The media is selling disaster!

I spent a Sunday afternoon at a birthday party for my daughter-in-law's father. Instead of being a happy birthday boy, he was depressed. Why? Because he was seriously worried and concerned about all the things he has been reading in the newspaper, hearing on the radio and seeing on television.

A short list of some of his fears are:

* Global warming - Will we all be stricken with sunburns that will prove fatal?

* Breaks in the ozone layer - Skin cancer could possibly follow and touch us all.

* Reversing of the magnetic poles - No longer will compasses point north, they will point south. (To me this is not a great fear.)

* Crashing comets and asteroids - All those heavenly bodies and space junk from NASA flying in the universe are dangerous. One day some object may fly into earth and cause death and destruction.

* Tectonic Plates - All over California and the Middle East the earth is moving and causing tremors and earthquakes. I advised him to buy waterfront property in Nevada but he wouldn't hear of it.

* Nuclear Holocaust - Is another Chernobyl just around the corner? My daughter-in-law's father thinks it is.

* Tornadoes and hurricanes - They usually occur in the midwestern states but he thinks they are moving toward New York. He remembers Dorothy and Toto from the Wizard of Oz. I think he also mentioned El Nino.

* African killer bees - They are swarming their way up the East Coast and he expects them soon to put in an appearance in the metropolitan area. I think he just purchased a well-built, sturdy fly swatter, just in case.

* Two-headed frogs - A very dangerous mutation is frightening.

* Locusts and Piranhas are also two items he listed.

* Deforestation - The Amazon Valley forests being cut down was another troubling source of his worry.

* Overfishing - The fish supply off the Outer Banks is dwindling and soon we will lose a vital food supply. He is now afraid to eat farmed salmon and will only ingest wild salmon. He read the medical reports and he is worried.

I mentioned that each of his disaster categories has a bona-fide group or organization replete with a huge following that conducts meetings and collects clues. I urged him to join one or all of them.

He is quite sure that all this negativism will cause a moral breakdown and a new Sodom and Gomorrah are just around the corner. I think he mentioned something about building an ark in case things get too hot.

I wished him a happy birthday. He cheered a little - not much.

"The world will probably end next weekend, but enjoy your day," I said teasingly, with a smile!

His expression did not change.