Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Anger just keeps getting worse

I recently visited my primary care physician. A barren lobby held four of us, all relatively the same age, definitely over 60. We were loosely facing one another, socially distanced and masked. Unexpectedly, one of the women somberly stated how she wished more people would get vaccinated so we could “really get back to some normalcy.”

As I uneasily waited for someone to break out in contrary argument, or worse, finger-pointing anger, I witnessed nodding heads. One of them stated how we fought polio with sugar cubes. Another mentioned the swine flu and how the country mobilized against that public health threat. With all that, I noted to my fellow baby boomers how we came of age — the rioting, racial strife, assassinations, the war killing hundreds a day, the equal rights speeches, women rights demonstrations, and peace marches. They echoed one another by saying, “it’s worse now.”

The door opened and the office administrator called my name.I bid my fellow citizens good day, with one of them finishing with a melancholy, “it’s worse now than it’s ever been … and it’s everyone’s fault.”

Whether one deems that to be accurate or not, few can dispute that our republic has been descending into an angry chasm for several years, and one can only ask: When will it end?