There always seems to be a few who really hate me and are not afraid to tell me so. Those few that I have come into contact with or otherwise met seem like the type that are angry with everyone and everything.
I am not sure what makes them this way, but the fact that I am a “politician” does help the matter. After all, what do most of us read in the newspapers virtually every day? Various pols being arrested, indicted, accused, and just plain vilified by the press.
I for one view anyone elected by the people, who finds a way to steal or otherwise abuse his/her position to be among the lowest of the low. Of course I make some enemies every time I vote for anything in my position as vice mayor. You just can’t help but alienate at least a few people with everything that you do. I would much prefer being loved by everyone but that is not about to happen.
If you are reading this column you know that I have a penchant for humor, especially the tongue-in-cheek type. A lot of what I write I fear goes over the heads of some people. My home editor constantly warns me of this.
A good example is when I wrote a column featuring the song What’s the Matter With Kids Today. She told me that most people would not remember the song or the musical that it came from. Of course she was right, as always, but I still go on.
Generally I see myself as a friendly little curmudgeon that nobody should be able to hate, especially for what I write in this newspaper. When I had my radio show, it was a different scenario. Then I was able to hang up on people that I disagreed with and flush them down my toilet with a sound effect that I had. Boy was that fun. Yes there are times that I wish I had that sound effect when I am on the dais but I am not allowed. Perhaps that is a good thing.
As to why people become so hateful, it baffles me. Yes, I sometimes hate people. My sergeant in basic training for example. Once I passed basic, I forgot about Sgt. Varner (even forgot his name) that miserable %$*&%^! But I moved on and for the most part try to find some good in people that most others hate. It is hard to do sometimes but most, not all, the time you can find a little bit of good.
When I worked in my father’s factory some years ago, there was a little sign hanging on the wall that said, “There’s a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best of us, so it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us.” For some reason that has stuck in my head all these years. I guess the economy, the daily news reports, the Taliban, etc., is enough to make anyone angry but don’t take it out on your friends and neighbors.
It seems a shame but I remember from my days as a retail salesman, that I could have a hundred pleasant and nice customers in a given day but that one jerk who just couldn’t be satisfied was the one who I remembered that night.
Unfortunately, the same happens to me now. Not a day passes when someone doesn’t come up to me on the street to thank me for bringing a smile to their face with my articles but the one jerk is the one that I remember the most. It’s a shame!
Well, what do you think about a new TV show called Everybody Loves Ernie? I can be reached, good or bad, at Community@sochin.com.
Visit my website at www.sochin.com
