More-or-less random thoughts about modern life and the news:
ANTISOCIAL MEDIA: You know you need a break from social media when you find yourself refraining from commenting on someone elseƵs post with, ƵThat is the stupidest thing you have ever said in a long, long history of saying of stupid things.Ƶ
OK, that was an exaggeration, but not by much.
ThatƵs happened to me at least twice in the past two weeks. Whether the other person is sharing their own thoughts or sharing a meme they picked up somewhere, you must resist the urge to tell them what you really think.
IƵm not the only one who has to do this, right?
The more I thought about it, the more I understood that my reaction was what the people who write these memes and such want. They want to divide us along political lines to where we canƵt stand to be around people who think differently from us. Agitation among the masses is good for their cause and their income stream.
I do need that break from social media, though.
SAIL ON BY: The passenger vessel American Heritage passed Huntington Tuesday on its way from Maysville, Kentucky, to Marietta, Ohio. This was about a week after another cruise boat, the American Melody, passed Huntington on its way back down the river after a trip to Pittsburgh.
Both boats are owned by American Cruise Lines, and neither has stops scheduled for Huntington or other cities between Maysville and Marietta this year or next. It would be nice for local people to see these boats up close, but their owners apparently have their reasons for bypassing local towns. Whether these short stops do any more for the town than give people a reason to come down to the riverfront to look at them is debatable.
It was a big deal when the American Queen, the Mississippi Queen and especially the Delta Queen would stop at local riverfronts. None of those boats runs the rivers now. ThereƵs something about a real paddlewheel pushing a boat. When I was a kid and we saw the Delta Queen coming, we would run to the riverbank where a neighbor had a floating dock for his rowboat. WeƵd sit on it with our feet over the side and enjoy the waves from the Delta QueenƵs wake rocking us up and down.
The Belle of Cincinnati will be in Ƶhland and Huntington this weekend for cruises that local people can enjoy. I plan to be on at least one cruise. ItƵs not the same as spending $5,000 or more for a weeklong cruise, but it will do.
COMMAS: After years of trying to understand them, IƵve come to the conclusion that most of the rules for using a comma are strict, but some are flexible and depend on the context of the sentence. Retired English teachers may groan at how they are used in newspapers, but we try our best. From my experience, any attempt to be 100% precise in your use of commas will end in frustration.
If you react to that by saying, ƵThat is the stupidest thing you have ever said in a long, long history of saying of stupid things,Ƶ then you need a break from social media, too.
Jim Ross is development and opinion editor of The Herald-Dispatch. His email address is jross@hdmediallc.com.
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