99 Problems and a Drone is One.

This is sort of a follow-up to my recent entry called No Comparison. I'm so fired up that it's a wonder I actually don't have high blood pressure.

This morning, someone running for office in my town posted an article about how there have been complaints about drones and I guess what the town council is going to (or probably not) do anything about them. The first comment is from the pot stirrer of all pot stirrers in town, who seems to find great satisfaction in complaining. He basically says to worry about drones is stupid and we have bigger problems in town. And then my head exploded. Ok, it didn't. But it felt like it was going to. Regardless of my feelings on drones, it's the point he made- we have bigger problems like drugs...

Yeah, well, Glen Rock will have to get in line with it's drug problem. Everytown, USA has a drug problem now. We're not even in the "Top 30" in New Jersey that just came out in the news. Trust me, our town council isn't solving the drug problem. But to be fair, no town council is solving the drug problem. Glen Rock can't even get the mafia-esque PSEG to stop just hacking down trees willy-nilly. That's been going on for years- they did it in front of my house in 2009 and my husband hasn't gotten over it still. So we have big and small problems and medium ones in between. Every town has problems. That's not a surprise- that's just called life. 99 problems and....you know the rest.

Regardless of all that, when are people going to get through their thick heads that issues are not a competition?? I say all the time that everyone's problems are bigger because they're their own. Most of my friends can attest to me saying this frequently. If you try to put a Snoopy Sno-cone machine together and it brings you to tears, you cry. You maybe even stomp your feet. And you allow yourself some time to wallow in self pity for not being able to get that fucking machine to make sno. You don't have to feel bad or shameful about your tantrum, thinking, there are children in third world countries who don't have Snoopy Sno-cone machines, sno or cones. Because in that moment, it's your kids saying you're the worst and you having to deal with it. It sucks and you have every right to think it's a big problem, at that moment, in your world.

I also said in that other entry that there are reasons we all care more or less about different things. So that the help can be spread around. We all find different news to be more or less upsetting and different stories motivate us to give or motivate us to judge. Whatever. The same week the news about our dick-pic sending cop was at it's height, I found out three people I know are sick. Two with leukemia, one with something unidentified. Guess what? The dick-pic thing wasn't *my* priority to be up in arms about. I care, but I have other things that are more important to ME right now. THAT DOESN'T MAKE THE OTHER THING(S) NOT IMPORTANT. Why is this not common sense? Where has common sense gone- flying around with the drones?? I'm fucking BAFFLED.

Back to the drones...I guess someone in town or more than one someone reported drone activity and they're concerned. They're ALLOWED TO BE CONCERNED. Just an aside, when I was arguing about it on the GR page, I was thinking of my mother. I was thinking about how Rita would like to lay in a raft, naked, in our pool. We didn't live in any "estate". We lived in a split level in New Milford. So great pains were taken to have high bushes on either side and a fence at the back and openings to the yard. Granted, my mother couldn't give two shits about people seeing her naked. But already I grew up hearing from the boys in my class- "Mrs. D doesn't wear a bra". That was fun. So then I'm imagining being a teenager, already goofed on for my mother's lack of undergarments. Now, there's a drone, taking photos of my naked oblivious mother, posting them on Instagram. I would've never lived that down.

One of the people for drones in the argument said they're loud and you'd know the drone was there. Ok, so let's say Rita noticed this thing flying overhead, which would really be reaching, is she jumping out of the pool naked and trying to chase it down? I don't think so. Highly unrealistic. No kid is taking the time to set up a long range lense camera to take pics of my naked mother. BUT, I can totally see some boys, playing with their toy, as it's been called, thinking it would be funny to see if they could get photos of girls in their bikinis in their yards and ending up with my mother. Rita was a MILF back in the day too- so they totally still would've thought they scored. When it's as easy as remote control airplane, there is no real reason not to try it.

So now, back to the dick-pics. At the height of the scandal, while it wasn't my main concern, I'm sure for any parents of teen girls in town, it was their main news story. AS IT SHOULD BE. Someone and everyone has to care about something. Using the ideology that "we have bigger problems" is just ignorant. There are ALWAYS going to be bigger problems to someone! And while yours are big to you, you are not the special snowflake that makes your problems, agenda, and/or priorities, bigger than everyone else's problems. If we, as humans, only had the ability to care about one thing, the newspaper would be one page! We wouldn't need news teams. Why would we- we're only supposed to care about drugs. I mean Isis. I mean cancer. I mean dick-pics. Houses where alcohol is served to minors where the parents are aware. Lights on a field, turf on a field, unwarranted police firings and suspensions, food served in school, the cost of a margarita pizza slice, parents driving like assholes at pick up and drop off at the schools....Crappily made Snoopy Sno-cone machines. SEE WHAT I MEAN??

Just because some citizens are concerned about drones, their invasion of privacy, and interference in air safety doesn't mean they can't care about drugs, the do-nothing town council and whatever the hell the "culture" is at the police department. AND EVERYTHING ELSE GOING ON IN THE WORLD. Rape, murder, drunk driving, disease, bullying, corruption. If you don't think something belongs in the news- don't read it. If you have issues with the town or the police not prioritizing YOUR particular concerns, take it up with them. Instead of taking these posts about legitimate concerns and making them about you and your agenda...

Imagine that we can care about it all. Just keep repeating that to yourself every time you feel the need to say "What about ____________??"