August 2006

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All of us, at some point in our lives, have to learn the lesson about not putting our fingers directly on stove burners. It's best, of course, if we believe our instructor upon being told that harm will come to said fingers, instead of having to burn ourselves.

Once that lesson is learned, however, it's annoying as hell if someone starts screeching every time we approach the kitchen. Especially if we are adults when the screeching is being done toward us.

And the same is true of bad weather forecasts. We in North Carolina have had our share of hurricanes the past few years. And yes, we need to be told that the storm is approaching, along with quietly-spoken reminders of what we should do to protect ourselves, since shelter locations might change and power outage supplies might vary with the season.

But the constant reminders of how dire things can be, accompanied by much hand-wringing by the news staff, come across as annoying rather than helpful. I suspect I'm not the only person who has taken ample advantage of the mute button the last few days as Ernesto approached and made landfall.

Yes, I do hope all who needed instruction regarding hurricanes got the information they needed. But more than that, I hope the rest of us aren't getting conditioned to tune out the necessary in order to escape the screech.