ROTHENBURGER – Got the Christmas blues? I’ve got good news and bad news
(Image: Mel Rothenburger)
WHEN YOU ADD IT all up, there’s good reason to be depressed this Christmas. When so much bad is going on all around us, the “Merry” in Merry Christmas, the spirit of giving, the holiday magic, might ring false.
But there’s a bright side to almost everything. I happened to be in the computer store the other day when a kid from TRU stepped up to the counter and plunked down a mangled laptop that looked like it had been run over by a car.
In fact, it had. It was smashed and bent every which way. His hope was that his data could be retrieved and that he was covered for a new one — he’d bought the now-destroyed laptop only a few months ago.
That morning, he told me, he was on campus heading to an exam when some scumbag suddenly wrenched his backpack away and took off. The student described the guy as being in his 40s and looking rough.
He gave chase, the thief dropped the backpack just as a car came along, and now you know the rest of the story.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Careful Mel. By using the term “scumbag”, you’re not reducing the stigma, nor meeting people where they’re at. You’re disregarding that they’re in survival mode when they assault and steal from a young student. You’re not taking into account that a non-denominational holiday is approaching so we should generally be kind and not reference any type of imagery of a man with a white beard wearing red, as that may exclude people or make them feel uncomfortable.
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Gorgeous dog, Mel.
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