Corny

16 November, 2008

Normally I love Mitch Albom, but his latest column is a bit corny for me. Here's an excerpt:

Every day that I stumble

Or say, "I can't do it!"

Is a day I discover

With God's grace, I get through it.

So I learn a new lesson

If I keep a new score

That every day I have less

May be a day I have more.

Maybe that seems more poignant in Detroit that Texas, but it just doesn't hit me like so much of the other stuff he writes does. It sounds like a bad greeting card. And the problem that I see with this is that it might make someone else, who hasn't read other stuff by him look at it and go "pfft, just someone trying to take advantage of someone who is going through a hard time by writing a meaningless poem."

Normally Albom shows that a "sportswriter" can see into the depths of a situation that is more complex than a zone blitz, that is more important that a pennant and explain it in a way that is masterfully written, but also simple to understand for those people taht are unfamiliar with a topic.

But turning the financial crises that's hitting America, and focused on Detroit, into a Hallmark card isn't the same thing.