The Absent Uncle: ‘Tis the season!
October of 2026 is a wonderment! Truly, ‘tis the season; for unbelievable political ads that just seem to dominate the TV and junk mail. Who pays and profits from this craziness? The never-ending robo calls trying to convince me that I am missing out on some obscure Medicare benefit that I’ve never heard of, and frankly, only exists for a very few, but offers a “foot in the door” for a robo call and the unfortunate person employed to sit, ask a question, and find that this old guy is irritated for receiving the seventh or eighth call that he has no interest in at all. I don’t answer every call, but it goes to voicemail regardless and I try to keep that up to date, so that if a call is important, it won’t get lost in an overflowing mailbox.
Another wonderment of October are the local weatherpersons trying to be the first to let you know the “expected” weather conditions for the trick-or-treaters for the Halloween evening. This seems to start just as the calendar turns from September over to October, climbing in priority day by day. It changes, gets refined, and finally – well - it is what it is – no apologies given.
I can remember from our time in the Wichita area, when Ben was an eager participant in the festivities. We would bulk up the costume as the day got colder or strip it down if it was very warm. And we had it all. Winter coats to shorts and flip flops. We even had a night of six inches of rain. We dealt with it without the assistance of the long-range forecast.
Going back to the first wonderment listed – the political ads, what are our children (and even scarier, our grandchildren) taking away from this bawdy behavior? That this demeanor and language is to be accepted as normal? It certainly was not like this when I was growing up. These rascals wouldn’t have had a chance. Unfortunately, we seem to have a new normal developing right before our eyes.
Thankfully, the local politicians have not gone to the extremes that the House, Senate, Governor, and other higher office races have gravitated towards. So far. My read is that the local officials have to be seen in the grocery store, churches, the neighborhood, and job circumstances, so credibility shouldn’t/can’t be put out for questioning within the community. I hope we can keep it that way for the generations that follow. Civility is paramount. Winning is not everything – integrity and truth must be maintained in our communities.
