Current Conditions
50°F - CLEAR
(703) (527) (232) (159) (57) (31) (26) (2)
For New Era subscribers, it probably has been a major change.
You might be used to coming home from work and finding your newspaper wherever it landed, possibly in the yard next door, where it's being guarded by your neighbor's Doberman pinscher, Killer, who has never liked you. Now your paper is waiting for you in the morning and you can retrieve it — hopefully — before Killer awakes.
For us in the newsroom, it also has been a weird week. Imagine my shock when I walked into the office Monday and found every desk occupied, in many instances by folks who, for 16 years, I have thought of as "the enemy."
OK, not the enemy (except for maybe David O'Connor), but certainly competitors. Now we're all on the same team, which means we can leave our desk drawers unlocked.
It promises to be an interesting and exciting future as we grope our way forward together, each of us thinking, "Huh?"
This new adventure would be even more exciting if it weren't for the sad fact that so many of our colleagues lost their jobs as a result of the merger.
Greetings
Which brings me to this column, as today I welcome New Era subscribers, including my stepmom, to our readership. Hi, Hilda!
Some of you already are familiar with this column, having read it and then used it to paper train your puppies.
But for you first-timers, allow me to introduce myself and tell you what this 18 or so inches of type is all about.
I am Lancaster County born and bred and was educated in Ephrata Area School District and at Millersville University. (Don't hold that against these fine schools.)
By Lancaster County standards, I am a flaming liberal, although elsewhere I likely would be considered a moderate.
I think everyone should have a government health care plan just like Joe Pitts and Arlen Specter have, and no one has yet convinced me that allowing gays to wed is worse for marriage than a nearly 50 percent divorce rate.
On my conservative side, I support tightening our borders and cracking down on all illegal immigrants, including the Rolling Stones. I also support the death penalty and feel we should use it in all cases of violent crime, for certain zoning violations and for that guy on TV who sells the ShamWow.
Those are my politics, and that will likely be the last you hear of them. For this is a humor column, begun in February 1993 with the idea of taking a cockeyed look at life.
Things in common
Here you will read homespun, over-the-back-fence stories of growing up in a small town.
And though that town is Ephrata, I suspect the reader will be able to associate with the stories if he or she grew up in Lititz, Quarryville, New Holland, Columbia or wherever.
Sometimes I will recap — with a wry twist — certain news stories, and other times simply drop tidbits of twisted history, such as the fact that in his later years George Washington had to gum his food because his wooden dentures had been eaten by beavers.
So welcome, New Era readers, and enjoy.
E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com
