It makes me sore and so irate when I watch the news. The news makes me notice how ignorant and heartless people can seem to be. I mean, you think you’ve got it all figure out and all. People, some are good, some are bad, some are in between. But you never ever get it perfect because there are just some events and people that don’t fit in any of they groups simple because they don’t give a damn. The news has given me many reasons to be like those people. Those ignorant people. The kind of people that can watch the news and shrug it off as ‘part of life’. The news can be so phony and the news can be so devastating sometimes. Sometimes the news is just information that we don’t care about or need to know. For instance, there was this one time. I was just washing the dishes, contemplating about the stupidity of certain school assignments in my humble yet haven-like home. And since I am actually willing to take the time to tell you, you’d better read this. But it’s not like it matters to me. It doesn’t. Don’t read it if you don’t want to.

Anyway, I was washing the dinner off the plates. Almost completely bored out of my mind, I scrubbed away at the pasta remnants. I looked up absentmindedly, and glanced at the TV. There was this mahogany-haired woman with lips the color of bubble-gum flavored medicine. And then, there in my damn haven-like living room was a slow-motion plane crash that had happened in Indonesia. I thought, ‘can’t I catch a break?’ I deal with tragedy that happens all around the world and in my life. Even still, I can’t avoid it in my own home. It’s like I am saying, ‘hello! I’ve had enough,’ but no one hears me. Go figure. So, I view the news story, stop washing the plate for a moment to hear the woman and listen.

People, young and old, ran single filed and in groups out of the smoking plane. I heard crying and screaming. One woman was pulled aside by the reporter and she said she was happy just to be alive. The woman kept on smiling, all happy and the like as if a plane wasn’t smoldering one hundred yards behind her. Suddenly, the plane’s front half bursts into flame. People were still trapped on the plane and you could hear the death cries of the trapped passengers. I dropped the dish in shock, my eyes were starting to well up and when the plate smashed onto the floor, I shook my head. The plate didn’t crack or break but that wasn’t what I was concerned about. I couldn’t believe how only a little more than a hundred damn passengers were saved. The flames engulf the entire plane then, and no more escaped. Boy, that actually killed me. It really did. I’m not just joking or lying like some of the jerks at school. I really felt sad for the people. Well, now that I think about it, I remember that I was also very sore at the pilot. I mean, if your plane was flying into the ground would you slam it nose first into a field? I don’t think so. In truth, I don’t think that you will ever pilot a plane so I don’t know what you would do. The pilot probably was scared as hell and did the best he could anyway. I guess I kind of feel bad for him. Not too bad though. It’s hard to feel bad for the pilot when his passengers are burning alive and screaming. Then the worst thing that the news station could have done was done. They changed the news story.

The picture changed and I was so involved I guess I didn’t realize that the kitchen faucet was still pouring out water. These irritating flashy colors spelled out ‘lottery winner’ on the TV. This old guy appeared holding a huge check. “I’m going fishing,” he replied when asked what he was going to do with the money. I practically puked at that. Come on. Really. I was so sore I almost screamed. I felt like I would throw my TV out of the window. But I knew TVs are expensive and I’d get in trouble and all. The news-station is so full of phonies! I turn the TV off with obvious exasperation. I don’t get it. How do people all over this ‘live free or die’ state watch this and shrug the plane crash off and think, ‘someone won the lottery’? It seemed like people everywhere are placing money over people’s lives. Really, it did. I swear sometimes that everything has a price. And when you think about it, even love and the lives of our brethren have a price. Okay, so technically the people all over the world are not our actual blood-related brothers. That isn’t much of an excuse to shrug off something as important as the lives of others. Everyone comes from a mother and everyone has the right to life. So, why does the news shrug off a plane crash? We can’t exactly blame the news. It’s our fault. They are just trying to get more viewers. They aren’t out to express good morals. If we as the viewers don’t say anything about it, than it is assumed that is okay. Which it is not. If we weren’t so ignorant than we would stand up for the things that we support and tell them not to bring our attention to things that we don’t need to know. Just because the lottery is won a hell of a lot less than people dying, we are ignorant of the fact that people dying is more important than money and material possessions. The part that gives me qualms is that the day after everybody was talking about the lottery winner. What phonies. It just depresses the hell out of me. That’s all.

I finally realized that the water was still running and I picked up the damn fallen dish. I continue the monotonous scrubbing. Sighing, I push my anger and sadness away because I know that my thoughts will never change the world. Only actions change the world. And I don’t have the courage to express my thoughts. Now that I think about it, maybe I am just as phony as everyone else.