While trying to survive the pandemic, so many are missing so much. People aren’t getting to visit loved ones. Others are waiting anxiously at home while their relatives have surgery. Not being allowed to enter the hospital or surgery centers. Many are struggling with proper closure, when a funeral is limited to a certain number of participants.

Summer activities of all kinds have been cancelled. For the first time since 1897 Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming cancelled. I know for a fact that will cripple the economy of Cheyenne as the two week event brought in thousands of people and dollars every day.

What we are all going through in this country cannot be described by words. There really are no words strong enough to describe it. Colossal tragedy doesn’t even come close. I could spend hours sharing all the things we are missing, but what good would that do anybody? No sense wallowing in self-pity. With a hat-tip to John Waite, I thought I’d share a dozen things of what “I aint missin.”

  • I don’t miss Major League Baseball
  • I won’t miss watching the NBA
  • I probably will never watch the NFL again. Granted there are a great many numbskulls in sports and entertainment, but is there a bigger idiot in all of sports than Roger Goodell?
  • I don’t miss watching network television programming
  • I ain’t missing Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. I’ve tried YouTube and I can live without that too.
  • I don’t miss going to the movie theater. Over priced entertainment.
  • I sure don’t miss watching T-ball. But I never did like T-ball. If your child can’t hit a ball tossed underhanded to her or him, than have them take up golf.
  • I ain’t missing high-fives, handshakes, or hugs. I’ve always been a hat-tip kind of guy.
  • I don’t miss the hassles of going through an airport and I certainly don’t miss airport television monitors.
  • I ain’t missing standing in long lines of people nose to neck no matter where I may be.
  • I don’t miss learning, deciphering, or memorizing acronyms. Just seems like so much BS to me.
  • I certainly don’t miss dealing with people who “reply all” on a regular basis.
  • I will never miss those who are too stupid to admit they don’t know what they are talking about. Seems to me we have more and more of those people all across America. I’ve always felt knowing what you don’t know and admitting it is the best first step to learning.

Okay, that’s a Baker’s Dozen, but I couldn’t help it. I could have shared two dozen without thinking too hard.

My good friend Rick agrees with me about network television. He took it a step further when he said, “Remember when we would listen to the nightly news? Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley and then Brokaw. Even though we knew they were Democrats we still listened, learned and trusted. Now I don’t care what they report. Presidential polling. Economic figures. Covid-19 Cases. Even what day of the week they say it is. NO CREDIBILITY!”

Rick’s comments ferry me back to bullet 13. The only way to gain credibility is to admit what you don’t know and find someone that is smarter than you are about a topic, task or theory – then learn from them.

Don’t pretend, don’t pontificate and don’t expect people to miss you and your knowledge. Only if you are honest, live with humility, strive to be a servant leader and put others wants and needs above yours will you truly be missed.

Until next time…