Mark Sanford Made Me Smile

After being bogged down with tales of death and mayhem in Iran, on DC Metro trains, in West Philadelphia neighborhoods, in Pakistan, North Korea, Iraq. Everywhere I turned it seemed like someone new had died or had gotten cancer. Perinatal HIV on the rise. Neda. Ed McMahon. Another child gunned down in a city street.

Plus the minor annoyances like the rain, the Septa delays, the people who say they care, but won't look me in the eye. This week I started losing my optimism. I skipped my volunteer job on Tuesday and stared mindlessly in the face of the tv- something that cannot possibly love me back. But could numb me out for a while.

Today I went for my usual late lunch at 1:30 pm and when I returned at 2:30, I looked at Twitter and saw Argentina, GOP, Sanford as trending topics. And I read the tweets. The stories, recaps, tasteless jokes.

And I smiled. This politician's sordid affair was so big in the world of news. And I suspected we were riveted because we desperately needed a moment of distraction. From the global recession and the death and suffering that seems to be everywhere.

Thank you Mark Sanford for giving me a few moments of rest from the real problems of my life and of the world.