An April Fool?

April 1st used to be such a fun day.  Who could fool me?  Who could I fool?  Could I catch a family member off guard early in the morning?  What about at the end of the day when the exhaustion of the day would make an easy mark?  But April Fool's Day just isn't that much fun anymore.

With Google at everyone's fingertips (well almost everyone) and the plethora of social media, there hoaxes and jokes every day.  It doesn't take more than a few minutes (maybe even seconds) to figure out of something is true or not.  (Although not everybody tries.  PLEASE!  Bill Gates is not giving millions away.  The IRS is not coming to get you if you don't pay in the next day.  Microsoft does NOT need access to your computer.  Your grandchild is NOT in a jail in a foreign country.  You DON'T have to pay anybody in gift cards!)

But mostly April Fool's isn't fun anymore because outrageous tales are no longer outrageous! While it might have once been a joke to call my mother and say "look out on the front lawn there is a flock of turkeys!" and follow that with an "April Fool!" it's no longer a joke.  There ARE turkeys on the lawn.  There are deer in the street.

The ridiculous and outrageous are commonplace!  Children and parents separated and living in "cages?"  Just look at our immigration situation.  Green polar bears; isn't that impossible?  No, it's possible and occurs more often as the climate warms.  Unsafe drinking water in the US of A; it’s a fact. An accused sex offender being elected to public office? There are more than you can count. 

Those are just a few simple examples.  There is so much more in our world that could make your head explode, and yet they are not jokes.  (If only they were!)

Perhaps we ARE the fools.  We have allowed our world to become a place where the unthinkable (school shootings) are commonplace.  Where we rationalize "free speech" to say hateful things.  Where we spend countless hours testing our children, but spend very little time educating.  Where we shame the overweight and emaciated, but don't do anything about it.  

Let's NOT be April Fools.  Let's not be foolish.  Be smart!  Information is at your fingertips.  Don't be fooled; research.  Don't BE a fool; act in a way that shows your intelligence and caring.