...driftin', driftin', driftin'....

I was awake several times in the night. It's a usual happening.

I get up, walk around, get a drink, get soda, get sleepy and go back to bed. That's a typical night.

Last night was a bit different in that I monitored the storm everyone has been announcing for the past two days. You would think that that there aren't any other issues in the world but the local weather. Now I know that it is important to observe the weather and that lives are sometimes at stake when it comes to dropping temps and the like, but give me a break. Do the television stations have to broadcast nothing but weather all day long? There are other parts of the world to consider. How about the people in Uganda that don't have anything to eat today? Does that rate as a news? Or how about the 25,000 children that died last night somewhere other than downtown Oklahoma City? That might be something to notice.

My point is that we are somehow drifting away from the real issues in life and overtly concentrating on much lesser things, and I would add, much to our detrement.`The important things seem to get buried in between the 'fluff' content that is so irrelevant yet so prevelent. How do we get back to seeing and dealing with the real issues and center on things to do that help people in trouble instead of things that only pertain to our comfort?

I know, you're probably saying, "What's gotten John up on his soapbox today?"

I don't really know other than I feel helpless at times when it comes to being really effective in certain areas. We do so little for the hurting and so much for the hurtful. It seems disporportionate, if I spelled that right, and I for one would like to see more effort put into getting to the bottom of real issues rather than playing up the 'fluff''. I know we can do better, I've seen it happen.
On a lighter note, I am excited about working with Jack. His 'right down to it' sense of doing things reminds me of my grandmother. Her approach was always straight forward and to the point, never pulling any punches and forever the disciplinarian. I don't know which of them would be considered to have the better attention to detail ratio. I would call it a tie and go from there. Even though Nanny has been gone for quite some time now, I still look back to visions of her reactions to things I did or did not do. It can be inspiring and yet sting. Her usual reaction was physical and immediate, but I know she had my best interest in mind. At least I like to think that was the case. Its far more inspiring to leave it that way than to go another direction.
In the end, we can make a difference if we try. There shouldn't have to be 'Soapboxers' like me calling attention to the 'driftin'.