There Was a Day

There was a day when lying was considered objectionable, destructive, noxious.
 
There was a day when allegiance didn’t mean subservience.
 
There was a day when integrity was a virtue rather than an act of disloyalty.
 
There was a day when those serving in Congress respected those holding opposing views and developed congenial relationships outside the halls of legislation.
 
There was a day when representatives had backbones and were willing to stand in opposition to their party’s position if they felt it wrong.
 
There was a day when national leaders created bipartisan committees to solve difficult problems, with one of the most important devoted to foreign policy.
 
There was a day when there seemed to be a national mind set to change the way women and minorities have been treated in the past, to move forward in acceptance, and to do what is morally right.
 
There was a day when honest media was respected.
 
There was a day when housing was affordable.
 
There was a day when one parent could work hard and provide for the entire family.
 
There was a day when a major schoolchild offense was chewing gum in class.
 
There was a day when parents respected teachers and worked with them to confront child misbehavior.
 
There was a day when most people did not possess a firearm.
 
There was a day when there weren’t shootings on a daily basis, when road rage did not create corpses, when going to the movies was a safe thing to do, when children didn’t accidentally shoot their siblings.
 
There was a day when people knew their neighbors.
 
There was a day when there were no handheld devices allowing easy hate speech to reach hundreds of thousands in an instant.
 
There was a day when people talked instead of watching TV.
 
There was a day when people wrote letters in good English.
 
There was a day when science was respected.
 
There was a day when the environment was treasured.
 
“Those were the days, my friend.”