A woman sitting next to me on the subway got up and left her New York Post on her seat.  I thought to myself, “Hmmm, what’s that?”  Then I remembered.  It was one of them newspaper thingies from the past.

I picked it up and began to pour through the bad news.

I now read my news on my CNN App on my iPad.  Convenient.  Cheaper.  Cutting edge.  Video.  Quicker… but still just a bunch of bad news.  On rare occasions I come across some good news.  I’m always curious about the good news.

However, the world seems full of bad news.  Or maybe that’s just what sells.  At this moment in time my own life is full of just about nothing but good news.  Most of my friends are leading happy and successful lives.  Seems there’s a lot of good news to report, but that’s not news these days.  It’s just the norm.  A curious thing.

 CNN on my iPad this morning.

 Navy Jet Crashes Into Apartment Building

Syrian Refugees Are ‘Terrified’

Pakistan: 100 Soldiers Trapped In Avalanche

Heidi Klum Files For Divorce From Seal

5 Charged In Chinese Kidney Scheme

Boy’s Arm Gets Stuck In Vending Machine

Federal Deficit So Far $777 Billion

Why do we read this crap?  (Pardon my profanity, but sometimes the profane does, in fact, offer the best choice of words)  What draws us to spend our time finding out about any one of these so-called important issues?  I paid $2.95 to buy a CNN App to get my kicks this way?

A curious thing.

I pay attention to CNN to “stay in touch with the world” I say to myself.  And yet is this a world that I really want to stay in touch with?  On deeper consideration, I don’t think so.

Here’s a great one with a picture of a man holding a blow horn who is on fire and burning right before our very eyes.  The headline reads:

Austerity Drives Up Suicide Rate In Greece

A curious thing.

Among all of these vital issues there are at least 10 that read something like this one:

3 Killed, 2 Injured In Oklahoma Shootings

Seems everybody’s killin’ everybody else these days.  Makes ya’ not want to run out to the Deli.  And yet when I do run out to grab another bottle of Pepsi, I never see any dead bodies.  Perhaps I just go out at the wrong times…

Anyway…

If I were to be the managing editor of my own news, my post would read something like this:

Pete’s News Of The Day
Good News, Better, Best!

 I Woke Up To Blue Skies and Spring This Morning

This Month The Bills All Got Paid On Time

Man Regains Wife On Weekends After Seven Years

Watchfire Music Experiences Best Month Ever

Plant In Kitchen Now Healthy After Transplant

Korg Synth Module Now Fixed In Studio

Julia’s New Vocal Comp Turns Out Brilliant

Hopes High – New Promotion Company Signed

Cranberry Stain In Bedroom Rug Comes Out

The Weekend Has Arrived

Easter – 2012 – Christ Is Risen

Love Is The Reason Becomes New Video On YouTube

Jenny Burton Breaks Arm, But Gains New Insight Into Her Life

The Missus Quietly Irons While I Write

Bryan And Asako’s New Gorgeous Baby Girl Stops Traffic

Joy Reigns In Link Household

Now, mind you, I don’t know if this news would sell, but think about it.  Is it any less interesting than CNN’s news?  Just because it’s nothing but good news doesn’t make it bad! 

They say that most men read the sports news first in the morning.  Why?  Because the news is good news.  Even when my Yankees lose, there’s something to crow about.  A-Rod gets 3 hits.  Jeter goes 2 for 4.  Hughes says, “Arm feels fine.”

From now on, I’m voting for good news.  I need not spend 15 seconds of this precious life rehearsing the bad or even worrying about somebody’s troubles in Pakistan.  Oh, don’t worry, I’ll not turn a deaf ear towards the needy, the downtrodden, the hungry.  I’ve always got CNN to filter through my experience and remind me of all that.  I’ll just spend less time pursuing the negative.

Bottom line here is that I just don’t understand why it is that we as a human race are so attracted to the bad.  We work to fill our lives with promise, success, love, hopes and abundance, and yet we are drawn to and study the tragic.

It’s a curious thing.