Big Apple Blog

As time passes by, I become more disenchanted with television news. I have been trying to wean myself of TV news but I still let some of it filter into my life. The funny thing is that most of the “news” seems almost comical to me. The latest example comes from the Today Show this morning.

I guess in the past few days a lady was trying to drive her car through a flash floor and her car was enveloped in the water. She and the car went under and miraculously someone was able to pull her out and save her life. This is a nice story.

The ridiculous thing to me was this morning when an anchor said with a straight face something the effect of, “Next we will have a very important story on what you need to know if your car goes underwater. Stay tuned.”

Hmmmm. If my car goes under water; now there’s something I find myself worrying about each day. I’m no statistician, but me thinks the chances are slim. How about newsies actually addressing issues that affect people each and EVERY DAY? Issues such as pollution, reliance on fossil fuels, access to education and health care, money management, the astounding rate of cancer and what is causing it, the possible downside to genetically modified foods, etc.

The problem with covering stories like this is that they focus on some type of sacrifice. Americans inherently do not want to sacrifice. We don’t sacrifice to solve problems, we spend to solve problems. Our government is a prime example. Got a problem with terrorism? Let’s spend billions to invade. Let’s not take the time to understand root causes and reach out, let’s build a military machine. Got a problem with oil production? Let’s rip apart national park land. Never mind that the sun and wind pretty much are around each day and we could invest in solar and wind power at much less expense to the environment.

What I wish for is a news network that not only reports every day tragedies, but follows each story with a short examination of the possible causes and solutions to the tragedy. Did a person get shot in a drive by shooting? What is the economic situation in the area where the person was shot? Are government agencies addressing social and educational issues where the incident happened? Where can people get together to discuss such issues? How about a little follow up people?

But in the end I realize the chances of such a news network or news show is, well, about as likely as me getting sucked under water in a car – and I ride a bike to work every day.

About two years ago I was in Panama City, Florida for a business meeting with the student loan corporation Sallie Mae. After a long day of staring at people talk it was time for dinner. A large group of people congregated at a local restaurant and I found myself on the opposite end of the table of a very boisterous individual. His voice was loud, his smile infectious, and it was easy to tell he enjoyed life and wanted everyone around him to do so as well. I was sorry I was not sitting near him because he seemed to tell story after story.

As dinner concluded and people started to stand up the gentleman not so surprisingly boomed, “Hey, the night is young, who wants to hang out for drinks?” I raised my hand and we took a seat at the bar. It was hard for me not to notice that he was sporting a carry all, or what was referred to as a as a “Man Purse” on Seinfeld. He introduced himself as Vince and it was off to the races with stories.

It did not take long for him to mention that he was bound for L.A. to discuss a movie about his life with Disney. I thought, “Oh boy, this guy has had too many drinks.” He went on to say that he had made it into the NFL after an open try out. It seemed like a very tall tale so I asked some more in depth questions and he was able to describe in vivid detail several of the players I asked questions about. It seemed that this Man Purse toting dude was telling the truth. I could not help but ask him to pose for a picture as we departed.

About a year later I was watching a news program and I recognized the dude they were interviewing – Vince Papale. They ran about a five minute segment on his life being made into a movie. Today the movie opens. From my short time with Vince I can tell you that he is one of those people who wants to suck all he can out of life. For more information about him, you can visit his web site here. Just remember that my web site is the only place where you can see him sporting the Man Purse.

It’s time for the NYC government to step to the plate. At the time this article was written, four cyclists had been killed by cars in ten days. On Sunday, another cyclist was killed. Cars have their own lanes, pedestrians have sidewalks, shouldn’t cyclists have bike lanes? And not bike lanes that cars can drive and park in.