Maybe it’s sleep apnea induced insomnia that makes me think of silly things in the middle of the night.
Here are some of them.
• I’ve never, not ever even once, gone to Cracker Barrel and ordered the logo. I love, love, love, me some broccoli cheddar chicken, the Wednesday special. I've also been fond of their chicken tenders and hamburger steak and shrimp plate. I love the ol’ time atmosphere. But, I’ve never eaten a copy of the logo. I understand folks got upset at the proposed change to the logo and the uproar caused the company to change it back to the old one. Methinks, perhaps, too many of us are just sitting around looking for something to be upset about. I hated it, absolutely hated it, when Cracker Barrel added beer, wine and liquor to their menu.
I wish people would be passionate about getting that removed. Sweet tea is just fine. See last week’s column to find out why. Anything harder than tea offends me.
• Wouldn’t it be nice to just scroll through your Facebook feed and find it filled with happy thoughts and kind words. Seems like these days, all you get is the latest outrage and political tirade from the right or the left. It is mostly from the right in these parts since local folks subscribe, to the tune of about 90 percent, to one ideology. I get that, but your leader is not a deity and eventually we won’t be well served by being all one thing. We need a viable, two-party system in this nation. Neither of the current ones are working. Every industrialized democracy in the world has more than two political parties. Great Britain, Canada, Israel, India all do. Why don’t we?
• My Grandma often explained things in ways I could understand. She often held Harry S Truman up as a prime example of a true American leader and statesman. A son of the heartland and a good and decent man, Ol' Harry was not always popular, but the decisions he made have held up historically as being in the best interest of all Americans. Grandma said “(Harry Truman) was a nobody from nowhere with nothing and he rose to become the President of the United States. That's the beauty of this country.”
• Sept. 11, Patriot’s Day, is right around the corner. That day, in the horror and terror, we were reminded of those heroes among us who run toward danger, when others run away, those who go above and beyond to save and help others and those who serve to keep us all safe. I hope you will remember that about that day and not all the terribleness of it.
• You know, it seems like we should pay our public safety personnel at least what professional athletes and entertainers make. Wouldn’t that be something? Why does someone need a hundred cabillion dollars for catching a ball on the gridiron or hitting a ball just 30 percent of the time on the diamond and being in the hall of fame. And, who cares about the Kardashians or Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. For what it’s worth Grandma thought the offense here was people lying about sports salaries. We had this discussion once about a famous Braves player. She said it was all a lie and they ought to be ashamed of themselves. Her explanation? No one has ever sat down and counted out the actual millions of dollars in pay to give to this player. 'They just report that to make it sound big. They just like to brag.' That was a bad thing, too. Maybe she was onto something. It is, after all, just paper.
• One thing you won't be seeing on paper much longer is the state’s flagship newspaper, the venerable Atlanta Journal -Constitution. It is not a surprise that newspapers are struggling. The one you are reading right now is struggling, too. Higher and higher newsprint costs and poorer and poorer delivery service from the post office has teamed up with the digital age and local websites and fake keyboard journalists to make it almost impossible for us to stay in business. Maybe you don't like me or The Times. That's fine. But, I do try to get the news to you accurately, fairly and timely. I work hard at that.
We may not always get it right, but our goal and commitment to you, our reader, is always to report the news fairly and accurately. Don’t trust the satire. The people who copy our work and share it freely on Facebook are, essentially, stealing from us. I made those phone calls, I worked those sources, I wrote and composed that story and took those pictures, laid it out and printed it or put it online for you. And, all we ask is a $1.50 from you. We put it in one place where you can find it and get all the information we can to you about what is happening in Pierce County. Do you think your local gossip boards do that? Do you think the big tech companies care about the Pierce County Bears or the local recreation department or what’s happening in Blackshear, Offerman, Patterson and Pierce County? No, they do not. In fact, they couldn't find us on a map if Pierce County was circled with a sharpie and written with neon.
• Thank you for listening. I think I can go to sleep now. I can hear the pitter-patter of rain on the roof.
