I know that the world is generally a beautiful place and that it is an extraordinary gift to be alive. It definitely beats the heck out of being dead. However, there are times when one stops to ponder our particular culture and the things we are currently taught to value. Just pick up the TV remote control and surf the cable channel from one to one thousand. Given that there used to be only four channels (all in grainy black and white) that alone would seem to be a blessing. It is not. With the exception of PBS and Law and Order, the choices range from sick to sickening to revolting. I dont think I need to enumerate the shallow, superficial, celebrity obsessed programs millions watch every day. They dont call it the “boob tube” for nothing. What about all the games people play on their “gaming consoles”, iPads and smartphones? It’s difficult to imagine how slaughtering people, dismembering aliens, or stacking up colored boxes makes a person smarter or contributes to our collective intelligence. Still, there may be some distinct advantage in having convenient methods to distract ourselves….from ourselves.

Dont get me wrong. The trees and the animals and nature and some stand-up comedy is still enjoyable and a pleasure to behold. I’m just saying alot of things that are supposed to be entertaining, fun, or funny really are not. I think it’s because we live in a basically “toxic culture” that is making us sick, physically and mentally. Then, when we do get sick, as a result of our vacuous society, skewed values and technologically top heavy lives, we get funneled into a depressing and impersonal healthcare system. We dont need medical robots in the future because most doctors are already that way due to economic and administrative pressures nowadays. The last time I saw my primary care physician, I had to literally block the door to keep him from leaving after five minutes. It’s not really his fault. He had dozens of other patients to see and even tho I might imagine him to be Dr. House or Dr. Oz, he’s just a busy doctor trying to pay his bills and not get sued like everyone else.

Folks, I’m not trying to poop on the parade. I’m just trying to remind myself and anyone else that might care… to remember……to care. Caring takes just a second, but does require a certain degree of focus, attention, and well, sincerity. How often do we stop and not just “smell the roses” as they say, but say hello, give a hug, look into someones eyes (not in a creepy way) and remember to be truly human?  I’m guessing it’s because of all the bad news and random violence we read about 24/7 that we have trained ourselves to be interpersonally bi-polar. Either we wave superficially and say, “How you doin’?” to people we dont know (without waiting for an answer) or we keep our heads down and avoid anything that might attract a random sex offender or road raging citizen with an Uzi. I realize there’s no easy cure for all the social ills of a New millennia society with a humongous carbon footprint. I just think we should consider changing what we watch and how we feel and think FIRST and get to the mercury in our teeth later. Not that there’s anything wrong with fixing our teeth. I’m just saying how about we start by smiling with whatever is in our mouth and really mean it.