So, what ever happened to good old common sense?
You’ve probably wondered about this more than once, especially if you are a senior and grew up in an era when you were actually taught about common sense by your parents or a loved one. It all seems so simple, growing up, don’t chew your food so fast, don’t walk in the street, eat your veggies, have respect for nature, don’t play with matches, and a million other “common sense” sayings that to this day, probably mean more to us seniors than to the younger generation we now have attempting to keep control of their lives, having to deal with those who sadly do not have one bit of common sense, no sireee, and it’s this lack of common sense that is going to be the downfall of this great nation if we can’t realize that losing common sense or not recognizing the value of common sense is a danger to each and every one of us.
Let me give you what I feel is a perfect example: In The Mighty Signal, on the opinion page (Aug. 4) at the right hand top of the page is an editorial cartoon by artist Dick Wright labeled “Drawing Conclusions,” and in it is a pathetic excuse for a young man who seems to be having a problem relating to the group of “Founding Fathers” from the time when they were writing what appears to be The Preamble to The Constitution (We The People). And this man, wearing a long-sleeve shirt with a patch on his left sleeve of a “Hammer and Sickle” and bold black letters “DSA” labeled on his shirt chest is obviously angry at our Founding Fathers calling them “ignorant old farts” and obviously yelling out his beliefs at the group by stating, “No president! No Senate! No Supreme Court! No police! No ICE, no prisons!”
And last but not least, “No common sense.”
By now we all must know who this very irritated guy politically represents while exclaiming his beliefs in words that for most of us are downright scary knowing the eventual outcome should a certain political group actually get control of our nation and possibly eliminating the many great laws we have that were made to protect all of us good citizens.
Keep that thought in mind, because the very next day (Aug. 5) again on the opinion page, we have one of The Mighty Signal’s opinion page contributors who obviously is an intelligent, concerned individual, an educated man, a family man and who writes a column called “Full Speed to Port.”
Yes, I’m talking about Gary Horton. Gary, I read every one of your columns, and truth be known, you seriously do more to raise my blood pressure than any exercise program that we seniors are given by our doctors to promote good health!
I’ll try not go too deep into my opinion of your political beliefs, you have yours and I have mine, and when you don’t write about your liberal political beliefs, you can actually put out some decent, heartfelt words of wisdom. You obviously are a good man at heart, a caring father and husband, but, OMG your political beliefs really are “way too far to the left” (port) at times and nowadays, with the Democratic Party, in some dire straits while promoting some gawd-awful politics that borders not only on socialism but dare I say (and I detest this word) communism.
You know who I’m talking about. They’ve infiltrated our government with their socialistic beliefs and are going to bring about some real concerns as we get closer to voting time this year. But, I digress.
In a column Gary wrote in the opinion page, his headline caught my eye right away: “Stop scaring me with words.” And I took the bait. Once again I just had to see what you had to say that was going to raise my blood pressure and darn if it didn’t! For gosh sakes, Gary, wake up my friend, you want “scary words,” well take a gander at the cartoon in the opinion page (Aug. 4) that I included in the opening part of my letter.
Have you seen that cartoon? Do you know what Dick Wright is trying to convey to all of us? Wake up and smell the coffee brewing, Gary. That cartoon of Mr. Wright’s says a lot about how words can scare us all!
One of my greatest fears now is that we are going to stop teaching common sense to our children. It’s already prevelent in our society, you see it every day, people running red lights, not stoping for stop signs, driving right on the bumper of the car in front of them. It’s apparent on our city streets that every traffic sign posted now is simply a “suggestion.” Sheesh!
Common sense can show us many things every day of our lives that can help us survive in this crazy world we live in today. We just have to pay attention to what we’re doing, whether it’s in the voting booth (please pay attention to everything on the ballots, because our future way of life in California depends on stopping the impending higher taxes coming for all of us if we vote incorrectly) or while driving the very busy, overly crowded streets of Santa Clarita.
We just need to use more common sense in our daily lives. Sometimes, common sense can be a life saver, trust me!
To those parents and teaching organizations that help promote common sense for our youth, you’ve chosen the right path for your loved ones. To those businesses that promote common sense for your employees, it’ll pay big dividends in the future for all of you. To every religious organization that teaches and supports common sense to its parishioners, God bless you!
Rich Lagrasta
Santa Clarita
