe and the U.S. need to figure out how much trouble we can inflict on Russia before Putin decides to nuke us? That’s certainly an eye-opener. The next story was an update on Ukraine and how determined they are and how they’re receiving help from others. Ukrainians are tough as tacks.
After that, they cut to a commercial and then came back with a story on the bird flu. No worries, you don’t have it. You can’t even get it. Well, perhaps if you kiss your uncaged parakeet. I can only imagine how hard it is to not kiss a bird.
After the bird flu, there was another commercial, after which they did a piece about the destruction in New Orleans after the tornados. Those people can’t buy a break. I left after I saw another commercial coming on.
Out of those four news items, the one that most affected me was the one about the bird flu. Granted, I’m not all that concerned with every bird type, but I wish them all well. But chickens? Life without chickens would really mess me up. They’ve already bagged and burned a million of ‘em. With millions to come. There is no bird out there that is safe.
Prices continue to shoot up because of COVID. Then prices have increased because of the difficulty cargo ships have of finding places to unload. I don’t know what all was involved in creating such a dilemma, but somebody probably does. And the scarcity of new cars? It supposedly has to do with the lack of electronic chips out of Taiwan. That and maybe the inability to unload Toyotas from the ships stranded outside the harbors. The cost of petroleum is going up, apparently because it can. We’ve got more oil than we have places to put it, yet, the prices continue to soar. I misled my economic classes about the law of supply and demand.
So, we’ve got all of that going on and more. And now we can add an increase in the price of chicken. And, turkeys! Also, the cost of building supplies is out of sight. I’d be surprised if it didn’t take over a decade to repair many of the losses in New Orleans.
Let’s face it, today’s “normal” is abnormal. As Buck Owens sang, “Yesterday’s gone, and tomorrow’s out of sight, so help me make it through the night.” No that wasn’t Buck. Regardless, the economic and political events of today are unlike anything I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. And, there is no immediate solution to any of it. Nothing is normal. Most of us may never see the return of our old normal. I’m feeling blessed that Kellog Cracklin’ Oats showed up in Kroger. It costs more than a gallon of gas, but it was there for a little while.
Fortunately, there are a lot of people out there involved in helping others. During the news coverage of the disaster in Louisiana, there were scenes of volunteers providing aid to people who lost everything. Locally and abroad people are using their money, time, and effort to aid people they don’t know. Survivors don’t need a sermon or a lesson on political thought. They need what each of us has needed at some point in our lives. Help. They may not ask for it, but their needs cry out for it.
As a group, we each fit into one of two categories. Those with different religious beliefs and those with no religious beliefs. We’re all doing what we do. When we feel threatened by the opinions of others we may spend time, attention, and money trying to end whatever we see as a threat to our “freedom.” Freedom is limited, to some degree, for any person who lives within a group. Putin is one of the few exceptions.
There are always those who need help. Right now there are more than is normal. It’s Mark and perhaps a few others who need to begin placing more focus on the plight of others and less on the opinion of others. No questions asked, just help where we can with what we have. It’s a guaranteed freedom. It’s called “kindness”. We can practice it or not. -- And that, my friend, is the ending I chose just a couple of minutes ago. That’s an example of procrastination.
Next time, I’ll try to keep last week’s promise about telling you about the oddity of the planet Venus. You might want to research that. What a crazy planet.
end
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