SURPRISE TOPIC - WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

PLEASE NOTE THAT MOVING FORWARD, MY MONDAY EVENING BLOG POST SCHEDULED RELEASE TIME HAS CHANGED FROM 8:30 pm EST, to 10:30 pm EST. - Thank you

The reason for this change is as follows. Some of you may be aware that during the school year, I volunteer to work with a student creative writing class. Due to schools being out of session, and my desire for our young people not lose interest, I am doing virtual classes for my students two nights a week. This has required me to have to move my blog post release time from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm EST on Monday evenings. Thank you for understanding.

INTRODUCTION:

Over the past two weeks I have received numerous emails requesting I speak about this topic, in one form or another. No apologies. If the shoe fits wear it, because like it or not, I call it the way I see it. With that, MUST come the responsibility of understanding human nature, and why people do things. Here we go.

PEOPLE:

There are varying degrees of people. However, we can break them down into basic categories.

Intelligent

Stupid

Ignorant

Idiots.

Most consider themselves in the intelligent category. The truth is, most fit into the ignorant category, and in many cases, some intelligent ones seem to slip into it as well. With this presence of COVID-19, this is probably a good time to talk about this topic. But first, let's BRIEFLY define each.

Intelligent people are associated with those that have a high degree of knowledge. We also perceive intelligent people as being responsible and level-headed individuals. Well, NOT SO MUCH in many cases.

Stupid people are associated with those whom we perceive as NOT have a high degree of intelligence or common sense.

Ignorant people are also viewed as lacking knowledge, but are also unsophisticated. The later is usually determined by their actions.

Idiots are people we associate with doing stupid things when they know better.

The truth is, at some point, all of us fall into each category depending on the situation. Look at some political social media posting wars between friends, or what our politicians do.

OTHER FACTORS:

Some other determining factors are:

Logic

Emotions

Common Sense

Logical people traditionally do not allow emotions to affect their decisions.

Emotional people traditionally allow emotions to dictate their decisions.

Common Sense people, in my opinion, and the studies show this to be true, are those that can take both logic and emotion and let them enter the equation as needed. These people will almost always make to better choice.

The real question here is, which are you? In the case of COVID-19, people are scared. Not only about the disease, but also about the economy, their finances, and can they, or will they recover? Each of these questions are real and valid things to be concerned about. It is how we as individuals approach the question and solution that matters. Those that think in common sense, we feel far less stress and manage their personal situations much better.

OUTSIDE INFLUENCES:

Here is what separates the sheep from the Shepard. These influences aggravate me the most. Speaking on COVID-19, EVERY news station sounds like a Domesday report. Why? Because bad news makes for good news. People do not want to hear about Mrs. Jones cat that was rescued from a tree. It's not exciting, it's not news. Yet, let someone hear that xx more number of people dies today over yesterday, and they turn up the volume. How come? First, because they couldn't care less about Mrs. Jones cat, but people dying from a virus COULD possibly affect them. Doesn't that make sense?

HOWEVER, too much reporting is as bad as too little. The politicians of course have to add to the mix. It's an election year. They want your vote. Inaccurate reporting and fake things and rumors that people post are all other issues. We all know the networks that are biased, and frankly, to some degree each one is. YOU MUST know that going into the game. Add them all together, and this is what you have.

INTELLIGENT PEOPLE SORT IT OUT,

STUPID PEOPLE BELIEVE EVERYTHING THEY HEAR AND READ,

IGNORANT PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING,

IDIOTS KEEP DOING ALL THE STUPID THINGS THEY ARE TOLD NOT TO.

Heck, I can't speak for you, but that alone is scary. This is our society. Like it or not, it hasn't changed in decades, which leads me to think it may not for some time to come. Can you navigate these waters?

SUMMARY:

REGARDLESS of what you read, see, or hear, the only approach that works is the COMMON SENSE approach. Common sense dictates that we have qualified and dedicated people working on this. Guidelines are released for a reason. Follow them. For the scientists, this is challenging, for us, it is basic. We cannot change what is. People have been laid off, businesses have closed, many may not survive to reopen if this goes on too long. Many have no income coming in and not enough savings to cover them. IT's difficult at best to stay home 24/7 and keep the children interested, so they don't drive you crazy. All major challenges. However, each of these things, except for you finding ways to stay busy at home, are being addressed. For all of us, not as quickly as we would like. The fact is, that is part of the process. It's what we do with it that counts. Our youth is NOT expected to have the wisdom of those older. They need to get the message. Lets' face it, we were all young once. We all have said, "this will never happen to me."

As much as we would like, we cannot change the dynamics of people. Only they can do that. However, no matter where you fall in life, if you are one of the ones that I stated earlier, if the shoe fits wear it, you know who you are and you own it. Keep this in mind.

1. Never think it can't happen to you. IT CAN.

2. Don't be part of the problem, be part of the solution.

3. Evaluate what you are reading or hearing. Compare it to other reports.

4. Don't be judgmental. Weed through the political fluff that is going around because it's an election year.

5. PRACTICE WASHING HANDS, SOCIAL DISTANCE, and STAY HOME.

Thank you, Caesar Rondina