I like knowing what is going on in the world. Right now there is a lot. Two wars, a US election for the ages, and 3 provincial elections (and maybe a 4th when Doug Ford thinks he's buttered us up enough, but that is for another post) and political unrest in Ottawa here in Canada. Most people don't have a clue about most of them.
I grew up in an environment where news, local, national and international, was given an important place.
At our house, at both sets of grandparents homes, as in most of my friends homes. The Windsor Star, the local regional daily newspaper, and the Leamington Post, the hometown weekly, was in most households. I was first introduced to the Star reading the Saturday comics. I graduated to the front page, and the local stories.
At our house, my father got home from work at 4:30. Dinner was at 5:15. Dishes and tidying was done by 6 pm. Having no local news station, the 6 pm news came from the CBS station out of Detroit. I learned about the Vietnam war and other world events from Walter Cronkite. 60 minutes was a weekly must watch.
When we final got local Canadian news, the CBC out of Windsor was our go to local news. Marketplace and the Fifth Estate were added to our weekly news viewing.
My parents were fascinated with US politics, I remember a time when national conventions were covered non stop, as were US elections. Canadian political coverage never got close until the 24 hr cable news channels.
The point is I got to respect that it was important to know what was going on in the world. I learned to enter the political discussions my parents were having, remembering them telling me why a news story was important..
Some people are amazed at how much I know about the world. All it takes is the time to watch a bit of local news, and maybe a bit of international news. There is a 24 hour news cycle now, and all it takes is probable 5 minutes on a reputable website to keep up with what is happening in the world. And greater depth is available anywhere.
