Suffield Observations

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Andy Sauer
A response to criticism

I was going to write a 525-word missive about the snow days and the simple joy in the anticipation of them, but I can’t get a text I got from a reader out of my mind:

Long story short, she didn’t like my December column or appreciate the quasi-bait-and-switch device I used to link baseball and politics. She suggested I stick to writing more positive pieces in the Observer and added that no one wants to read about politics, at least the way I wrote about it. Hmph, that stung!

That column was positive. It was a tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek piece that attempted to motivate people despondent over the election (and the World Series, for that matter) to keep their heads up and be brave. Post-election, I observed people succumbing to their darkest fears. I wanted to put things in perspective.

As for the use of baseball as a metaphor, I think the comparison to politics is apt. Both are spectacles. Both receive incredible amounts of attention. Both are simple to grasp but can be complex to comprehend. Both possess prominent personalities who are undeterred in their approach but sensitive to public opinion. Both are capable of generating a spectrum of emotions, bestowing rapturous highs and inflicting dispiriting lows. And both provide the average person very little in determining outcomes. Yes, you can vote; you can attend games. You can share your thoughts via a variety of media. That’s it. You don’t make policies. You don’t play the game.

There is a Constitutional think-tank, the Brennan Center for Justice, which has been recently playing a public policy war game of sorts – think “Diplomacy” or “Settlers of Catan” but with Constitutional issues. They set up a myriad of worst-case scenarios, play them out in simulations to predict possible outcomes and propose countermeasures to prevent the unthinkable from happening. I’m going to go out on a limb and make an educated guess that predicting the end of the American republic is not your job. Your job is to focus on the things you can control – employment, families, health and community. I have no idea what the future will bring, but I do know that living in a state of anger and fear over things that may or may not come to pass has historically proven to erode everything that is valued.

I know I’ve stretched this metaphor to a breaking point, but when you step up to the plate, you don’t go up there scared. Fear strikes out. You have to relax and let the pitch come to you. You’ll know when to swing.

I don’t make a habit of responding to every piece of criticism I receive. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. The Observer was established as a “good news” newspaper, and this column stays true to that mission by sticking to several recurring themes: Community, courage, character and maybe Suffield quirkiness. I don’t believe in hiding from tough topics. I just try to balance heavier issues with a little levity.

Sometimes, I admit, it’s a swing and a miss, but not last column. I hit it out of the park.

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