BREAKING STORY, OR BROKEN STORY

A ‘breaking story’ as we all know is called a scoop.

“Hear it first, hear it here.”

We’re conditioned to pay attention to new information.

If it’s an update, we want it. New and improved? We want it.

We want it because it will make our lives better.

But . . .

We know what we know based on need.

Did you need to know about micro plastics?

 

Microplastics are everywhere, and humans may be exposed to them through drinks, foods, plastic packaging, chopping boards, sponges, coatings on products, and the manufacturing process of items.

“Our goal is not to alarm anybody,” Sanjay Mohanty, PhD, the project’s principal investigator and an engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), said in a press statement.

 

If the goal is not to alarm anybody, is anybody alarmed?

Now we have a choice between minty fresh and dragon breath.

I dated a girl who smoked. It was tough. Gum didn’t change things, neither did mouthwash.

I had to smoke a dart to kill the smell, but that’s not a breaking story.

 

Those New Journalists Are On The Job

We are the customers in the breaking story cycle.

The supplier is reality.

That leaves the producer in question.

Here’s what’s breaking on twitter:

 

A girl didn’t get an apology from her boyfriend after an argument so she left the house and waited all day for him to call.

He didn’t call.

 

On my, what to do?

My only question: Who did she talk to all day? Who did he call?

Since they aren’t celebrities we’ll never know.

But let’s speculate: They are living together, he has regrets, she’s losing ground.

 

 

Another girl didn’t think the timing was right to introduce her boyfriend to her family.

He’s hurt.

 

They can’t be long for each other, can they?

Is he dodging a bullet? Is she hiding him?

Again, not celebrities so we’ll never know.

But she’s got family problems like Cinderella? Or he’s just a fling to her and doesn’t know it.

 

A mom showed her two year old’s morning routine of dressing himself, using the bathroom by himself, and carrying breakfast to the table and feeding himself.

Then he tops it off by rinsing his plate and putting it in a dishwasher.

 

These are the samples of social media on tap for anyone interested in solving problems.

I’m a problem solver, you’re a problem solver, we’re all problem solvers until we face our own problems.

Then what?

Post them on twitter and see what turns up. You might go viral, win the jackpot, and have a new set of problems to post.

Life supplies the problems, social media produces them, and we are the customer/consumer.

And do we ever eat it up.

 

Manage Yourself With Care

In the world of Nurture vs Nature, what we believe is our reality.

If you belonged to an Amazonian tribe that has had limited contact with the outside world, your reality wouldn’t include a smart phone, microwave ovens, or spa time.

You would have been raised by the village and be better for it.

If you were raised as only child in a small Hell’s Kitchen apartment with a dad who never left the building and a mom who went to church every day you’d have a different experience.

Every person encouraged to be their own journalist dips into their experiences to decide what to post.

Unfortunately the urge to be more, to be somebody, takes over and they focus on clicks and likes and start hedging their breaking story toward that.

The girl who waited for an apology doesn’t get kidnapped, stalked, or lost.

She goes back home and talks it out with her boyfriend and they find common ground.

Boyfriend eventually gets over himself and apologizes and the whole thing turns into a love story.

The girl who didn’t want to take her boyfriend home finally does and discovers her dad likes the guy and everyone hits it off.

I’m a sucker for happy endings.

What about the kid who takes care of himself at two years old?

He grows up to become a social engineer of world wide fame teaching the the simple acts of starting a new day with a clean slate, a clean plate, and a happy mom.

Decent people find solutions that work, not make things worse, and by doing so open the door to others struggling to find their own solutions.

It may not be a breaking story, but it’s not broken either.

It could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship with yourself.

Unless you’re too busy.