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Letters must be received by noon Friday for inclusion in the following week’s paper. Please limit letters to 250 words. Submission does not guarantee publication. Opinions printed here do not constitute an editorial endorsement of said opinions.

Letter of the week receives $5 to Palate!

CORRECTION:

An article in the Nov. 8 issue stated former administrators of the Bend FC Timbers were facing misdemeanor criminal mischief charges, however the District Attorney is charging Tara Bilanski, Jen Davin and Emily Williams on what would be misdemeanors instead as violations — meaning there is no possibility of jail time. We regret the error.

GUEST OPINION: HOW TO END HUMANITY IN TWO TRIES

I am 100% confident I could end all human life on earth. I just need two tries. - Your brain is alarmed and processing an astronomical volume of info reacting to that statement. How could I possibly know any of this? Well, I along with you are capable of doing math at the limit English is capable of expression. And guess what? You’re actually a lot better at math than that.

There is a trove of scholarly work on the topic. I will not cite it. I’m not trying to persuade you. I know what I know about this by accident. It’s a miracle. You know what else is a miracle? Blind people can paint. The vibe is confusing to me at first, but that’s how I know this work is as profound as the universe itself. It’s also a math problem at its core.

Want to tap into that more? Confusing things you don’t see right away, things you dismiss, things you yell at your loved ones to cover over; these things may actually be bad, but there is a lot more to learn from your reaction to such things than if those things did not exist. Many of these things are often accidentally wonderful too.

The takeaway: Don’t be perfect— especially online. It papers over what makes you a deeply beautiful vessel for the miracle of a math machine in your head. You matter. You have meaning. It may not look like what you would expect, but it’s there. It’s always been there. You didn’t earn it. It just is. And little quirks are the window into understanding the universe.

I won’t end the world because of you. I’m also not 100% sure I could either, that was click bait. It’s also the world’s least interesting game. Why the blind can paint? That’s the question. Do not suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

All you have to do to end humanity is make fun of the right person with the nukes. It just might not happen on the first attempt. Everyone has a breaking point though. And you probably are playing this horrible boring game. Do you ever truly hate people you don’t really know? If so, right or wrong, you’re playing that game in some form. Please stop.

How? You stop in large part by not liking, by not subscribing, by not tiking or tweeting much. You stop by getting coffee with people right in front of you.

Want a bit more help? Most of you know incredibly brilliant, warm, anxious, hilarious people who seem a million miles away from you at times. Love them as much as you can by observing their differences. Their prescription for you is to wonder why they don’t want to play.

So put the phone down. Look people in the eye, see them face to face. Learn about them. Embrace their quirks. Let’s stop playing the wrong game together. —Nate Chaffetz is a communications consultant and owns Conejito Labs LLC.

DIVISION

Democrats and Republicans. Blue and red. Right and left. Until recently, these represented the two major political groups in America. Now, they represent opinions on basic human rights issues from gun restrictions to immigration that should be apolitical. While growing up, I was taught democracy is why our nation works. The ability to listen to each other and compromise over important issues is what makes America exceptional. Looking back at my journey through the school system, I've noticed how much pain and suffering is inflicted on people due to political leaders bickering about topics that should be a simple fix to save lives, protect our

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environment and provide people with the care they deserve. Instead, they turn them into political issues that are dividing friends, families and communities.

In elementary school, I didn’t have to worry about my safety, all I was concerned about was who brought the soccer ball for recess. Now we practice drills to hide from school shooters as children lose their lives while political leaders advocate that we should loosen restrictions on guns. I remember learning that America was built on the diversity of immigrants who moved their families across the globe based on the hope they could build a better life. Now our political leaders are quarreling in Washington while children are being locked in cages and forced from their families. Not only our safety but our democracy is at stake, and the only way we can save it is by listening to each other.

—Cooper Andersen

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A TEENAGER IN 2022

Being a teenager in 2022 was life changing. “Life changing” is often used to describe something good but for seniors in 2022 “life changing” was for the worse. People are forgetting how the class of 2023 was affected by Covid-19. Going into spring, freshman year at 14, just barely a teenager, thousands of freshmen received what sounded like good news. A two-week long spring break caused by COVID, unknowingly this would lead to never having a normal year of high school until we were 18 and seniors. High school is an important time in life, it's time to discover who you are, what you like and teach life lessons. Unfortunately for the class of 2023 the past four years has been spent in solitude looking at screens as teachers struggled to connect with kids and get the information across. Many lessons and education normally learned leading up to senior year was lost. Schools now try to pick up like nothing happened. However, never being graded normally, or having a full year in the classroom with classmates talking and interacting has left many gaps; older generations now expect us to continue without filling those. The class of 2023 is expected to graduate and continue their lives as adults while lacking all the experiences gained from normal adolescent years. Older generations need to consider this, when seniors respond to questions like, “What do you want to do with your life”, by saying “I don’t know” because we are still just 14.

—Kaylee Nystrom

Letter of the Week:

Thanks for your letter, Kaylee! You get letter of the week. Come on by and grab your gift card to Palate—in person, no online options available. : )