MISTAKES ARE nightmares for persons in my profession. I have made plenty of them in more than a half-century of writing the news.
Most of the time it does no lasting damage except to my reputation. But sometimes a mistake can completely change the meaning of something someone said.
The dreaded error happened to me last week when I wrote about the Howard County Quorum Court. The court unanimously approved a one-time appropriation of $2,500 so that management at the Senior Adult Center could pay bills for repairing equipment needed to feed senior citizens.
The lady who asked for assistance (she only asked for $360) was very passionate about seniors going hungry in this time of plenty.
She said: “We should have no senior hunger problem in southwest Arkansas.”
She was right. It would be a shame if there were senior citizens going hungry here.
The problem occurred when the newspaper came out. My mind quoted her accurately, but my fingers wrote that she had said “We should have no senior hunger PROGRAM in southwest Arkansas.” (emphasis mine)
My quote was exactly opposite of the thought she was trying to convey to the JPs. It was strictly my fault.
So my apologies to the lady, Cathy McMahan, and to the quorum court and any person who is passionate about senior citizens not going hungry.
And, every writing error is regrettable, even if it is funny. Once, my late wife wrote up a wedding story for the mother of the bride. The new couple got married and took off on a honeymoon to Hawaii, and the mom brought the story in.
But, for some reason, my Jane got distracted and she wrote that the couple honeymooned in Gurdon. No offense to Gurdon, but it’s just not a desired honeymoon destination, last time I checked. Although both Gurdon and Hawaii have six letters.
After the paper came out the bride’s mom visited our office and boohoo’ed for awhile, and we ran the corrected version of the story next week.
But the mom never quite got over our misteak.
Sometimes we make an error in an obituary. That’s the worst. I have learned that even if we correct the error, some people in the family are like the newlywed’s mom — They never forgive. Or forget.
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WHAT WILL JUANITA’S DO?
Bad news arrived last week at the Mine Creek Soil Conservation District office. The district, as both of my regular readers know, sells peanuts and many other treats involving a variety of nuts for delivery here in November. Proceeds from the sale go to scholarships.
The bad news is that the recent hurricane which swept through Georgia completely destroyed the peanut farms which provided the peanuts.
There will be no peanut harvest in 2018. I repeat, none. Zero, zip, nada, nein.
I usually buy some of the 5-pound bags of raw, shelled peanuts, and give them as modest Christmas gifts to friends who like to parch them on cold winter nights.
The problem goes way beyond my Christmas presents.
What will Juanita’s (in Arkadelphia) do for peanut brittle? This is an Arkansas tragedy!
What about the bluejays and cardinals in my yard that have come to depend upon daily rations of raw peanuts?
And, oh my goodness, what will happen to the Peanut M&Ms factory? This tragedy keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Peanut butter? Don’t get me started. I’m crying already.
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THE PROBLEM WITH ELECTIONS. By the time I got to the early voting site, Monday, the Arkansas Supreme Court had already ruled that two ballot issues should not be counted.
Drat!
I still hadn’t made up my mind about Issue No. 1, limiting what attorneys can take in lawsuits, but the thing I didn’t like was that it gave our corrupt Arkansas Legislature power to sweep in and make changes without public approval.
The other issue was going to get a FOR vote from me. It was Issue No. 3, re-instituting term limits for our corrupt Arkansas Legislature. We, the people, had approved the limits once already, but we later let the solons extend their time of service in return for cutting back on the sweet stuff they get from lobbyists.
But then one of the legislators (who is now in prison for corruption) managed to change the rules. The legislators got to keep their longer terms, but did not have to give up the bourbon and lobster and ‘consulting’ kickbacks their lobbyists and colleagues could come up with.
Now I won’t get to vote on the issue. You have a pretty good idea how I feel.
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WORD GAMES. The twins: Up and Over. Theirs is a motivational story.
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HE SAID: “Of the five most important things in life, health is first, education or knowledge is second, and wealth is third. I forget the other two.” Chuck Berry, rocker
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SHE SAID: “Growing up, my mother and grandparents often talked about our family’s Native American heritage. As a kid, I never thought to ask them for documentation – what kid would?” Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Maine
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SWEET DREAMS, Baby
