So, there I was in Rockville driving 30 mph as the sign says I should. I was nearing a speed light camera and I was third or fourth in line at the four-way stop sign when the young woman behind me began honking her horn. Then she pulled around me, flashed me the most famous finger which is either an insult or a proclamation and headed on down the road.
I was hoping she’d get a ticket, but she didn’t.
For the longest time I obsessed about this incident. It angered me as I remembered it. It made me seethe. I could think of nothing else.
Then I remembered something.
A few weeks ago I lamented how as a culture we seem to be taken by the most inane news items and ignore those things which are far more important.
Perhaps because it is easier to digest fluff than meat we find ourselves as a culture enamored by the movements of pseudo-celebrities whose only claim to fame is their fame while we ignore things of great importance. Perhaps it’s easier to get angry about things you can’t do anything about and which in the end mean nothing.
Certainly it is less painful to some – not me mind you – but some to read about Justin Bieber or the Kardashians or the new show “Gotham” (It’s so cool I’ve been told) rather than read about the Ebola virus and the strife in the Middle East with ISIS.
Perhaps that’s because as with any really terrifying or potentially world shattering event there is ultimately a slant to the news, a twist or perhaps someone starts screaming about conspiracies.
Meanwhile, at least in the case of the Ebola virus, the virus really doesn’t care what we think. Okay neither does ISIS.
Both go about their job effectively killing approximately 70 percent of the people they infect.
The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta can say how safe we all are, but the last few weeks have shown in a dramatic fashion this may not be the case – when talking about Ebola.
One, no two, no wait a minute three confirmed cases in the U.S. and perhaps hundreds of people potentially infected by the latest victim of the virus who traveled on an airliner a day before being diagnosed with Ebola.
Didn’t anybody see the movie “Outbreak?”
I guess people – at least some – are convinced conspiracy is behind everything we see because it is hard to fathom we as a people – and our government specifically – are that stupid.
But never attribute to design what can be accounted for by a lack of intelligence and so here we are.
Perhaps we will be reduced to burning our villages and towns to save ourselves – or perhaps next year we’ll all be starring (at least those of us still alive) in a real-life Zombie Apocalypse.
Which brings me to the next point; there are people who actually believe some of the victims of the Ebola virus got up after being declared dead and are now walking among us.
For the record one should note that in all of human history there is only one person who is actually credited with rising from the dead three days after dying and a whole religion began due to this claim – which more than half the world still denies.
So, I’m not making bank on any of the victims of Ebola jumping up out of their moldering graves and fly invested burial ditches to ravage the still-living.
I would, however, like to see people take the threat of Ebola with a little more alacrity than a loss of cell phone service and a bad waiter at a local restaurant.
For that matter there are a whole lot of things I’d love to see people take more seriously – peace on earth, good will toward man, exercising the right to vote, global warming, evolution, civil rights for everyone, and growing your own vegetables.
You can also take the passing lane on the Interstate highway a little more seriously and I’d be very happy.
While we’re at it I’d like to see the NFL taken a little less seriously, along with the Zombie Apocalypse, all things Kardashian and the college playoff system.
I mean it would be nice to waste my time getting angry about bad drivers passing me in dangerous situations, but with Ebola and ISIS out there where do you think we should be spending our time?
You can fritter away your time at fluff, or hack away at the meat of the problem. As a carnivore I know where I’m going.
