DAVID CARROLL: Never thought I’d see the day

I asked for it, and you delivered. Last week, I asked you to complete this sentence: “I never thought I’d see the day that ______________. As promised, here are your responses with my comments in parentheses.

From Debbie in Alabama: “I never thought I’d see the day that a young female pop singer weighing in at 120 pounds would terrify macho men like Sean Hannity and Jessie Watters because she doesn’t agree with their politics. Go Taylor!”

From Chrissy in Chattanooga: “I never thought we would pay for bottled water!” (I could go on for days about this one. I would add TV channels, air for our tires, radio, and the mysterious fees when paying for hotel rooms, flights and concert tickets. … I guess I’d better move on.)

From “anonymous” via e-mail: “I never thought I’d see the day when the U.S. Supreme Court would be held in such low regard because the judges are just as corrupt as members of Congress.”

From Cherie in Tennessee: “I never thought we would return to the days when our country is so divided by color. We had made so much progress, and now we’re right back in the 1960s.” (Cherie, as another reader pointed out, maybe we didn’t really make that much progress after all. Sadly, it has become fashionable and politically advantageous for some to reveal their true beliefs.)

From Lynn in Georgia: “I never thought I’d see the day when people don’t know what to believe because so-called news channels are skewed one way or the other, and the truth is hard to discern.” (That toothpaste is out of the tube, and I don’t think we can ever get it back in.)

From Linda in Whitwell, Tenn.: “I never thought I’d see the day when people could not respect others who have different opinions from their own.” (I’ll always believe social media helped open that can of worms.)

From Belinda in Tennessee: “I never thought I’d see the day when a person would walk into a church, a school, or a store and start shooting people like we see constantly in this day and time.”

From Jack in Chattanooga: “I never thought we would have the knowledge of the entire world in our pockets, but we prefer to watch cute cat videos.” (Another reader responded, “That’s me. It helps me forget all the bad stuff.” Point well-taken.)

From David in Tennessee: “I never thought I’d see so many people who are so proud to be so wrong.” (I like this one because everyone who reads it will think he’s referring only to people who disagree with them.)

From Vicki in South Pittsburg, Tenn.: “I never thought our schools would need metal detectors to keep students safe from gunmen.” (You and me both, Vicki.)

On the same topic, this is from a teacher named Beth: “I never thought I would wear tennis shoes to school every day, just in case I have to run.”

From Joanie in Tennessee: “I never thought I’d see the day that Nazis, or their supporters, would be marching in the streets of Nashville.” (Yep. I didn’t see that one coming.)

From Jim in Harrison, Tenn.: “I never thought I would be able to make a phone call from outside the house, with no cords!” (Oh, I knew that was coming. I saw Agent 86 Maxwell Smart talk into his shoe when I was a kid. He probably had better cell service than we do now.)

From too many to mention: “I never thought I’d see the day that I would want to stay home and not vote for anybody running for president.”

From Billy in Georgia: “I never thought I’d see the day that we have members of Congress who can’t pass a high school civics test, but they keep getting re-elected.”

From Brenda in Lafayette, Ga.: “I never thought I’d see our mainstream media so full of misspelled words and obvious grammatical errors. Apparently there is no shame in stupid mistakes nowadays.” (Not so fast, Brenda. Without all those mistakes, I wouldn’t have had any material for my new book.)

I’m sure there will be more surprises. Like BTO sang, “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!”