Silence Can Be Golden

I wrote about basketball last night.

It was a safe post.

It wasn't profound or funny. It was a post about covering basketball, and the joy I felt in it.

It was just safe, and the best way for me to avoid spouting off about politics and the potential for war with Iran and other nonsense.

I've long tried to give you a no-holds barred look at my world and yet there are times when it is good to hold back.

I'm never been dishonest with you. But, truth be told, I don't tell everything. I know that's shocking but I do stay quiet sometimes.

So I decided that I didn't quite have it in me to write a post on those topics that I would be proud of in the hope that it would make you think and create conversation.

Instead, I thought it would create unnecessary discourse.

The left would be mad at me.

The right would be mad at me.

Which is fine and all, but I just didn't want it last night.

I just see and hear too much of what some of my friends say and it bums me out. So I elected to not join in last night. I've watched friendships get destroyed over this and it's just not worth it.

Just talking about Don Imus -- one of the most influential people in my life -- might have cost me personally.

So I kept quiet. I won't always. I did last night.

The sad part is I'm never going to make the hard left and the hard right think or have an appropriate conversation anyway (yes, I'm generalizing).

One side will say "BUT HER EMAILS!" and the other side will hit me with some MAGA nonsense. I'm generally sick of all of it. The divide makes me nuts.

The fact is, thankfully, our world has not exploded like the Death Star. That being said, I know there are those who think it could happen any day.

I must admit that the past week or so had me a bit concerned, as I listened to the fallout of a potential Archduke Ferdinand moment for the 21st Century.

Today, tensions seem to have calmed down for the moment and each side can claim victory and so on.

So maybe we can go back to helping people and animals in Australia and, a bit closer to home, looking out for those in Puerto Rico. Maybe we can do things to better ourselves and those around us.

Maybe we can just be better.

And, by the way, Ricky Gervais is my hero. What he said the other night at the Golden Globes was masterful. I always loved his work and was never sure I could embrace the US version of The Office in part because of him.

But I did.

Bless that man.

Also bless Tom Hanks, still my favorite actor for some 30+ years. He's the closest we have to Jimmy Stewart.

And so, friends, ranting and raving about politics and potential wars and loudmouthed presidents with insane Twitter feeds and other idiocy can wait for another time.

I'm glad I stayed quiet. Having the thoughts doesn't always mean sharing them, and I'm trying to get better at that every day.