Choosing my first blog post was like the proverbial “kid in a candy store” dilemma. My thoughts darted from sweet to bitter to spicy.. until I caught sight of my chosen type of mind candy. I paused before the chosen “one” and multitudes of questions rushed through my head. Just how many pieces of the candy could I afford? How long would each piece last? Should I gobble them all down at once or spread them out over a several sessions? How would I describe to others how they look, smell, and taste to me? Suddenly my mind’s peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a different candy, and I was drawn to a new chosen “one”. My thoughts flitted around between all the new chosen “ones” until it is was impossible to choose between them. Holding out my arm and pointing with my index finger, I closed my mind’s eye and started spinning in my thought store. Overcome by dizziness, I collapsed on the floor and opened my mind’s eye. To my dismay, I was not pointing at a candy but at an empty space on the shelf. In disgust with my inability to choose a candy, I stomped out of the store and postponed the decision.
Over the next few days as I went about my life, I was inundated with thought candy everywhere that I went. I listened to radio and browsed the internet, while endless visions of different thought candies filled my mind and overwhelmed me. It was time to procrastinate the decision once again.
As with so many others over the last few years, my financial situation has declined. The old adage, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” has become “the rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer.” The middle class is shrinking. More and more people have become economic cast-offs. As a result of this economic dilemma, I have chosen one “paid” source for media entertainment and current world events. The internet was settled on at this time, as it offered the most volume of “thought candy ” for my limited money. Then the moment of serendipity occurred. I was stunned, as I suddenly realised it was possible in the world’s current economic climate change, that I might lose my paid internet access to media and current world events. My topic was chosen: Should internet access be free? If my internet access was curtailed or ended, how would I freely obtain information and differing opinions about local, national,and international news or events? These two questions alone open the flood gates for countless other questions about the news media and the internet. The quest has begun.
The Castoffs' Blog 