Opinion: Fearing for the loss of goodness in America

ROSWELL — I can’t count the number of times I have wished my mom could have been around long enough to see the many advances in science and technology since her death at age 55 in 1985.

To experience e-mail or Facebook or talk to an invisible woman named “Alexa.” To shop online with items arriving overnight. Seeing breaking news from around the world as it is happening.

She would be shocked to be able to chat with family across the country or marvel at movies or TV featuring long-dead actors, “talking” animals and cartoons that are so realistic you can’t always be certain they are cartoons.

I often see things and think, “Wow, I wish my mom could see this.”

It isn’t just the technology or medical advancements that would amaze her (some of which may have given her five more years with us) — so many things have come along that we take for granted because they came gradually.

But if my mom came back for just 24 hours she would be walking around with her jaw dropped the entire time. She would wonder why almost everyone has a phone in their hand but none in their home. She would have loved making a single cup of coffee in the flavor of her choice in mere minutes and laughed that people go out and pay good money to buy a cup.

There are too many things I’d want to show and tell her, and one day wouldn’t be enough.

The downside of this is that I couldn’t endure the pain of her leaving again. Wanting her back is best left as a nice fantasy.

Using this fantasy however, consider the negatives.

What would cause my mom’s jaw to drop in 2018 is the moral decay, the lack of civility, common courtesy and respect.

Mom was a stickler for manners. Respect yourself and others. That rule applied to everyone and especially to your elders. You better go the extra mile and give up your seat, open doors, assist when needed and speak your words carefully.

In my mom’s world, Lucy and Desi and Rob and Laura Petrie didn’t share a bed and I have heard that during filming, one foot had to be on the floor in bedroom scenes.

How shocked and disgusted she would be to see just how graphic TV shows and movies have become. Almost no boundaries when it comes to sex and violence. The day is very near when some pretty raw language will no longer be censored.

My mom sacrificed having material things so she could stay home and not only raise us kids, but the neighborhood kids as well. She demanded the same behavior from them when they were in our house as she did with us and she patiently explained to us all the importance of honesty, integrity and respect.

Character counted, and she instilled those values in us and expected it in others.

What would have turned my mom’s hair as white as mine would be this “Kavanaugh vs. Ford American Horror Story” reality show that is still playing. More shocking than medical discoveries, more disgusting than R-rated movies and more immoral than the worst TV shows. It started before the 2014 election, and it gets worse by the day.

Between Washington and Hollywood, I can’t even listen to the “news.” The lies, vile attacks, horrific behaviors from people on all sides of every issue. It is the worst I have seen and my poor mom, she would be embarrassed, ashamed and horrified.

This is one of those situations where I find myself on an uncomfortable fence. I listened hard to the hearings and I still came away unsure. I still believe in “innocent until proven guilty” but look up the definition of “innocent” and you come away scratching your head.

I think what bothers me the most is the timeline. Not just in this situation, but all of the #MeToo situations. Memories fade and fail. Important details are lost. Hopefully, stupid youthful behaviors give way to mature, thoughtful life choices years later, so where is a line when is it fair and right to go back many decades to make accusations with far-reaching consequences — and when is the right thing to forgive transgressors and just move on?

None of this has been good. I am sure Mom and I would agree, this is Medieval torture. I just feel sad. One of my favorite quotes is, “America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good America will cease to be great.”

I fear for the loss of goodness.

Linda Kral and her husband moved to Roswell from California in July 2005. Contact her at: [email protected]