I Want My Rose-Colored Glasses Back!

Las month, snow, ice, and Arctic temperatures have pretty much had the state of Oklahoma at a complete standstill. The majority of Oklahoma is not prepared in any way, shape, or form to deal with snow and/or ice. In addition, probably 98% of Oklahomans panic when forced to drive in any type of inclement weather (including rain), so the roads have been, at best, dangerous.

Last week, I heard a news bulletin on the radio that eight individuals had been involved in a horrific car accident in far northeast Oklahoma – near Miami. (They all were in one vehicle, which wasn’t a good idea to begin with, since it wasn’t a large van or SUV, but I digress.) They were driving down the Turnpike and somehow flipped their car over the edge of a bridge and into an icy river, some 60 feet below. Three of the eight died – two from the impact and one from hypothermia – and the remaining five survived, all in serious condition, with broken bones and hypothermia.

The media soon began showing photos from the scene, including photos of the Chevy Avalanche they’d been driving, which said “Enrique” across the top of the windshield. Within seconds, the comment sections on the news websites were filled with hateful comments about the ethnicity and citizenship of the individuals in the SUV. The things said were unbelievable and horrible – things like that the injured and dead were probably illegal immigrants, so they deserved to die. They literally took my breath away and made me sick to my stomach.

What in the world has happened to humanity? Common human decency? Compassion? Have we, as a society, become so jaded that we don’t care about anyone besides ourselves? It makes me sick to hear people say things like were said in these comment sections. It makes me sick to see people rush to judge others based on their skin color, name, ethnicity, or anything else that truly doesn’t matter. It just makes me sick.

Several years ago, I was accused of wearing rose-colored glasses. That’s obviously no longer the case. I’d like to think that decency and compassion could prevail in this world, but apparently that’s not the case. There’s so much hate in the world today and I just don’t understand it. I don’t know how to change it. Sometimes I wish that I still was wearing those rose-colored glasses. Life would be a lot more pleasant.