We need "Airplane!" crew saving the day

Robert Hays in "Airplane!"

"Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles."
- Edwin Louis Cole
 
"All right, goodnight" sounds like a good name for a song. The Nashville music craftsmen could take this and run with it.

These words were actually the last message from that missing plane.

The speculation is endless on the cable news channels. They tell us all the news except that the plane has been found. Where is "Striker" when you need him? Robert Hays and the rest of the "Airplane!" crew would have matters well in hand. Maybe we should be asking if the crew had "steak or fish."

Why is it necessary for so many people to fly? Didn't civilization get along fine before commercial aviation? You might have distant relatives who you might not be able to see very often. Use Skype.

"Videoconferencing" did not take off as the fad that was at first foreseen. But the tools of "web 2.0" came along and offered the same advantages and in a more practical way, according to what I have read. (My own tech resources have been pretty minimal, as I in general live a minimalist lifestyle.)

I even wonder why people drive vehicles as much as they do. I remember that when I was still jogging, I'd be out along the bypass east of Morris and cars and trucks would just whiz by me. And I'd wonder: Where are all these people going? How did civilization get along before this ease of transportation?

Millennials might wonder: How did we all get along before all these tech gadgets of today? The answer is that we did.
We wouldn't trade our lifestyle of today for our past lifestyle. We too easily forget that in those days gone by, boredom and tedium were a problem. I think of this when I see the "bad guy" characters in "Dirty Harry" movies. Those poor souls regressed in life partly out of the boredom and tedium.

Scholars who analyze the "gangster" era in U.S. history conclude that many of these violent souls took risks because they didn't want to fall into the ranks of those faceless factory workers (with their "lunch pails") and the like.

Our tech world of today is causing change we can hardly keep up with. Boomers who once thought they were sitting pretty in the workplace now have to watch their back. I was probably a victim of this phenomenon myself.

I don't doubt that the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper has been able to use tech and synergy to boost its bottom line. But is it a superior product today? Of course it isn't. It gets smaller all the time. Lately there has been a pattern of 22-page papers rather than 24. It has now been several years since the paper went to once a week. A lot of overhead costs got knocked out. They laid off a couple people because of the ad production work being shifted to Detroit Lakes. You see, it's owned by a "chain" now.

Consolidation and efficiency. Networked computers. History books may someday tell us that networked computers were the biggest job-killer of all time.

Tech isn't helping us find that missing airplane. If only we could hear the triumphant voice of Peter Graves or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or be assured by the presence of that inflated "auto pilot." Where is "Striker" when you need him?

If only all the missing passengers could emerge unscathed. We could get a song entitled "All right, goodnight" and it could become a sentimental favorite. Doesn't seem likely.

Surely we should continue embracing hope.
"I am embracing hope, and don't call me Shirley."

Maybe the same UFOs that produce crop circles got ahold of the plane and transported it to another dimension.
Seriously, let's pray.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com