I watched a lot of TV new coverage this month: the earthquake in Nepal, the riots in Baltimore, the train wreck in Philadelphia. Too much, as a matter of fact. It\u2019s something we do when there\u2019s a protracted crisis and the media sinks its teeth into it. They stir up a lot of emotions: horror, fear, anger, sadness, hope, despair and pride. It runs the gamut; it\u2019s almost too much to comprehend.<\/p>\n
The human machine can only handle so many emotional swings in so short a period of time. Most people who follow the coverage of these events reduce their emotional build up by discussing the situation with friends and family. It\u2019s the healthy thing to do. Old coots join in on the discussion to a limited degree; after all, we are nearly human. But, our attention wanders from the event at hand, to the media process. We critique the performance of the reporters and announcers. We can\u2019t help it; it\u2019s a trait in our DNA that kicks in when we get our first Social Security check.<\/p>\n
I notice that a lot of reporters use the \u201cWe\u2019re out of time\u201d technique. It\u2019s something they do when they interview someone who doesn\u2019t give them the answers they expect. They ask a local goober who has wormed his way to the front of the crowd a question. I guess, \u201cAsk\u201d is an incorrect use of the verb. In actuality, they make a long speech designed to get a response that matches their preconceived opinion, put a question mark at the end of it and shove a mike in front of Joe Goober\u2019s face. The second his response wanders from where the reporter wanted it to go, you hear, \u201cWe\u2019re out of time.\u201d They all do it; the \u201cBig Three\u201d networks, that back off after a few days, and the cable networks, that stay with the story for weeks.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m critical of the technique, but more jealous than critical. Jealous that I didn\u2019t stumble on it earlier in life and use it to get out of sticky situations. I sure would have come in handy when I was called on in class in third grade. The school was overcrowded so they moved five of us ahead from 2nd grade to 3rd grade to even up the class sizes. I found myself standing next to my desk, trying to spell the ten words assigned for the week. The teacher wanted to see what kind of speller I was. The first word was \u201ccity.\u201d I was elated. This was a word I could surely spell; at least I\u2019d get one right. \u201cCity,\u201d I said, and then continued, “S-I-T with an E on the end.\u201d This was met with a roar from the class. At that very second I should have said, \u201cWell, that\u2019s all the time we have,\u201d and sat down. Instead, I was forced to stand there and provide comic relief to the class as I misspelled my way through the rest of the list.<\/p>\n
I would have loved to use the technique when the principal confined me to her office for a week, having been guilty of daring Billy Wilson to light a match in the school library. It wasn\u2019t my fault he took the dare and then stupidly tossed the lit match into the wastebasket catching the school paper inside on fire and forcing the evacuation of the school.<\/p>\n
I can think of a thousand places where I could have minimized my misery if I\u2019d been smart enough to use the \u201cWe\u2019re out of time\u201d technique. But, I am thankful that I\u2019m aware of its value now. As an old coot, I need it more than ever: when I get yelled at for unloading a full cart at the \u201cseven items or less\u201d counter at the supermarket, when the cop says he clocked me at 76 MPH, when the bill comes at the restaurant and dozens of other awkward situations I find myself in, I meekly say, \u201cI\u2019m sorry; we\u2019re out of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Complaints? Comments? Leave them at mlessler7@gmail.com.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I watched a lot of TV new coverage this month: the earthquake in Nepal, the riots in Baltimore, the train wreck in Philadelphia. Too much,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n