Where Have All the Good Guys Gone?
I extend the warmest greetings to you Buzz followers and fellow citizens of Wayne County. It is nearly seventy degrees outside as I write this column. Boy, we sure have had some extremely cold weather this winter. This little break in that artic pattern has been so nice. The weather does not seem to be the only thing that has heated up recently. The rhetoric and actions of our elected officials, in Washington, D. C., appears as if it is about to reach the boiling point. Where will the lid land when they eventually all blow their top? In addition, what will the ramifications of their childish, self-centered, and irresponsible actions be?
I am obviously a product of a more gentile and a more forgiving era. My generation grew up watching Gun Smoke, Bonanza, Andy Griffith, Father Knows Best, and Lassie. There were important life lessons to be gleaned from such shows. Andy, Matt, and Ben could always be depended upon to do the right thing. It did not matter as to whether it was the easiest, the most financially rewarding, or the most career oriented decision. They seemed compelled to do that which was right regardless of the consequences. I could always depend upon The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry to do that what was decent, honest, and that which would benefit the greater majority. Where have all the larger than life figures of my youth gone?
Where are our heroes, those rare individuals that both children and adults can look up to? Am I not looking close enough? Do such people still exist? Am I, perhaps, not looking in the right places? Have old fashioned values such as integrity, honesty, and responsibility run their course? Am I so much out of touch with reality that my thoughts and feelings have become obsolete?
It may just be that I am lost in a time warp. I can’t identify with Survivor, Big Brother, Hell’s Kitchen, The Bachelor, or Judge Judy. We may live, all too often, in a dog eat dog world. But, that doesn’t mean I have to be a part of it. What about you? Are you willing to think for yourself, make your own decisions, and accept the consequences of those choices? I am reminded of the lyrics of that familiar song of my youth: “where have all the good guys gone.” Perhaps you and I would do well to mull that over. With all that being said, as always, until we next meet, be of good cheer.
