Is There Really No Good News In Oklahoma Right Now?

While I hate the heat of summer, I'd gladly endure it in an early start if that meant getting past this current cycle of "everything is bad" news.

Like everything in life, news and daily life happens in a cycle. You see something awesome so you keep looking for more awesome... but the longer you look, the less awesome you find until you're just left with the depressing side of the news until one little awesome thing happens again restoring your mood.

While that cycle isn't enough to bring down the individual throughout their own schedule, when the masses latch on, the media tries to capitalize on those clicks, inadvertently creating a depressing news vortex that grows progressively harder to get out of.

This current cycle started out small in the talk that Oklahoma legislatures wanted to ban certain books from certain libraries. Even when it was fresh it was old news since Texas had already done it. Then Oklahoma doubled down on Texas' efforts bringing forth bills aimed at LGBT students in public schools, but it still wasn't enough to drive a fever pitch response of the population.

The catalyst came over the topic of abortion and Oklahoma's whirlwind quick passing of legislation that has the population split even further. Mix in the protests of supporters, opponents, students, and various other groups of people all with contrasting viewpoints, we're basically back to where we were as spring turned to summer in 2020... at each others throats as if politicians were pulling the strings.

Makes me wonder what's really happening behind the scenes, what they don't want us to see and know... but I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. Instead, I started looking locally to see and share something mildly uplifting, and that's when the Lawton PD shooting bodycam footage was released.

Even on social media, abortion and LPD's shooting is the bulk of the news content locally in Oklahoma across most of social media. It's bad enough to make a person assume nothing good is happening, but you have to remember the words of a wise old children's entertainer from way back... If you look for the good, you'll find it.

Apache had their Caffeine & Chrome AM car show last weekend. Crawds and Rods is coming up this weekend in Elgin. Eats & Beats is returning to Comanche County Fairgrounds this Saturday. High school seniors across Oklahoma will be graduating over the next two weeks. Summers official kickoff Memorial Day weekend is at the end of the month. So much awesome is happening right now, you just can't see it through the forest that is the news.

Maybe this is beyond the news. Just maybe this is another great example of why America needs to add a few three-day holidays into these first five months of the year. That stretch between New Year and Memorial Day is too long. All work and no play makes for vicious strangers on the internet.

Perhaps you and I just need to turn it all off for a weekend. Take a mini-trip to see or experience something new in the state. A new restaurant, a new event, a new tourist destination, etc... If you need ideas, here are a few.