The joys, or perhaps annoyances, of technology is that it’s
very easy to keep up with what’s happening on the home front.
The recent exchange of comments on the soapbox better known
as AOL Patch has been, well, interesting.
It’s bothersome that the story about the July 9th board
meeting ran week after the meeting, which, coverage aside, did little more than
open up the flood gates once again.
I was thinking about while plucked down in a lounge at JFK
while waiting for a flight home after an intensive two-week seminar.
What helped me return to the reality is an airport
announcement in the JetBlue terminal. “Ladies
and gentlemen, please welcome home members of our armed forces who are wounded
warriors.”
And then, above the drone of two TVs and the hustle and bustle
of JFK Airport, I heard it.
Applause.
A Hispanic woman sitting near me went flying to join
in. I followed.
It was down the concourse, but everyone was watching and
applauding the returning troops.
And there won’t be an online comment about it. Odds are no one will voice a comment about it
at City Council or Village Board meeting.
They just applauded and said thanks.
We’ve become wrapped up in inconsequential issues and many
people have entered in a game of she said—so I want to say. It’s certainly their right.
The total consumption is mind boggling. I do not post anonymous comments --- if you
want to know what I think, look no further than this blog.
Should I blog about every time Lisa Stone appears at a
Village Board meeting or every time she posts an inane comment? Probably not. After three plus years, Lisa
Stone is Lisa Stone. We know her he
obsession with topics (I hesitate to call them issue) and her less than gentle
remarks about village board members and those who dare to criticize her. It’s nothing new.
What is “new” are some the tangents she seems to be going
on, which rattle up those who comment in response. Stone doesn’t like it, but it seems to be a
case of “you live by the sword, you die by the sword.”
The Patch’s inane policy of “teasing” to online comments on
its home page is insane. More and more
media outlets are looking at ways of curtailing rants in their online
editions. But not AOL.
That’s one of the “joys” of technology. Interesting, isn’t it – you submit a letter
to a major newspaper for publication and they verify it. You want throw daggers at your fellow
residents, and that’s OK.
For some outlets, especially those exclusively online, they
regale in those comments because it builds numbers, which can transform into
big bucks – even if it means running “old news.”
So once again issues of little consequence and a continued
helping of refried beans dominate.
Maybe it has become such an obsession that some people can’t
see the forest through the trees.
Or hear the applause for those who truly deserve the
attention.
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