I wrote this several weeks ago, but I couldn’t decide whether to post it or not, but this morning, again, as I walked through the living room I heard the news report that there was a shooting in Brooklyn, but guess what was next: An updated picture of Rihanna — still pregnant — in a multi-colored bodysuit and a full report on how she was doing. I decided to give her the same title as I had in my Word document. If they want to give her so much news time, then I’ll follow suit with my blog. Following is my original title:

My Last Complaint List*

I would first like to apologize to all Ukrainians for this rant.  It’s unfathomable to me what they’re going through, but here I go anyway because I’m so pissed off about so many things.

A few weeks ago, I walked through the living room where our television was on.  I try to not watch the news, but this caught my eye:

I saw the singer Rihanna walking down the street with her boyfriend.

Rihanna’s coat was open, and her belly was exposed.  She wore a very large medallion or necklace that hung down to her belly.  Rihanna was showing all of us that she was pregnant!  I was SO excited!  Not.

That was the headline on ABC News, and there followed an entire segment about the fact that she was pregnant and how wonderful that was.

A couple of days before that, I heard our ex-president say something like, “You know what?  If I’m elected in 2024, I think I’ll pardon all those people that are in jail because they stormed the capitol.”  This is not to mention the fact that he thinks Putin is a genius.

No mention of that statement was in any segment of the news the following week.

Instead, we found that Rihanna was pregnant.

What happened to the news?  When did it change from the simple “reporting” of the news and become a celebration of so many nonsensical events?  Where is Walter Cronkite?  Oh yeah, dead.

There’s celebrity news, cooking, shopping, singing and dancing but very little actual news.  If they told the truth every day about what was really going on around the world, maybe we’d have a better world.  We would be reminded daily about what the truth is instead of distracting ourselves with cooking, shopping, singing, dancing and congratulating Rihanna.

What happened to our knowledge of history?  Several years ago, I asked my 25-year-old co-worker something about Robert Kennedy.  He had no idea who that was.  That was appalling to me.

More importantly, what has happened to our packaging?  I can’t open anything anymore without a chisel and a hammer.  Why does ravioli have to be made so safe?

Why do I get an email or text asking me how I would rate the person I just talked to in customer service about 10ten seconds after we’ve hung up?

Why can I not look at a website without a box popping up that asks me – before I’ve looked at any product – if I want a discount of 15%  and then states “So you don’t want to take advantage of this discount by signing up and then getting twenty emails a day from this company, you idiot?”  

How can I tell the hospital survey where I just was with my husband  that, yes, their hospital was pretty clean and everyone was polite, but that the security in the lobby of the hospital just checked my temperature and asked me for my vaccination card and my driver’s license and then sent me to the COVID ward instead of the recovery room?  

And what about those saccharin customer reps thanking me for my patience every thirty seconds and wouldn’t I like to go get a cup of coffee or a sandwich if this solving of my problem is taking a while?  A sandwich?

Other Thoughts:

Why didn’t I keep up with the sorting and storing of all the pictures in our life? My sister recently sent me a scrapbook she found in which my mother kept not only pictures, but every birthday card I got from age infant on?

Why can’t I find my glasses?

Yes, I’m grateful for many things in my life – primarily the fact that I don’t live in Ukraine or Syria, and any number of other places going through similar things.  What a long list I would have if I named them all.

A character in a movie I watched last night said, “Why is that whenever there is some kind of territorial dispute, men turn to gunpowder to settle it?”  

Yes, why?

The End

Sorry.

*Maybe not.

p.s.  I found my glasses.  Don’t even ask.