by Steve Dunford
I need to say this, I have paced the floor on how to say this, I have been wanting to say this for a long time, and I hope it comes out all right.
I start my day on hold with the IRS. No, I am not being audited. I have a refund that has been lost in cyberspace. I will say this, the Internal Revenue Service has been more than helpful than trying to help out in this process.
While I was on hold, I began to scan through my newsfeed on Facebook. I have several hundred media sources on my page, and second I get to find out about what you, the people of Franklin and surrounding counties have on your mind.
There were some things during that time that I was shaking my head about. (SMH to prove this old geezer is hip.) First was a editorial that said the problem with “downstate” schools is paying teacher retirement pensions.
I read some before I had enough. The piece painted this picture of Laura Ingalls Wilder standing out in front of a one room schoolhouse, laughing all the way to the bank when she retires. It failed to mention how the state has raided TRS funds, and that school teachers do not participate.
Then there were a couple stories about some of the extras that Mike Madigan snuck in Senate Bill 9. I then read the story about how he snuck in the nickel gas tax. I read a story how PETA is up in arms about the selfie rights of monkeys.
There is something that has a lot of people up in arms this morning. The website roadsnacks.net., gave West Frankfort (or West Skankfort as the call it on the post) as being the whitest trash in all of Illinois.
They took a few statistics, a picture on Google Maps of Route 37 coming into town from, and make what they call their “scientific” determination.
This website has had several “flattering” reviews of Franklin County in the past. I tried to pull up previous lists, but one thing that comes to mind is the Benton Square is more dangerous than the streets of Chicago and East St. Louis. This had everyone up in arms about a year ago.
One of the things that put West Frankfort in this rating was saying there were eight payday loan places. I can think of four, maybe. Also in their assessment there are only a couple hundred that are not “White Trash” that live here.
I think the blockbuster, “Poor White Trash” being filmed here put WF over the edge. Watching it was two hours of my time that I will never get back.
To the south in Williamson County, Johnston City made the list, and they did not consider Marion the “Hub of the Universe.”
“This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out.” This is a disclamor that is before everyone of their top tem lists. Some people are doing the opposite and really freaking out.
I tried to do a little research on roadsnacks.net today. I could not find any specifics, but it is national, having top ten lists in all 50 states. When the list on Benton came out, I thought it was a few kids in the collar counties in their parents basement making up the facts.
I actually spent more time looking at how they are using GoogleAds for their site. It is something that you will see implemented on here as well soon.
I have lived in Franklin County all my life. This is home to me. Here is one thing that I have observed over the last few years that is starting to disturb me. I am trying to find the right words to say, but the county is starting to develop an inferiority complex subtly.
I had a conversation about how I have witnessed this change with my son last night. I hear this in daily conversations how people talk about what we are not in this county.
From our rich history, to having Rend Lake in our back door, school systems that our students are performing well above the state average, we have a lot to be proud of to be residents of this county.
No matter what a click bait site says, this is an awesome place to live. It is home. If you don’t like how something is done, try to change it and don’t gripe about it.
I can go on and on about the benefits of living here, but I would like to issue a challenge to every one of you each and every day. Ask yourself how can I this day, make my community a better place to live. It does not have to be something great, it could be something as small as a kind word or gesture. If each of us do this, the world as a whole would be a much better place.
By the way here is a link to Road Snacks latest post.
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