A Special Bulletin

William was taking a rare nap and it was laundry day, so I turned on the last few minutes of Oprah while I sorted socks. Ironically (it would turn out later), the show, about a man sexually molested as a boy by a priest, was interrupted by a "special bulletin".

Oh, no, I thought to myself as I saw images of long black, bullet-proof limos driving slowly on my TV screen. I braced myself for the worst. Did a plane crash? The President shot? Some new terrible act of terror? My fears were relieved when finally the talking head came on and announced that the world had come to a standstill because the verdict was in on the Michael Jackson trial.

I watched, half fascinated, half disgusted. Here is one trial of one man that used so much energy of people both on and off the air. If only we could, as humans, devote one third of that energy and concern for all the millions dying in Africa.