Published: June 24, 2008 07:49 pm         

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Questionable judgment a too-common theme

Two stories in last week’s national news gave me pause for thought. First was that long U.S. Open Golf Tournament in California. It was covered not only in the sports pages but on the front page of newspapers. Second was the startling story from the other side of the country which told of a pact between 17 high school girls, all 16 years old or under, determined to become pregnant. Two attention-getting stories from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts which hardly seemed related but, to this mother, they shared one thing, questionable judgment.

Tiger’s decision to play, to me, was bad judgment. But he received nothing but praise from others. How brave he was to bear all that pain and still win said the experts. Win he did and I was among the millions who watched, but only time will tell if it was worth the gamble. Will he ask that question in the many months he is confined to the sidelines?

As for the girls, experts are using today’s very popular excuse when teens get in trouble. They lack self-esteem!

The girls live in Gloucester, MS, a town suffering from a decline in the fishing industry and families are feeling the economic effects. The girls are influenced by a culture that recently has glamorized teen pregnancy in several movies. In their own school a day care center is available for students and employees.

Instead of shunning pregnant teens the school did this to give support so the student would continue her education. This thoughtful act may have back-fired and contributed to the foolish decision of these girls. Sadly, their bad judgment will affect their baby as well.

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There is news from the animal world too. Pigeons are pests in cities. Often they flock to trees near hotels and make a mess of the sidewalks or even worse on those walking below. Many ways to shoo them away have been tried and failed.

In St. Paul, MN, officials are readying the town for the Republican National Convention this summer. How to control the pigeons is one of their problems and they are trying a new idea. They are mixing a contraceptive in wild bird feed and offering the free meal to the pigeons. They hope it will control the population before the conventioneers arrive.

Another creature famous for its contribution to the animal population is the rabbit. An expert of the animal answered a question from a person who had seen a rabbit acting in a strange manner. Could it have had rabies was the question.

The explanation was that this was typical behavior for a love-starved rabbit. Its breeding hormones had awakened and when that happens the animal chases, jumps, runs in circles and fights. This normal reaction was how the phrase “mad as a March hare” began.

The strangest animal story just happened in our neighboring town Cookeville. Children were playing when they heard a growling sound coming from a drain pipe. Animal control was called and to their astonishment it was not a dog as they had expected, but a 2-foot-long alligator! Is this another sign of global warming?

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Everyone does comparison shopping once in awhile. USA Today recently did that with the price of a barrel of crude oil which amounts to 42 gallons. As of June 3 a barrel of crude cost $124.31. As of that same date the same amount of 2% milk cost $147, Bud Light $302 and Jack Daniel’s whiskey $3,568. It all depends on your perspective.