One thing I’ve learned in my over 30 years of doing commentary on radio, TV, and now print and digital is that people like to complain.  I’ve made a living out of complaining and the audience has supported me on it all these years so they must like it too.

Complaining and criticizing gets more attention than complimenting and supporting.  Hear me out. 

I’ve used this analogy for years.  If you have a papercut you focus on the papercut and not on the 99.99% of your body that’s doing fine.  When the weather gets extreme you can talk about 15 below zero or 110 above for hours.  If it’s 72 and sunny you say nice day and move on. 

I tell you this to tell you a dirty little secret about commentators whether they be in talk radio, cable news, digital or print.  It’s much easier to talk about what’s wrong than it is to talk about what’s right. It gets better ratings.

It’s a dirty little secret about human beings in general.  We like to focus on what’s wrong more than what’s right. 

You see I’ve been staring at my computer screen for about an hour and a half trying to write a column complimenting OPPD, Public Works, and all the neighbors that pitched in to help  get us back on track after the horrific storm that left so many without power and damaged so many trees. 

Stumped on being able to say nice job in such a way to make the column interesting and fill the space I need to fill. 

It would be so much easier if OPPD wasn’t out there day and night working in this dangerous heat to get power restored.  I could fill two pages calling them out on their inadequacy if they weren’t getting the job done. But they got the job done. 

So what can I say besides “Thanks” and “Nice Work.” Thanks for doing a dangerous job under bad conditions. Thanks for taking time away from your own families and tree debris to take care of others. 

And what can you say about the job the city has done to clean up this mess?  In a moment’s notice they got waste sites open, portable stop signs up at intersections where the lights don’t work, and kept the citizens informed with online posts and press conferences.  I guess I could say “Way To Go” but those are only three words.  I need to write 750. 

It’s easier to complain. Think of all the news stories and the riots and the anger that took over the country when a couple of bad Minneapolis cops murdered George Floyd. And rightfully so. 

Don’t all the law enforcement officers in Douglas and Sarpy County that helped keep things in order deserve the same kind of attention?  Or the firemen and EMT workers that had to navigate in the dark to avoid blocked streets to get to those who needed them. They deserve our praise as well.

TV commentors, talk radio hosts, politicians, and internet trolls will all tell us how divided we are as a nation, but I seriously doubt any neighbor that helped out another asked them who they were voting for before they gave them a hand. The Salvation Army, The Red Cross, and numerous churches provided food, cooling stations, and shelter for people regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. They may not personally agree with some of those needing assistance, but that didn’t matter this time. They needed help and they provided what they could. 

I know many people suffered a long time in the heat without electricity. They had more serious hardships than just some fallen trees. You can understand when they came to the end of their rope if they started to lose it.

This was an event unlike any other in the history of Eastern Nebraska. Damage like this cannot be fixed overnight. We’ll be dealing with the aftermath for a long time to come. 

It took me complaining about how much we like to complain to get my point across about how good people are. To support those who rose to the challenge to fix things in a timely manner. 

So to every electrician, public works worker, first responder, arborist, politician, volunteer and to anyone I may have failed to mention that did what they could to get things back to normal I only have one word….. THANKS!

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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