Shedding light on darkness

A quarterback dares to throw what he hopes will be a touchdown bomb only to see it turn into an interception.

A basketball player goes for a game-changing steal, but the opponent he’s guarding transforms it into a game-winning layup.

A newspaper writes a story that seeks to support and enlighten, but a minor error or a misperceived inflection taken out of context makes some in the public think the paper is out to destroy the community.

It’s amazing how negatives almost always are remembered more than positives. Boo-birds sing louder than bluebirds.

The same may be true with Marion’s Christmas decorations this year. Several blocks of lights downtown have been dark for several days. Decorations in other parts of town frequently have lights missing. Banners and bridge lights that should be seasonal seem to be advertising the wrong season. Our own lights atop the newspaper building have never once come on.

I know a bit about the challenges newspapers face, much less about what quarterbacks, basketball players, and city crews do. But I hope for all our sakes that whatever is needed to correct Christmas decoration shortcomings can be provided promptly by people who I assume are just as concerned about the negatives as I am.

Otherwise, attempts to appear better end up giving an impression of being worse. And that’s definitely a Christmas gift we want to avoid.

— ERIC MEYER