I thought Mel Gibson was convincing in "Conspiracy Theory"

July 24, 2008 - Thursday

Today I drank a Coca Cola at work. I was trying to explain my forbidden love affair with it when my friend asked me if I would like to eat an entire cup of brown sugar because, really, that's all it is. I responded that I thought it was high-fructose corn syrup. Her eyes got wide and with a very serious look she said, "Corn is so horrible. Corn is the root of all evil."

After one of the best laughs I have had in a long time -- you know the kind where there are tears streaming down your face, your stomach aches and you're gasping for air -- I asked what the hell she could possibly mean. She proceeds to tell me about a PBS documentary (called King Corn I believe) that she saw. It told of all the ills of corn and how there was some sort of marketing shift in the '70s to brainwash all of us into thinking it was good. "It's man made," she said solemnly.

This launched me back into a place I haven't been in a while. How is it possible to be socially concious when there are so many things wrong with the world? How much of it is hype and how much is truly threatening?

I like to adopt the Mark Twain way of looking at things: "I've known a lot of troubles in my time -- and most of them never happened." Resolve not to worry. I'm not saying we shouldn't all have our causes we truly believe in, but I think it is too easy to get overwhelmed by all that could be wrong. And when that happens nothing gets done.