{"id":103223,"date":"2024-10-02T08:32:27","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T12:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=103223"},"modified":"2024-10-02T08:32:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T12:32:27","slug":"the-old-coot-is-tired-of-being-a-referee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/10\/02\/the-old-coot-is-tired-of-being-a-referee\/","title":{"rendered":"The old coot is tired of being a referee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">By Merlin Lessler &#8212;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Early voting is underway! Not with ballots, but with yard signs. Back in friendlier days, these signs were better tolerated. People even wore pins \u2013 \u201cI like Ike,\u201d for example, for us old coots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">They walked around with little fear of getting a punch in the nose. A family would drive by a sign in the neighborhood and say, \u201cOh look, Bill is supporting John F. Kennedy. I\u2019m a Nixon fan myself. It\u2019s been a while since we\u2019ve gotten together; we should invite them over for a backyard picnic before the weather turns cold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Not anymore. \u201cOh look, they\u2019re supporting \u2018What\u2019s-its-name.\u2019 What idiots!\u201d \u2013 or \u2013 \u201cOh look, those morons are for Who-you-ma-call-it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">We are extremely divisive in our political positions today. Best friends no longer speak to each other. Family members disconnect. Thanksgiving gatherings turn into a food fight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Signs stir up the same animosity. We should go back to the days when folks didn\u2019t overtly discuss religion or politics. In person, on their shirts and hats, or the front lawn. Sure, it\u2019s a right, guaranteed by the 1st amendment, but now it\u2019s approaching the \u201cyelling fire in a crowded theater\u201d level.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">We can\u2019t look to our leaders for this guidance. We\u2019ve got to get the ball rolling ourselves. Calm down on Facebook, all social media. Many of us like a little of the policies from each side; we\u2019re middle roaders. But right now, it\u2019s like we\u2019re traveling down the road in different directions; any move to the middle causes a head on crash.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Is it so hard to accept that others can have a different position? On issues and candidates? And not think of them as idiots? Maybe? It\u2019s up to us to do it. We need a small child to lead us. The ones who learn in kindergarten how to get along. Afterall, who is more important in your life, some politician in the White house or your family, friends, and neighbors?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Comments? Keep them civil; I know I stirred the pot with this one. That\u2019s what old coots do. Send them to <a href=\"mailto:mlessler7@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mlessler7@gmail.com<\/a>. Or, to the publisher of the paper you read this in.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Merlin Lessler &#8212; Early voting is underway! Not with ballots, but with yard signs. Back in friendlier days, these signs were better tolerated. People&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":82349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The old coot is tired of being a referee - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2024\/10\/02\/the-old-coot-is-tired-of-being-a-referee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The old coot is tired of being a referee - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Merlin Lessler &#8212; Early voting is underway! 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