I have become an angry old man

I have come to the conclusion that I am glad I will not live too many more years. At 72, I have had a full life that started out wonderfully. Two loving parents, doting grandparents, and a slew of aunts, uncles and cousins nearby. Then came WWII and my father's departure for the Marine Corps. Iwo Jima changed him and my relationship with him. He was no longer the gentle person he had been before. That, and the fact that my mother made him the one who passed out discipline for my misdeeds. I began to fear him more than love him. Still there were good times together. Happy times. I remember times spent at my cousin's waterfront home on Chesapeake Bay where one could look into the water under the pier and see sunfish or bluegills guarding their nests in the shallow water. Not so, now. That same water is clouded with pollutants. In my neighborhood, glistening white marble steps shone in the sun. The ladies of the houses there made sure they were kept immaculate. Not so, now. The neighborhood has been taken over by whores and drug dealers. Those white steps are filthy with car exhaust residue, spilled soft drinks and beer. I have seen the America I love being slowly dismantled by the greed of its people on all levels, the corruption at highest offices of government, and the lopsided reporting of events in the press and on TV. I have seen its industrial might that enabled it to defeat terrible enemies during WWII allowed to crumble and fall into disrepair. There is no longer the kind of pride and patriotism that once existed in our cities. It still exists in middle America, but has been lost in the cities. There, the tenets of citizenship and patriotism have been cast aside for corporate profits and personal greed. Those subjects are no longer taught in the schools. I see my country dying of a lack of morals and general apathy. I only hope I die before it does.

Things that get you down

I have decided I am not going to watch the TV news anymore. It is too depressing. They only put on the bad stuff: tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, fires, floods, etc.. They never put on anything uplifting. Where I live, one channel has a newscast that runs for three hours every evening. I only watch until the weather forecast comes on because every half hour they begin again with their sensational story that everyone is talking about at the moment and re-hash it in the next segment. It is all downers. They rarely, if ever, put on the story about the local kid who struggled to get the time to study because he had to help support his family yet made it into college on an academic scholarship, or the EMT or fireman who was awarded a promotion for exceptional service. Nor do they tell of the cop who got a gang to turn to basketball or baseball instead of drugs and juvenile delinquency. People need to hear these kinds of stories, too! They need to tell us of the lady who volunteered after her job to teach children to read, and about the teacher who has inspired thirty former students to pursue careers in engineering instead of dropping out, and how they honored him with a scholarship in his honor. When they start broadcasting more of this kind of news, they will get me back.