By Robert Dean
For the Carter County Times
If you feel like you need to step outside and take a long rip off a Marlboro Red, you’re not alone. I think everyone in America pretty much needs a smoke break right now. Between two plane crashes within hours of each other, one in Philadelphia and one in Washington D.C., mass immigration raids in major cities, a president who doesn’t comprehend birthright citizenship, and a non-elected official raiding the country’s technology under the guise of “slashing spending,” even the staunchest supporters of King Trump are feeling tired.
I know there’s constant noise about the price of eggs, which is a valid concern, but did anyone really think he was going to lower the price? Those talking points were just hollow applause lines. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is suing the city of Chicago for refusing to comply with its ban on sanctuary cities. Speaking of The Windy City, Virginia McCaskey, the daughter of Papa Bear George Halas—the man who created the National Football League and owned the Chicago Bears—passed away at 102 after a full, extraordinary life.
But beyond the chaos, there are stories of people doing things that matter in the face of turbulence. Yes, the world is on fire, but there is still goodness.
Over in England, the Geltsdale Reserve in the North Pennines range of Cumbria will expand to cover 13,590 acres of moorland, meadows, blanket bog, and woodland thanks to a 33% land increase. Beccy Speight, the RSPB’s chief executive, said of the expansion, “We are going to achieve an abundance of species and a size that will be unmatched for bird reserves elsewhere. It is going to demonstrate what is possible when it comes to rewilding and protecting birds.”
Then there’s David Fisher, AKA The Rope Warrior—probably the most famous guy ever to jump rope—who was given a “Lifesaving Hero Award” for saving a drowning woman on a frozen lake using what? His jump rope.
Medical advances continue to push boundaries, too. A heart pump the size of a fountain pen got FDA approval for use in children, having already saved plenty of adults. The Impella 5.5, the world’s smallest heart pump, serves as a game-changer for those waiting for a replacement ticker, and cardiologists don’t even need to open a chest cavity to install it.
Jennifer McMullen, a real-life Rosie the Riveter, turned 100. She was one of the women who built airplanes and tanks during World War II, alongside her husband of eighty years, who also saw battle in The Great War.
And then there’s Connor Stephanoff, a 20-year-old delivery driver for Rockstar Pizza in Brownsburg, Indiana. He walked through the snow in sneakers and no coat to deliver a pizza, only to receive a two-dollar tip. Through the power of TikTok, a neighbor saw what happened, made a video about him, and raised a whopping forty-one thousand dollars in donations from people all over the country—proving, once again, no one appreciates a cheapskate.
The news is filled with doom and gloom, and we’re all stuck in a repeated cycle of outrage. The left is likely planning to bark back in some way, and the courts remain clogged like arteries of dysfunction. As we endure the world just trying to survive—as parents, workers, or members of a community—there is always someone out there doing their best. And sometimes, we’re lucky enough to read about them, even if only for a moment.
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