Good news

This morning I read two good-news articles in the paper. In a row.

I consider that a banner day.

Maybe it had something to do with opening up the local Gazette, instead of the nationally-focused Washington Post.
It’s not that the Post is a bad paper. It’s just bad news. More than once, I’ve put my subscription on hold because I just couldn’t take the depressing headlines any more.

Yesterday was particularly upsetting: a photo of Afghanis mourning the people jumbled in piles at their feet, people killed and injured in the most recent violence there, their brightly-colored clothes mixed with blood in a vivid, confusing pastiche of loss. There was also a story about Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson’s prison sentence, handed down for fiction-worthy greed: he infamously advised his wife to flush a $100,000 check and hide another $79,000 in cash in her bra, to avoid being caught taking nearly $1 million in bribes. I guess that could be considered good news: he got his due. But the echo of sad behavior is inescapable.

Of course, I could dig and find better headlines: “Cookies,” for example, the annual holiday recipe with the oh-so-tempting photos on the cover of the Food section. And the previous day’s piece on Jane Goodall was inspiring: at age 77 she says, “There is so much I have to do!” Since I turn 50 this month, I find this particularly inspiring.

But today’s Gazette took the prize. “Happy to see Santa” headlines a photo of a beaming little girl in Santa’s embrace. “Curfew proposal ends up on the shelf,” describing the County Council’s decision to table a teen curfew that, I feel, was an overreaction to gang violence and a curb on personal freedom. Good decision! And my favorite: “Pay raises proposed for county teachers.” Finally, a bright spot in this dismal economy.

Am I wrong to ignore bad news? I rationalize that my worrying will hardly help fix the tragedies that occur half a world away; even my activism, if I choose to rise up and take action through advocacy for any of a million good causes, would barely make a dent. Some people are built for international action, for fighting the forces of evil; I applaud their efforts. As for me, I believe I’m more suited for tending the home fires, making my own life and the lives around me feel more secure and fulfilling. I’m better at highlighting the good, rather than condemning the bad. I hope that’s not a cop-out. But I know my limits.

Maybe I’ll become one of those quirky newspaper readers who wind up in literary fiction: people who read the New York Times with a red pen, to circle any errors they find, or people who compile scrapbooks of themed articles. I could cut out all the bad news from the newspapers and leave the Swiss cheese of good news lying about the house to lift our spirits.

In fact, we already do this: our “Image of the Week” is posted on the frig, a changing tableau of inspiration. This week, the comic strip character, “Lio,” is shown with her snowman built of autumn leaves, turning the impending dark season into light-hearted fun. That’s my kind of news.