By Amelia Hamilton
Welcome to Are We Doomed? The weekly column in which I take a look at recent news and try to determine if it’s all downhill from here.
Have I seen this movie?
750 million genetically modified mosquitos are going to be released in the Florida Keys. Is this going to end up like Spider Man or Jurassic Park? Or is it Star Wars?
Verdict: Time will tell if we are doomed by Florida Mutant Bug.
Am I seeing double?
Well, this isn’t good.
Verdict: I sure hope these hurricanes won’t bring doom, but the jury is still out.
Music unites us
I know I’m late to this party but, if you haven’t yet, meet twins Tim and Fred Williams.
YouTube viewers suggest songs they need to hear and then they film themselves listening to it for the first time. Watch them react to hearing Jolene for the first time:
Verdict: Let’s focus on the things that make us happy and the things that we all have in common instead of the few things that divide us. Dolly Parton will save us from doom and you know it.
No thank you
I don’t know what this is and I don’t want to.
Verdict: There’s being creative and there’s “the emperor has no Timberland collar”. This is the latter, and we will be doomed if we let the dumb win.
Role Model
With so many kids looking up to athletes, it’s pretty great to see athletes being good role models. Take Jalen Hurts, a star football player in college who is now a rookie with the Philadelphia Eagles. He heard that a little boy named Alexander was such a fan that he put “Jalen Hurts” on his backpack, so he got a backpack of his own.
“Now to have the same platform in a sense and to be able to touch so many people, I try to take advantage of every opportunity I can. It’s a blessing. That means the world to me,” Hurts said to the Eagles’ website. “That’s what it’s all about – giving back, showing love, and helping others. That’s what it comes down to. That’s the rent we pay to live on this earth.”
Verdict: Just pay your rent, and we’ll be fine. No doom here.
Wait what?
California has confirmed their first case of plague in 5 years.
Verdict: I realize that the plague happens, but we really didn’t need it in 2020. On top of everything else, it certainly makes me think we’re doomed.
Dog friends!
It wouldn’t be Are We Doomed? if I didn’t include dogs. This week, the dogs that made me feel like we’re going to be ok are these rescue puppies who visited Seaworld to meet ocean puppies.
Verdict: You know that I think dogs are just angels sent to earth to teach us about kindness, so obviously we’re going to be OK.
In the final analysis… This week is a toss-up.
Want to know if your situation is doomed? Write and tell me about what’s going on and I’ll let you know what you can do to keep the doom at bay (unless it’s just totally doomed, in which case I’ll tell you that, too). You can tweet me @ameliahammy using #AskAmHam, message me through my Facebook page, or e-mail editorial@velvethamster.com. Let me help!