In The Spot Light

In this day and age of instantaneous news, it is amazing how many spectacular events are "in the spotlight."  Last week's tornado outbreak with the hundreds of deaths and untold numbers of injuries, and property damage of untold value.  I learned about this news story from The Weather Channel.

The "wedding of the century" between Prince William and Kate Middleton was another international media event. While I have seen or heard snippets of coverage on TV, the newspaper, the radio, and the Internet, I did not follow the story closely, nor watch the event.  I know this is a public couple and the publicity is to be expected, and maybe, hoped for, but I do not wish to follow their private lives.

The killing of Osama bin Laden is another international news story that I missed until the next day, because I was not watching TV nor listening to the radio.  I was on the computer, but not on the Internet, so I missed out until I was going to work the next morning. 

Many of the "big news" stories are peripheral to my life.  Am I a "bad citizen" because of that?  I hope not.  I get a hard copy of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal.  I read the headlines of the Greenfield Recorder,  the New York Times, and the Austin Statesman on line. So, I see the headlines, and a get information from a variety of perspectives.

I just do not study the news nor immerse myself in it.  I want to be informed, but I find the news distressing and depressing.  And, sometimes, I feel like a voyeur into the lives of people who are in the news.  I think some of them do not mind, because they put their stories out there. But, I mind. I do not want to know their personal, private business.  I deal with the personal, private lives of patients everyday.  I guess that meets my quota.

I am on Facebook, and I will tell you, I really am a voyeur there. I rarely post on my own page, and only seldom comment in someone else's.  I am thankful that my younger relatives share their lives so freely, as it has been a way for me to get to know them and keep up with their lives. 

I am just not that interested in sharing things with so many people.  If you want to know, send me an email, and ask.  If I am repeating myself, I know how to cut and paste, so it is not boring or tedious to me to answer you. But my life does not need to be in the spotlight.