Frank hasn't been sleeping well the past couple of nights, mostly related to work issues, bumps and noises in the night, etc, etc. This has led to Frank moving the the couch in an effort to find a different environment, hoping to find sleep. Good thought in theory, I suppose, but far from reality.
To add insult to injury, Frank started focusing on these same bumps and noises of the night. The on and off of the central heat and air unit; The gentle grind of the ceiling fan; the dog rolling over in the bedroom. All little nuances that generally go unnoticed during the night, but tonight, as loud as cannons. Frank remembered not too long ago hearing these same noises when he would get up with Kendall when she was on the "Dr. Pepper" schedule.
(For those of you that are asking, "what's the Dr. Pepper schedule," that's the schedule that newborns are on...every 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 during the night, the newborn wakes and needs something...a bottle, a clean diaper, a rocking chair...)
In any event, Frank tried to do his part to help with the new family addition, and he would get up with Kendall during those early weeks and months of her life. Pretty much non-eventful...change her bottom, get her a bottle and she would routinely drift back off to sleep while lying on Frank's chest in the recliner. But then after she drifted off, as was the case last night, Frank would find sleep difficult and focus on the bumps and noises of the night.
During those nights, he became accustomed to the scheduled rounds of the newspaper delivery guy. The carrier would drive through the subdivision between 4:30and 5:00 in a vehicle that was in definite need of a new muffler, if not a complete tune up. Frank would hear him slowly coming down the streets of the development, then speed up, then slow down as he made his deliveries. Frank remembers wondering why he didn't park at the end of the street and just walk his route, as practically every house received a paper.
Last night, while listening to the noises, Frank found a silence in place of the rumble of the newspaper delivery. No sound whatsoever. 'Perhaps there's a new delivery person,' or 'maybe he bought a new car with the 'cash for clunkers' program,' Frank thought as he laid on the couch. However, the more he thought about it, the more he realized, there was to be no delivery.
Frank and Tammy had cancelled their daily subscription sometime back, and soon after cancelled the Sunday subscription as well. The papers were just piling up as they were never read, so why pay for them just to pile them up in a landfill somewhere? Besides, the headlines and stories are posted online at the newspaper's free website, one can get the same news on the local television stations, and if there's something national, its on both the web and television as well, twenty-four (24) hours a day.
As he and Allison were driving out of the driveway on the way to school and the office, Frank made a point of looking at the ends of the driveways for newspapers...none to be found. Just three short years ago, every driveway would've had a newspaper in it...not today.
Frank was talking to a friend of his a couple of weeks ago, and the friend said he was reading the newspaper over coffee. Of course, Frank asked, "what, on the laptop?" to which the friend chuckled and replied, "no, I'm old school when it comes to my newspaper reading. I still like flipping the pages and getting a little ink on my fingertips."
Unfortunately, Frank thought, those days are probably on the way out. With the constant advances of technology, the newspaper will probably go the way of the dinosaur in a few short years, and quite frankly, that's sad. Do we really need to be checking the obituaries of our friends and families on a Blackberry (R)? Almost seems disrespectful in a way. Isn't there something wrong with news being available 24 hours a day on cable? How many stories, and we've all seen them, have ended up on these programs, that 20 years ago wouldn't have even made it to the trash bin in Dan Rather's office. Personal and private stories that are hurtful enough to those involved, and in all likelihood, those hurts are amplified by the added publicity.
One story that comes to mind is the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal of the 90's. Had it not been for the excessive news coverage of the day, this would've probably never been an issue. Its common knowledge that quite a few presidents had similar scandals, but you never had wall-to-wall coverage like we saw with Clinton. Let it be said here, that Frank doesn't agree with what Clinton did, but that was his personal business, not a national issue.
How much additional hurt was caused to the families of those involved by the overabundance of press coverage? How much more aggressive are reporters with the new "rules of engagement?"
Frank is reminded of a popular song from the 80's..."Dirty Laundry"...that touted the mindset of some less-than-scrupulous members of the press. Did the song unwillingly predict the norm of those in the press today?
Perhaps it would be better if we got the news in small doses, such as a newspaper once a day, an evening news report from a respected news person right before dinner, and the late news right before bed. Those are finite amounts of paper and time to be filled. Might bring back the talent of editing again, instead of just lining up the stories, one after the other.
Frank has to wonder if this constant barrage of news, mostly bad, isn't creating other problems. Think about it, if you didn't have the news telling you how bad the economy is, would you really know? Or, would you get up, go to work, and just follow your daily routine? Would you still enroll you children in the local soccer league, or little league, or basketball league? Of course you would.
But instead, we're told the economy is bad, we're told it may not get any better anytime soon. Is that affecting our routines and decision making? Probably. Are we spending less because of this constant bad news on the economy? Probably. Could it be argued we are taking less risks and purchasing fewer large purchases because of this? I think so.
The likelihood of the 24-hour news channel going away is pretty remote. The re-emergence of the daily newspaper probably isn't going to happen. And news alerts sent directly to your cell phone are just going to increase.
Kind of makes you long for a little ink on the fingertips, don't it?
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