Mayor’s Row…….by Ned Mitchell

I know this is probably an understatement for me to make, but seriously, we are living in the age of no responsibility. We’ve touched on this subject a little before but recent events just keep jumping out at me and so this column will be dedicated to those irresponsible people who refuse to accept responsibility for their actions. If they don’t outnumber the decent folks who can admit mistakes, they soon will.

What brings about this column is a series of events concerning a contest on a California radio station. KDND Radio in Sacramento, California had a contest recently called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii”. In case you do not know what a Wii is, it is a computer console type game system similar to the X Box. The Wii is made by Nintendo and is widely popular among young people and well, some adults who consider themselves “gamers”.

No sooner had the contest got up and running good and all of a sudden contestants began to seek out attorneys and the lawsuits are flying. One contestant drank so much water she died! Jennifer Strange drank massive amounts of water and she died allegedly as a result. Another contestant says the contest left her with a “fear of water” and no she can no longer listen to any radio. Another contestant claims to have gained 60 pounds but I don’t know if that is a male or a female. I mean, after all if some woman gains 60 pounds that would be worth much more cash than say some dude who gained the same amount!

Still other contestants have sued for emotional distress, inability to drink water, sleeplessness, anxiety and depression. The winner of the contest and the Nintendo Wii said she became ill at the station and threw up. Lucy Davidson was named the winner and now she claims she cannot listen to the radio, has a fear of contests, and in her job at Wal-Mart she experiences an inappropriate reaction when she sees someone put bottled water in their carts. The lawsuit does not identify what inappropriate reaction is when a customer puts bottled water into their cart. I can only imagine!

After the lawsuits started flying 10 employees at the radio station were fired and now at least one of them has filed his own lawsuit against the station for being fired.

So, even though maybe the contest was a goofy one the bottom line here that I look for is, nobody made anybody enter the contest. People signed up on their own to do something as strange as try to hold their own “wee” in an attempt to win a computer game. Seriously, I am not making this up; it really happened.

In my 32 years as Mayor, substitute teacher before that, volunteer coach decades ago, and in general becoming older every year; I am convinced it is getting worse instead of better.

No longer do we have parents who want their children to be disciplined at school or anywhere else for that matter. There is a difference between being corrected for unruly behavior and abuse and most responsible adults know where that line is.

I have witnessed grown adults commit serious crimes only to have mom or dad, or both immediately jump down the throat of the nearest law enforcement officer complaining loudly that surely there must be some mistake. Never mind the fact that admissions of guilt have already been signed and stolen items recovered by the criminals, it still is someone else’s fault.

It never ceases to amaze me at the attitude some folks take when they are caught violating a motor vehicle law I’ve actually watched horrific video taken directly from the arresting officers camera that records video and audio footage of a traffic stop. If it were not so stupid, it would be funny. I have been stopped many times in my driving history and not one time have I ever been stopped that I was not doing something to draw the officer’s attention to my vehicle. Never one time have I copped an attitude with the officer who actually was only doing his job. I have found that a polite yes sir or no sir works quite well and unless the violation is a major one, most of the time an officer will give a driver a break.

Yes, we are living in an age of adults that are teaching the next generation that it is okay to do what you want to when you want to. If you get nabbed, give the officer a piece of your mind. While you are at it-take up for the kids even when you know they are wrong. Every generation gets a little worse than the previous so my advice is those of you who do accept responsibility for your actions; sit back and watch, it gets downright funny sometime.

Even though the wife’s great grandmother Josephine “Ninny Jo” Goessman has been in and out of the hospital for the past two years; it is still difficult to see that matriarch of the family leave us. “Nin” as she was affectionately called by those who knew her well; was just a fantastic woman to listen to. She came from that “greatest generation”; you know the folks who came up under difficult times without much food, let alone modern conveniences. I suppose that is why “Nin” was as happy with a simple tomato or other garden item as she was anything else. She also enjoyed fishing, proudly displaying a 20 ounce bluegill that she caught. I learned about “Nin’s” family, where they used to live in Sesser, and about the neighborhood. I found it interesting that “Nin” died in the house just across the street in Sesser that she was raised in. It takes folks like “Nin” to bring us around to what is really important in life. They help us separate the things that we do from the things that we should do and if we pay attention we learn huge lessons about life from folks just like “Nin” who have paved the way for us. I’ll always remember “Nin” as she was always nice to me, even in the beginning when it might have been popular to do the opposite. “Nin” had a huge collection of angels and that will always speak volumes to me; she believed in them!

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