‘I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s gotta? be a little rain, sometime. . .?
— a song some country and western chick
sang in the early 1970s
I don’t know why that song popped into my head when I sat down at the trusty keyboard to type this gem of a column. But it did, so there it is. It kinda (in a very twisted yet simple way) fits with the general direction I wanted to go this week.
That being the news is the news and there’s no way around that premise. Sometimes it’s nice, other times it really sucks.
When the news sucks it sucks for all — those immediately affected, those who report and those who read. Were it a horserace, it’d be a trifecta of suckiness. And the suckiness doesn’t go away with the printing of subsequent editions. If it sucks today, it’ll keep sucking tomorrow and all tomorrows to come.
As a community newspaper, we often look to the past. We look to see what annual events take place. What anniversaries we need to cover. And, we also run community news from the pages of yesteryear. Sometimes we call it ‘Peeking in the Past,? sometimes, ‘Looking Back;? sometimes, ‘A Look Back.?
Whatever it’s called, it’s a look back to the past. It’s a repeat of front page news. Most of the, time it’s about funny things or local achievements. It’s a way to get names back into the newspaper. Sometimes the news and names repeated aren’t very funny.
Every so often, when we repeat news a-la-suck in the ‘peeking? type column, we are contacted. Last week a lovely local lady (I’ll leave her name anonymous) e-mailed me and it went something like this:
‘Hi Don!
‘I just wanted to e-mail you about a concern that I had with the May 18th issue, specifically the ‘A Look Back? section?? She explained the sucky news item, then continued:
‘I don’t understand why the decision is made to put such a horrific, family tragedy in. This was a devastating event for a woman that still lives in (the area) and I can’t imagine what good will come of it running.?
I believe I e-mailed her something very pithy yet poignant. (I’m sure it came off smarmy, self-serving and smart-alecky. I know, I know: I suck.) Since my short term memory ain’t what it used to be and since I didn’t copy my full-of-wisdom-note back to her, I’ll put it to all this way.
The peeking into the past type columns are glimpses into the news gone by. It’s a way we all can remember. A way we can remember the good, the bad and the ugly about our communities. When bad and or ugly things happen, unless they happen to you, they are forgotten over time. If the bad/ugly happens to you, you never forget. You come to deal with it, or you bury it, but you never forget it.
When my Aunt Delores Rush died a few months ago, the priest said something I thought true and sort of relevant here. When somebody we love dies, for the next year, folks who love us often don’t bring up the dead in conversation. For a year, folks will avoid the subject of the dear and departed, for fear of hurting the bereaved.
What this does, the priest said, is cheat the bereaved of a chance to talk, cry and feel with others they care about, about the one they lost.
The point is, running (or rerunning) suckiedoolittle news doesn’t change the facts. In fact, however, it may help keep a person’s memory alive. It may touch another to call a past-bereaved for no other reason than to say, ‘I remember, too. If you want, let’s go get a cup of coffee and remember the good times.?
Maybe that’s just the Don Rush way of looking at sucky things — silver-linings and all. So, there it is, folks. Another gem of a column. Yep, and darn educational too, because now you know how we choose items for the looking back-type features.
(Actually, in this column, I just wanted to see how many times I could type suck and all forms of suck. I counted 14 sucks — make that 15.)
Your thoughts and comments go to Don this way: dontrushmedon@aol.com