The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling

If it weren’t for the fact that I am actually able to write this blog entry, I would be convinced that the end of the world took place earlier this morning. While flipping through radio stations in a generally fruitless quest to find anything resembling music, I happened upon a song by Nickelback. Now, I generally have to be in a very lenient mood to consider anything by this band to fall into the category of “music” (thinking as I do, that the band’s name refers to what one might say after having listened to an album of theirs purchased from a bargain bin at your local record store – “I’d like my nickel back, please.”) However, I’d already been around the horn a couple times and was about to give up and switch to NPR for the rest of the drive in, so I was rather disposed to feel kindly towards any sort of noise being played by instruments.

Here’s the hitch though: after a couple seconds I realized that the preset button I had punched to get to this “song” by this “band” supposedly corresponded to a Classic Rock station. I understand that “it doesn’t have to be old to be a classic” and therefore am quite affable towards this same station playing Metallica. I also don’t object when they play songs that really aren’t rock, i.e. Jim Croce (whom I love by the way). I even accept that not every song will have much in the way of musical value, i.e. “Wild Thing.” However, this playing of Nickelback hits right into a triple play: not old, not rock, and not – well, you get the point. I switched over to NPR, deciding that some adult-contemporary-loving monkeys must have taken over control of the station during the night. But about 10 minutes later I checked back and they had resumed playing the Stones, so apparently my earlier suspicion had not been accurate. Hence, my conclusion that the world must have just come to an end, but only I noticed it. Just call me chicken little.

Here’s a discussion question, though, have any of you ever encountered a similar sort of thing that made you question the continued existence of earth?