(re-post)
Many years ago we had a neighbour who, if asked in the casual way one does, "Hi, how are you?" would reply in great long detail. Much of it had to do with her son's list of ailments.
One day we had a fire in the chimney of a fireplace and were standing out in the garden looking at the smoke seeping out between the stones waiting on the firemen. Neighbour wandered over to see what was going on and, distractedly, I said, "Oh, hi, how are you?"
"Well" she said, "Jeremy's mucus is turning and….."
I wonder what my reaction – and tone of memory – would have been had she said, "Well, we just won a million dollars in the lottery and I had to tell someone." Why does TMI always seem to involve negative news (the Christmas letter being a whole 'nother subject!)?
Which brings me to the newspaper, the present day media in general. Are we not smothering in TMI. No question mark: rhetorical question. People are aware of this and some have experimented with cutting down or out their exposure to the 'news'. I suppose these are the ones who feel a concern that it is detrimental to the quality of life and report that they experience less stress, better sleeping, improved attitude when they filter or block the input. Makes me wonder what percentage this is of the general population.
I noticed a man pick up a newspaper in a restaurant and this intrepid investigative journalist watched to see what he read. He skimmed the news and the features and began to work on the crossword puzzle. It was 'work' – he was concentrating and intense; only when he left the crossword and turned to the comics was the contrast so marked. His body relaxed in his chair, his face muscles softened, he took a deep breath. He didn't laugh or even smile, but he spent time reading most of the comics.
I wonder if the comics were on the front page would we lose the need to read the rest of the paper and would that be such a bad thing.