I drove home from the
gym today after an exhausting run on the treadmill. Running helps get the angry
energy from the day out of my head. Morning runs put me in a positive mood
to start. I guess between the two I prefer to run early but the gym isn’t ready
to let us take showers yet. I can’t believe I uttered that statement but there
it is, no showers at the gym. The way work is going I’m pretty keyed up by the
time the day finished out and I need a release.
It isn’t work that’s stressful but life. Work makes sense. Work
is orderly. Work needs me.
I think I’m watching too much news but I don’t really know
how to stop.
Well turn off the TV
dummy!! I don’t even watch TV news anymore.
It isn't like 50 years ago. Not many people plunk down at 6 and watch the evening news. The news is in everything today. It’s one mass blob of similar narratives squeezed into various items
like jelly in donuts. News, sports, politics, and business all taste the same
now.
I watch TV at work which
means I have to select a sports channel, it’s a sporting goods store after all.
Now live sports don’t usually air between 9 and 5 Monday through Friday.
Playoff baseball is an exception as well as a few other post season events, but
mostly it’s just replays. Sports channels have either talking head shows or
replays. Normally I’ll watch talking head shows because at least they are newsy
and current. Some are better than others, or rather less obnoxious than others.
Live sports aren’t happening right now (Yeah Virus!!) so it’s
making the talk shows extra lame. But ever since the George Floyd murder it’s been
an onslaught of racial politics, police brutality, and sycophantic apologies
from anyone popular who happens to be close to a microphone.
Colin Kaepernick is back in the news as well. The NFL commissioner
apologized to him for not taking him seriously, despite getting sued by Collin. They settled and Kap made out well. But
this was a few years ago but the cop killing has put new fire into an old debate,
or jelly into a new donut.
Drew Brees apologized for saying he would never kneel in front the flag. American
businesses can’t get their apology copy to the black community fast enough. If no apology is needed they issue some grovelly Black Lives Matter solidarity
statement. Whenever I read one I just want to scream “Say black people matter! Or
black people are essential!” Black Lives Matter is a Marxist group that sees
America as a white supremacist country. The difference is critical.
So I’m watching shows that have diving contests and poker games.
I just have to tune out everything current because it’s all depressing. I get
on Facebook to see how my friends are doing and everyone is posting pro or con
stuff about marches, riots, looting, legislation. My podcasts are either sports or politics. Both are out.
I go to the gym and run where a TV in front of me shows the
nightly news, CBS. It’s wall to wall negativity and pot stirring. Here come the
narratives again in all the reporting, more jelly. The cop in Atlanta that killed the black
man I didn’t watch the video. I refuse to. I’ve seen a few reports of baptism on the street corner where George Floyd
was killed. That’s incredible but hardly anyone seems to know it. I can hardly
make myself watch Netflix anymore either. I don’t want to see violence, even
the fake sort that I normally can’t get enough of. So I read. Or go to bed
early.
I’m sure that events in the country aren’t as bad as they
look, but my creativity is being stretched. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll
learn some trade or craft during this time and when people ask me how did I
learn it, I can shake my head and say “2020 man”.
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