Living in a dangerous country

I often get the same question from friends and family, and sometimes total strangers who I have just met. When they learn where I live, they ask "But do you feel safe there with all that violence going on?" And in all honesty, I tell them, yes, for the most part I do feel safe.

It is true, the country where I have been living most recently has been racked with some of the worst violence known to mankind. Everyday ... every single day ... there are shootings, and muggings, and carjackings. We see it in the news every night. It seems that almost weekly now, we learn of another horrible incident where a gunman (or gunmen) enters a business or a night club or a school and opens fire killing and injuring dozens of people. It is usually to settle a score, to seek revenge with someone. But almost always, innocent people get caught in the gunfire. Just yesterday was the latest incident that happened not far from where I am living. Another lunatic entered a small beauty salon and murdered eight people. Eight innocent people whose day started off perfectly normal. Eight innocent people who never made it home last night to their children, their loved ones, their families. People just going about living their lives, only to have their lives taken from them by someone most of them did not even know.

At this point, you may be saying, "Yes, I've heard all that. That is the exact image that I have of Mexico. And that is the reason I will not go to Mexico. It is just too dangerous." But I am not talking about Mexico. For the past four months, I have been living back in the United States, and the violence I am seeing here is honestly worse than what I see when I live the rest of the year in Mexico. Mexico is not without its faults, and certainly the drug violence there has taken a tremendous toll with innocent people sometimes falling victim. But in Mexico, it is a war among gangs and armies fighting over territory. In the U.S., it is personal and hateful and based on anger toward fellow human beings. In two weeks, I will return to my Mexico home where indeed, I will feel safer.

You Are Andy Rooney's Successor

Everyone is a writer, everyone has something to say. It's just how well you write it or say it. In essence, that was the parting comment from Andy Rooney during what was his last regular appearance Sunday night on 60 Minutes. His words got me wondering. Who is going to replace Rooney with his weekly rants about everything from paper bags to light bulbs to 9/11?

Here is a guy who self admittedly shouldn't have been on TV ... only his words should have been there. And in fact, that is how it all started for him. Early on writing as a correspondent in WWII, then onto being a writer for Arthur Godfrey, newspapers, books, and eventually 60 Minutes. It was his writings, not his appearance, that made him what he is. It might be a bit of a stretch to say he was the conscience of America, but more often than not, his whiny words were able to ring true with many of the people who watched him regularly. While he apparently did not relish the notoriety that came with being on one of television's more enduring shows, he did love the words he wrote. He was a master at thought.

So, back to the question. Who replaces Andy Rooney? It won't be the blabber mouths on FOX or MSNBC whose whose incessant spewings qualify for little more than diarrhea of the mouth. It likely won't be any great newspaper columnists because, although I hate to admit it, the state of most newspapers today really doesn't allow for any great columnists anymore.

Perhaps I should refer back to what Rooney said last night. Basically, we are all people with thoughts, we are all people who can write. Maybe collectively, we should all take over for Andy Rooney. Take some time each week to write something that is on our minds. Put it on Facebook. Tweet it out. Send it to someone who you think might be interested. While writing sometimes can be a chore, it can also at times be rewarding, cathartic, revealing. I throw down the gauntlet. Write something, share your thoughts and observations, get people thinking and talking. Even if it's about a brown paper bag or a dead light bulb.