By Nancy Patrick

Sometimes when I think about my next writing topic, my mind runs rampant through the endless lists of issues that people face on a day-to-day basis. I don’t know enough about some of the topics to write a complete article, but I have opinions on most of them that I sometimes get an itch to express.

To start on a light note, I will ask three questions that often pop into my mind:

1. Why do so many women wear false eye lashes today?
2. What motivates women to wear tight, revealing clothing rather than modest attire?
3. Why do female broadcasters wear designer clothes and stilettos while their male counterparts wear conservative suits, sports coats, slacks, and dress shoes?

And yes, I realize all these questions relate to sexist issues, but I find it disrespectful to females that we feel pressure to use our looks to compete with men in fields where beauty should not be a factor.

Now, I will express opinions on several other issues that affect just about everyone in the world. I know that my opinions don’t count for much, so don’t try to cash them in. 

1. Aging—Everyone alive ages every day. However, people do not always age in similar ways. For example, the number of years a person has lived does not always equate to the same condition as others that same age.  Eighteenth century Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, “O wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!” 
2. Conservation—Why do people continue to pollute and devastate nature when we now know we destroy our own planet daily?  Science tells us that our world may not be sustainable indefinitely. 
3. Separation of church and state—For public education to be equally accessible to everyone, the schools need to be completely separate from the church. Many Americans want public schools to endorse Christian values. That is the privilege of private schools—not public ones. If the public school endorses Christian prayers, then it must also allow for any other religion to express its prayers as well. 
4.  Humanity for all—Why can’t people learn to get along with each other in ordinary times similarly to the way we do in times of crisis? Tornadoes, floods, mass shootings, war, fires, pandemics, and other disasters seem to bring out the good in people. Why can’t we act that way all the time?
5. War—I fail to see the value of most wars. I realize that people will always war against each other, but the total destruction of land, infrastructure, human life, and economies seems to outweigh any gains.
6. Politics—I hate politics. Enough said!
7. Discernment—What enables people to believe propaganda rather than truth? How can intelligent people know the same facts yet cannot discern truth from fiction? All over the world, charismatic demagogues have beguiled followers with distortions and outright lies, convincing them to do immoral and illegal acts. 
8. Kindness—If people really want contentment in life, why do we not practice kindness as a way of life? Our culture seems to congratulate people for being tough, hard, mean, and unbending. I have found that the students who remember me from decades past seem to remember ME, not the English I taught them. 
9. Love—Every religion has its creeds and beliefs. Since I belong to the Christian faith, I often find instruction for my life in the Bible. This verse can apply to any faith as it teaches people how to live together: “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13: 34-35).

Nancy Patrick is a retired teacher who lives in Abilene and enjoys writing