A FOX News survey shown just now on the channel asked participants: "Is the country better off now than it was twenty years ago"?
A shocking (to me) 58% of the respondants said that it was. Just 38% said the country was worse than in 1987.
Let's see, what did we have in 1987? President Ronald Reagan underwent prostate surgery, and then got embroiled in the arms-for-hostages deal... Senator Gary Hart's involvement with Donna Rice became headlines... Reagan tells Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall... Northwest Flight 255 crashes in Detroit (mechanical failure, not terrorism)... Black Monday hits Wall Street in October... and yes, we did have the bombing of the USS Stark in the middle of the Iran/Iraq war, but we were basically offering assistance, not caught in the middle of things.
In 1987, were we into our fourth year of being buried in Iraq? Did we have a president who made consistent boneheaded decision after boneheaded decision? Did we have national headlines just because Michigan wanted to move up its presidential primary date? Was the security of the country in question? Was the United States embroiled in every matter in the Middle East? Were gas prices above $3 per gallon?
How can it be said that we are better off?
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At least the household things are better off today: budgeting is done, laundry is done, the car is fixed (it had no heat for a couple days), and Steve is actually using a car to get some running done at his sister's house.
* I'm worried about Jenni: we haven't talked much lately and she is under undue stress. I am hoping she calls soon. A conversation would be good therapy even if I didn't deem it the necessity it is. It's not good to bottle frustration up. We'll have to work on it.
* Garden City has its Santa parade today and the municipal channel is covering it live over cable. Boy was I tempted to walk over there and talk to some of them about possibly getting back into TV again. Alas, even if hired on-the-spot, what would that result in? I just tuned in the channel and it's scrambled more than a pay-per-view channel is! So much for any hope of a video resume begun, even in the best-case scenario.
* Thanksgiving at work was super-busy; I booked more than I do in an average day. What was more surprising was yesterday: only one run in 12 hours involved bringing Christmas packages, etc., home from a store. The parking lots were crowded, but the roads were relatively smooth.
That's unlike how I remember most of the shopping days after Thanksgiving. I'll be unbiased and call it "Super Friday". When did the term "Black Friday" become vogue? "Black Friday" has racial undertones... if not that, "Black" days, I thought, always referred to bad stock market days. A better term for the day would be nice.
