Sensationalism vs. Truth

 

sensationalism - noun - (in journalism) use of exciting or shocking stories or language at the expense of accuracy in order to provoke public interest (Google). 

Throughout history, journalistic sensationalism has played a huge, egregious role, and it is still omnipresent today. I don't know about you, but I have pretty much given up hope in ever coming face to face with one-hundred-percent accurate reportage from any one media source. Much of what you see and read on social media is completely erroneous. What can be considered "news" that I pay attention to I either witness myself or hear secondhand from valued friends who would never fall into a pot hole as deep as sensationalism. 

Case in point, this past Monday night, an award-winning storyteller, one of my closest SoCal pals,  someone with whom I attended undergraduate school, held about fifty barflies rapt with her personal account of the L.A. ICE protests back in June. She was one of about 10K peaceful protestors towards the front of the procession downtown. According to her eye-witness account, the news media ignored her and her benign colleagues in activism in favor of filming some one hundred whose anger and frustration caused them to torch a few Waymo electric cars on the side of the freeway. The media took an isolated incident and exploded it so that Americans throughout the country walked away from their screens with an inaccurate, negative impression of what was in actuality nothing like what was recorded on video. 

Three days after hearing my friend's story, I volunteered to serve food to homeless people in a Venice restaurant. I had not been called into Bread and Roses for at least a month as my services were not needed. What I witnessed yesterday with my own eyes amounted to a truth that reporters were not privy to. No matter what laws are bandied about in D.C., the homeless problem is not going away. From my perspective, it is getting worse. I served about 150 individuals, mainly young, white men, within three hours. Seriously, I didn't think they would stop coming. We were that busy. Ease-dropping on one conversation, I learned that although at least one of the many was actively looking for a job, he was not finding any. Hence, based on my own observations, I can infer that if you are reading that the economy is improving, just know that it isn't here in Los Angeles. 

The aforementioned examples are true. You won't find this kind of verity online or on TV. Whatever you experience yourself, you can believe. Don't be fooled by agencies who are just trying to make money by infiltrating reality with fantasy. 

Just sayin'. 

#social commentary, #blog, #blogger, #writing community, #truth, #sensationalism 

Dog vs. Cat People

 

preference - noun - a greater liking for one alternative over another or others (Google)

When it comes to domestic creatures, do you have a preference for either dogs or cats? Personally, I can't say that I do as I have spent quite a few years (at least fifty) alternating between the two. But I have known many over-the-top pet enthusiasts who have taken sides, and like some political activists, are strongly pro dogs or pro cats and stand by their choice. Just what kind of people are these who cannot be without either dogs or cats? 

Let's look at the multitudes who prefer dogs over cats first. I live in Los Angeles where just about everyone you meet on the street is being followed by a breed of hound on either a short or long leash. Some of the small pups are even securely sequestered in baby carriages. Most of these dog enthusiasts are Millennials who look like they are on the fence about having human children, so they have chosen to be "dog parents" as they think it is easier. Being that I have been both, I can honestly say that having a puppy is just as hard as having an infant. The difference is that the puppy grows into a full-size dog that never matures beyond the equivalent of a four-year-old child. Dogs are needy, and dog people like to be needed. Dog people know that dogs, once trained, can truly be the best of companions. As dogs are pack animals– highly social creatures and very loyal–they place their loving "parents" first in their lives. They can truly make them feel loved due to their uncanny ability to sense human emotions and react to them. Whether positive or negative, extremely fanatical dog people actually view their dogs as family members, and as a result, will take their dogs everywhere, even to locations where dogs shouldn't be, such as restaurants and grocery stores. These people will go to extremes. For example, I have seen a dog child accompanying his human parents as they were playing golf on a well-groomed course. Just today, I spied an adult Australian Collie squeezed into a backpack while her owner zigzagged through traffic on his bike. (Both activities are dangerous for a dog.) And it is true that dog people look remarkably similar to their dogs. So who knows? Maybe the dog parents are actually the parents of the dogs? It wouldn't surprise me.

Cat people, on the other hand, tend to appreciate felines because they are far less dependent than dogs. All of the cats I have ever owned could pretty much care less about me. Indolent by nature, cats just don't want to work too hard hunting for food (they can survive on their own in the wild), so they have domesticated humans to get out of any real effort. Which means they will be as affectionate as possible to get what they want: unlimited quantities of Fancy Feast and carte blanche to rip up everything destructible inside a house with impunity. Blindly devoted, cat folks refuse to believe that their fur-ball babies could ever be this manipulative and self-centered and devious. Male owners of cats tend to be a bit unusual (euphemism). The ones I've known are usually single and riddled with idiosyncrasies (understatement). One of my exes actually believed his one cat was his brother and the other, his "little girl," meaning daughter. He loved both way more than he loved me. Obviously if they date at all, these men only bother with women who adore cats. Generally, "Must love cats" comes up first on their online dating profiles. Alternatively, cat women can either be more normal or just as abnormal. Most all-in cat persons reflect their felines as they can often be independent and/or misanthropic, preferring even tepid kitties in captivity to emotionally available humans in the wild. 

Wouldn't it be nice if all people treated each other the way that some dog and cat parents treat their "children"? I think so. When I observe some of these obsessive humans, I can't help but want to come back as either one of their dogs or cats in the next life. 

Just sayin'. 

#blog, #blogger, #personalessay, #writer, #author, #dogs, #cats, #socialsatire 

The Talk About Retirement

 

retirement - noun - the action or fact of leaving one's job and ceasing to work.

For whatever reason, the subject of retirement seems to be dominating cyberspace this week. The popular site Quora that stimulates online conversations among individuals–who find time to respond to responses generated on myriad topical topics–has been featuring it. As I have been an active participant of retirement for the past six years (although I have taken a few odd, paying jobs on the side just for enjoyment), I have been entertained by what others have been admitting that they do to fill in the blanks of their remaining days on the planet. 

Not surprisingly since my generation has ceased to grow up and out of its designation as the Me Generation, for the most part, the retirees lead self-centered lives. I was amazed by some who confessed that they follow the same banal routine every day. One gentleman mentioned that he wakes up each day at the same hour, has breakfast, walks the dog and then feeds it, watches MSNBC for a few hours, has lunch, takes a nap, returns to the dog and its care, does a crossword puzzle, has dinner, and then turns on the television as an encore, allowing it to lull him to sleep. (Maybe on the weekends he does a bit of cleaning and laundry?) Hmm. It is hard for me to believe that anyone would be even remotely satisfied with his mundane itinerary, but apparently, many are. 

And then there are the gamers. I am not talking about Gen X, Y, or Z video gamers; I am referring to the 65 and over board or card gamers (and maybe even the golf-tennis-pickleball crowd). Most of these folks are game to keep their minds (and perhaps, bodies) active so that Alzheimer's doesn't creep up on them. I get it. It is probably knocking on my door right now since I just found it hard to recall the name of the condition. Anyway, this agile crew–mainly women–go for Canasta, Bridge, Mahjong, Scrabble, Pinochle, Bingo, and Yahtzee, meeting day and night to follow often complicated sets of rules, competing for first place while chatting about pedestrian topics. With great dexterity, they manage to balance their gaming with babysitting the grandchildren, also a popular pastime in retirement. Women, I've read, are also more apt to globe trot. Some singles and couples have even set up permanent residence on cruise ships. 

What I have found to be quite disconcerting is that not one to respond to the topic on Quora (that I saw) has mentioned volunteerism. If you have been following my blogs, you know that I spend at least an hour a day during the week working in support of multiple good causes. For those who are not content with the aforementioned, I highly recommend my course of action. It doesn't matter where you live, you can always find some organization in need of unpaid employees, retired people who still want to change the world in some pragmatic way. Selflessness is its own reward. 

The people of my age or older who really impress me are those who don't even wish to touch retirement. They want to work at something that they love until they drop because they don't feel that what they do is actually arduous. You know whom I mean. The Bruce Springsteens and Mick Jaggers and Paul McCartneys and Ringo Starrs of the world. Okay, all of these men are musicians so that some can argue that they have never worked a day in their lives anyway. I agree. But with the right attitude, you can find a passion that pays and keeps your life humming with purpose just like they did decades ago. It is entirely possible. 

Just sayin'. 

#retirement, #society, #blog, #blogger, #personal essay, #writing community, #writer, #author