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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 3, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 3, 2020
 
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Page A-4 Shelton-Mason County Journal Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020 THESE Sayings we used to say ome expressions not heard much anymore: “Might doesn’t make right” We used to hear this comment often in this nation, mostly referring to it was confirmed, per- haps by self-esteem researchers in Califor- nia who gathered in hot tubs after work, that words can indeed hurt. This phrase’s decline has led to an- the totalitarian gov- other phrase taking its ernments of the 80- By KIRK place: “You’re project- viet Union and Nazi ERICSON ing!” Germany, and the Japanese government during World War II. We don’t hear it so much now. Could it be because the United States has the mightiest military? Or could it be because we now think might does make right? “Don’t you know there are starving children in China?” This phrase was intended to make you eat all your food, but China isn’t fa- mous for its starving children anymore. Maybe parents in the year 2020 could update the saying: “Don’t you know there are starving children in Mississippi, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas?” “A penny saved is a penny earned” In one sense, inflation took care of this one, but it hasn’t been replaced by a nickel or dime or quarter earned — perhaps because saving money isn’t considered such an act of virtue anymore. People are pushed to spend, acquire, desire. In fact, we’re not even people anymore .— we’re consumers. Spending in our economy is what a highly cafi‘einated drink is to a hu- man’s metabolism: It jazzes things up a bit, but when the crash comes, good luck crawl- ing out of the wreckage. “Spare the rod, spoil the child” This phrase was used to justify spanking, but the 71970s popularized the idea that hitting children could possibly be a bad thing; Many of us sheathed the rod — if we even had a rod or sheath. It should now be, “Spare the participation trophies, ruin the child.” “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me” This is another phrase that started to decline in the 19705 after USPS 492-800 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton—Mason County Journal, P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. Published weekly by the Shelton—Mason County Journal at 227 W. Cota St., Shelton, Washington. Mailing address: R0. Box 430, Shelton. WA 98584 Telephone: 360—426-4412 Website: www.masoncounty.com Sljtltmtllaamflbount “Green with envy” The color green no longer applies to coveting what others have. Green now describes items or ways of thinking that might improve the chances of humans surviv- ing on this planet. Perhaps we need to substitute a new color into the phrase “green with envy.” How about “white?” “Haste makes waste” We’re all so darn busy now, who has the time to worry about waste? It’s haste we want, and we want it now. “Our country is a great melting pot” This metaphor was discarded when we mostly discarded the idea that im- migrants should surrender their cultural, national and ethic traits when they enter the United State's. Replacing the melting pot image is the “quilt” or “salad” images, both of which express the notion that immigrants retain their parts while they contribute to the whole. Seems fair. “Smoking or nonsmok- ing?” This question used to be asked when you entered a restaurant during the era of smoking sections. I have a friend who doesn’t smoke but Would often ask to sit in a restaurant’s smoking section because, he’d explain, “It’s a better class of people.” ' “A woman’s place is in the home” This phrase was on its way out early in my life, and now it appears as far gone as three-layer Jell-O and cheese fondue. Let’s give par- tial credit to the steel-haired crusader Phyllis Schlafly, who likely inspired many women to leave their homes when she repeatedly left her home in the 1960s and 1970s to campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment. I Contact Kirk Ericson at kirk@masoncounty.com. Association. Periodicals postage paid in Shelton, Washington. Owned and published by allonmal The Shelton-Mason County Jour- nal is a member of the Wash- ington Newspaper Publishers SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $62 per year ($43 for six months) for Mason County addresses and $75 per year ($55 for six months) outside of Mason County. GUEST Got to get me some of that elbow room set foot in a movie theater. . Too much time had passed since I’d rested my bones in that well-worn cushion and set my over- sized drink to one side while an over- buttered popcorn warmed my lap. When did you last suck the milk chocolate off a crispy Whopper before letting it dissolve in your mouth, gazing at the silver screen? Go now with me and let the reflec— tion of that light radiate our corneas while the bass pummels our eardrums and the movie begins. After months of going without, I just went to the theater and boy and girls, it was amaz— ing. You should go now too. Despite those teenagers just a few rows ahead of me, yammering on about their boyfriends, or the loud chewer 6 feet away, it was a homecoming. Even those audience members with their distracting cellphones in the darkened theater didn’t bother me. Like a man in the desert, I had grown hungry and the movies had never tasted this sweet. The cinematography was good, the sound filled my body and lifted my soul and the story, it moved me, but it was the experience that satiated the hunger in me. ‘ Let’s make a pact. Let the new normal oc- cupy the first half 2020. Let’s move to a new, new normal right now — a normal where we can s0cially dis— tance as nature intended. What a relief to not be packed into a con- tainment like cattle to the slaughter. Gimme that 6 feet we didn’t come to the movies to chat. Look at me through the safety and secu- rity of your mask, but don’t talk to me, that’s not why we’re here. It’s been far too long since I last IT'S GOING TO DE A PARK NOT A SQUATTER‘S CAMP, IMAGINE THAT. By LLOYD MULLEN We’re here to escape the outside normal and to experience fantastical new worlds. For the theater owners, it can’t be a good business model limiting capacity to 25 percent, but your 10- cal bijou faces an even bigger threat from the Mouse that made them. And if you continue to stay home you’re about to say goodbye to the cinema as we know it. This week our favorite Disney is trying to shift the paradigm — Mick- ey has ditched the silver screen for the LED in your family room. It’s easy to spend 50 bucks on date night at the movies so Disney’s $30 charge might seem like a bargain, especially if your family room has family in it. But what is the true cost of abandoning public gatherings to watch a show? If Mickey makes his way to your mantle say goodbye to cinema as you know it._ Their multibillion dollar team is looking to pivot and wants to take us all with it. But that decision, dear reader, is really ours to make. Shall we watch our next cinematic movie from the comfort of a couch or do we step out of our homes, out of our sweats and into a world beyond our imagination? Disney has made the choice easy, for the pivot. You may go for their A-film and enjoy a re- make of the ’90s animated-feature, “Mulan,” this time from your couch. Or brave the local cinema for a communal and hopefully non-COVID experience. I’m putting on my mask. I’m filling up my portable hand sanitizer dispenser and maintaining my Inslee-recomo , mended 6 feet. You dOn’t know what you got until it’s gone. ‘ Publisher/Editor: Tom Mullen Advertising: John Lester, General Manager Front office: Dave Pierik, Office Administrator Karen Hranac, Customer Service Design: Lloyd Mullen, Creative Director All regular editorial, advertising and legal deadlines are 5 pm. the Monday prior to publication. Theresa Murray, Ad Representative Delivery: Jon Garza Newsroom: David Olson Justin Johnson, Sports/Outdoors Editor Niel Challstrom Gordon Weeks, Reporter Isabella Breda, Reporter Kirk Ericson, Columnist/ Proofreader Kirk Boxleitner, Reporter Shelton-Mason County_Journa/, Inc. Composing room: William Adams, Advertising Design and Technical Support To submit a letter to the editor, email justin@masoncounty.com.