August 23, 2019 Issue, Page 4 of 10

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Friday, August 23, 2019 Opinion Page “ElkCituNews Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 There’s a first time YO FiGuTtne Clim QTe | WE PRoM CRISIS for everything BIT: @B Past € Bacs @ PRINKING StRaws PLASTic Bottles Hs @ AIRTRAVEL 434. DIP Anvkews MeMELL A life without purpose Elk City Rodeo decoration on Route 66. Staff photo by Don Munsch. By Don Munsch, Editor The Elk City Rodeo comes to town next week, and I have Glynda Lomax is a Chris- see her grown children of- any kind of contribution to a confession to make. tian author and podcaster ten and basically did not do the world around her. She This will be my first rodeo to attend or cover. Stranger in who resides in the Ozark much of anything but seek doesn’t worry about much a strange land, you could say. The rodeo will be held Aug. Mountains of Northern Ar- pleasure. of anything. I doubt there 30-Sept. 1. kansas with her two very She was not a beautiful will be anything to say at her Seems odd, I know. Especially given my Texas roots and bossy dogs. She wrote her woman who funeral about how she gave was careful that I grew up relatively close to the Mesquite Rodeo and first About Life..column in about her appearance, be- to those around her, or how the Stockyards Championship Rodeo in Fort Worth. 2003 for a newspaper in cause in all the time I knew she added to her communi- Oh, I have been to rodeo arenas and done some rodeo- Dallas. She is planning her her, I never once saw her ty, or about what an excel- related stories at other newspapers. I lived and worked at a next book, with her makeup on or her lent person she was. paper in the town — Decatur, Texas — that is home to Trev- hair styled. She had no reli- And it led me to won- or Brazile, the decorated cowboy who has won 14 World “The purpose of life is gious conviction or beliefs. der. How many people go All-Around titles and 24 World titles with the Professional to live a life of purpose.” = She did not seem to believe through their whole lives Rodeo Cowboys Association. I did a story on Clif Cooper, Richard Leider in anything higher than seeking one thrill after an- Glynda Lomax son of former rodeo cowboy Roy Cooper, when I was in seeking momentary happi- other, one high after anoth- give to themselves. Decatur. Clif played basketball at Decatur High School and Iknew a woman years ago ness. She simply went from er, one happiness fix after has a rodeo background. who absolutely believed in one physical pleasure to the another, but with absolutely What goes around always And I once met and interviewed the widow of Lane living for the moment to the next. no purpose outside of mak- comes back around and what Frost. He was the professional bull rider who died in 1989 fullest degree. It was a dif- One day as I left my ing themselves feel good? we give out comes back to and whose life was made into the movie “8 Seconds” that ferent kind of living for the friend’s house, I found my- No giving to others, no acts us. If we spend our lives starred Luke Perry. moment than any I had seen self wondering what she of kindness, compassion or giving nothing, then nothing Otherwise, I am such a neophyte at the rodeo world that up close before, but she felt would have to show for her generosity. Never giving will surely be what we are I needed to go online to get up to speed on some rodeo for her it was the ultimate life when it ended. What anything good to the world basics. form of happiness. will be on her headstone they were born into? left holding in the end. Ido know how important is to Elk City. Rodeo decora- She was middle-aged, liv- after she passes from this Is it really possible to be “The purpose of life is not tions — a saluting cowboy and a bull — were mounted on ing with her boyfriend and world to the next? What will happy and be totally self- to be happy. It is to be use- light poles lining Route 66 in the weeks before the rodeo. taking her pleasure in eat- be said about her at her fu- centered? I don’t see how it ful, to be honorable, to be Jim Mason, director of economic and community devel- ing, drinking and waiting for neral? That she had a good could be, because as humans compassionate, to have it opment for the City of Elk City, said in an email that the her boyfriend to come home time? That she did not live we have an innate need to rodeo’s economic impact in Elk City is maybe equal to the make some difference that from work. She smoked a life of worry? Because for give, to love and to bring joy Fall Festival, the Big Fall Flea Market or Christmas in the cigarettes constantly and sure she doesn’t. She doesn’t to others. But for some rea- you have lived and lived Park, “but the biggest economic impacts are most likely the watched television all day. worry about her reputation, son, there are those around well.” — Ralph Waldo Em- baseball and softball tournaments that last a full weekend.” She did not work, did not her health or about making us who seem only to want to erson. Those tournaments bring business to hotels, restaurants and stores. “The Rodeo definitely brings in big crowds and is a high- Engaging a culture that is losing it’s geniune social network light event, but most people come to town for the afternoon parade, eat and then go to the Rodeo and go home.” he said. Guest column by Pauline single person was speak- selfies” are, that is a thresh- presenting negative com- “T’m sure it puts some heads in beds but not overwhelm- Ringer of Elk City. ing to the one standing next old to build upon. ments. Personally, I like to ingly.” Who can say 21st century to them, all self-absorbed Thave to admit, it was not focus on edification, as it by The rodeo’s website said the rodeo entertains about technology hasn’t benefited into an illumined 2x5 inch an effort, by any means, to far builds people up. A sin- 14,000 people each year. It is sanctioned by the PRCA, today’s society? screen. shut down my Facebook and cere compliment, gratitude, and “with more than $62,000 up for grabs, cowboys and How extraordinary to There is something dis- delete 80% of my email cor- a helping hand or a smile cowgirls make Elk City a stop during their rodeo travels, email, tweak and twitter. To heartening when more than respondence two years ago. can be just as thoughtful research and self-educate half the family would rath- I could see the addiction as giving someone a bright trying to win as much as they can, to qualify for the Wran- gler National Finals Rodeo and the Prairie Circuit Finals one’s own path. The con- er engage in their device setting in and I had to set bouquet of yellow roses. Rodeo,” the website stated. venience of a finger touch than with their relatives at boundaries. Building upon relation- The rodeo’s parade — Parade of Champions — will be at 2 message. High-speed com- Thanksgiving. And how But what a sense of free- ships does involve work, p.m. Aug. 31 in downtown Elk City. munication literally leaped, disheartening, family mem- dom it gave me when I did which, in most circumstanc- See you at the parade and arena. in a single bound, the past bers around a dinner table this. It gave me more time es, requires us to leave our decade. are absorbed in communi- for special projects, keep- So, why all the fuss? Pos- ing a more organized house, comfort zones of physical A tough sell for DOC cating over a device rather and emotional ties. The ben- sibly, from one Elk City than with each other. Miss- reading what I have longed resident’s perspective, I ing out on the sharing of one to read, more time to help efits of positive communica- still find it utterly amazing, another’s interests, passions, and edify friendships and tion most always flows back The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is doing its via satellite to computer, concerns and joys of that most important, more time in good dividends. An in- best to address a significant shortage of correctional offi- from the vast heavens to see day means missing out on to spend with by husband vestment in others is a great our house on our computer reward. cers. Consider this job description by the agency's spokes- a blessing of genuine unity Dave on the front porch Maybe it’s time for some man, Matt Elliott. screen. and growth. swing. "If people want to do a job that's challenging," Elliott Is it possible to see with- And it’s not just the kids Conversation on the skill people to set some new pe- said last week, "that rewards them for their hard work, a job out that eye contact? Maybe, being kids. Don’t leave out level is an acquired art that rimeters on social tech me- where they can actually try to have an impact on people's if you have far-sightedness. the adults sitting out on the must be learned, nurtured dia, especially when it is lives, try to help people change their behavior, turn their But, just maybe, more so, street, either. I've seen it and developed. When to talk robbing one of other more lives around ... our staff do that every day." eye contact can be lost when over and over in planned and when not to talk. What We don't doubt it, and Oklahomans from border to bor- talking with someone. public gatherings. A way to say and what not to say, and work responsi der should be grateful to the men and women who staff Once upon a time, there of escaping any obligation flows with more ease when your family, your friends the state's prisons. However, the DOC has much working was a fine art of communi- to engage. Personally I find you forget about yourself. and those who need the against it as it seeks to recruit more than 600 entry-level cation. Talking to real per- to be disrespectful, rude and Personally, I believe its comfort of a listening ear. correctional officers. The first is pay. New COs start at sons was not subject to ad- even offensive. But, let’s core starts at the soul, the So put down those de- $15.74 per hour, plus benefits and overtime. That starting diction, but an engagement just call it by what it really heart, as an unselfish atti- vices whenever together at hourly wage is $2 more than it was not long ago, thanks to of mutual respect. Not to be is: Depersonalization. tude towards others. the dinner table or a family the Legislature boosting starting pay this session. misquoted, email between What are you missing? An attitude of understand- event. Open up that com- ‘Yet the starting pay is only on par with what a person can family and friends, especial- The eye contact that dropped ing aspires a character of munication bridge and get make working at a convenience store, and far below what ly when three states divide, out of your eye? Or that integrity, especially when to personally and intimately is available in fields such as the oil patch. When the energy is an incredible luxury that I twinkle of joy and excite- conversing out of our com- know your children. industry in Oklahoma is robust, as it has been in recent embrace from our desk top ment that is beaming from a fort zones of others ideolo- Second best alternative years, the DOC loses correctional officers regularly. computer. smile of good news, a caring gies, beliefs and personali- to minimizing devices is to Annually, the turnover rate for correctional officers is The loss of communica- touch, a listening ear that ties. just be silent. A mind at rest 30%. The DOC says that as 2018 ended, 73% of its COs tion is evident, nevertheless, can facilitate an attitude that Believe it or not, there is is a soul at peace from the had fewer than five years of service. and social media and gam- can permeate beyond even a gift of being a good lis- Working conditions present another significant hurdle. ing have enslaved so many. words spoken. Yet alone tener. That is, listening with stressors for the day. Mak- ing time to self-reflect and Because the roster of correctional officers is so thin -- just Several such images have words texted. the intent to understand and 55% of the DOC's cadet positions were filled on July 31 -- left an indelible impression When walls and perim- not with the thoughts of how or just pray to a heavenly and because the state's prisons are filled beyond capacity, as to what is wrong with this eters find no boundaries, to reply. How quick and Father who yearns to hear our concerns and praises. I the men and women in these jobs are badly outnumbered. picture. Have we as a society these tech devices can open easy I find myself doing this Bobby Cleveland, head of the Oklahoma Corrections Pro- progressed so much technol- doors to false identity, ad- and even interrupting while can only conclude the basis ogy-wise that we have now diction, isolation, building a someone else is speaking. of our human nature in the fessionals, has said COs work 12-hour shifts, five to seven days a week. In April, he said the ratio of inmates to COs regressed culturally? premise to be someone you Connecting without cor- following Bible verse, that I systemwide was 87-to-1. Example: The — loca- recting, another sermon for so desperately need to keep aren’t. It’s so easy to build The DOC says that at the end of July, only 18% of cadet tion was the parking lot of on false pretenses and em- myself. How easy it is to on the front line of my itin- positions were filled at the prison in Sayre. The prison had Hutch’s convenience store, bellishments over a device, correct and advise so quick- erary. a whopping 96 vacancies. off Pioneer and Bell. rather than in person to per- ly. I've done it and always Philippians 2: 1-4 “Don’t Correctional officers must be at least 20 years old and Ten to 13 junior high stu- son relationships. regret it. I must say, there live to make a good impres- have a high school diploma. No experience in the field is dents were waiting for their For it is with our very na- is something so beautiful sion on others. Be humble, necessary. Those who sign on will have to complete a six- rides. All heads were facing ture to be inherently selfish. about connecting with oth- thinking of others better week academy and are paid during that time. down into a device. Not one And as innocent as “taking ers without correcting or than yourself.”