I got the question that I always get this time of year.
It came yesterday and quite frankly I was surprised that I got it.
It comes from the people in network land that survey the news people around the country and the state about the top stories of the year.
What’s the top story of the year?
I have gone out of my way in order to avoid answering those questions.
The fact of the matter is that ranking stories in order of importance is rather trite and mundane and demeaning to the sanctity of the story.
Who am I to say that Story A dealt with this many people and was more dramatic and therefore should be ranked higher?
I deal in real life and death issues and not the survey of the week or the latest poll.
I did think a half a second before answering the question within myself though, keeping the string of years avoiding the question publicly intact.
Is there any other story more important than the number of people who have died in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (fill in your own state or city here) when they didn’t have to?
Think of the record number of stories that I have done that deal with fatal fires and fatal overdoses,
The year wasn’t any more than a few minutes old before we were all gathered in Holyoke for the tragic deaths of three in an apartment fire.
People dying every day in this state and others and seemingly no one has the answer for when the carnage will stop.
People die because of the drug culture that thinks so little of the receiver of the drug only the maker of the money associated with illicit drugs.
So when you read those polls that my colleagues will fall victim to that seek to rank the top story or the top sports story or whatever….think about this.
The stories that I deal with deal with people’s lives.
Too many of them have been cut short by the times we live in and for no comprehensible reason.
When that tragedy ends, then we will have the real top story of the year one that centers on people living healthy, in peace and in tranquility.