Wanted: Solutions

Jana Mathia, Gazette Editor | Jul 09, 20200

In case you didn't know, we've got a lot of problems in the world right now. And those problems are voiced very loudly, sometimes even violently. We have division, brutality, political differences and even strong opinions both ways about face ornamentation.

What we need are more solutions. Not just from highly-educated people who have had all day to think about it, just more potential solutions. We need to look at the problems from many different ways and then start trying them. Some of those solutions may be half-baked or weird; that's ok. Some solutions may be modge-podge of many parts; that's ok.

It is very interesting to observe different city councils in Whitman County. While each town faces similar problems, how they address and respond to those issues varies greatly. I remember one conversation with a new city council woman who was so frustrated with the long-time members because they wanted to kick the tires on everything and discuss forever. Nothing wrong with that, but the troubling part was they never wanted to try anything different. Or they were quick to say, "We already tried that," but that was 30 years ago and she thought that solution could work now. Other city councils cut straight to the point, git 'er done and move along.

One of my favorite fundraising attempts was the Mohawk-a-thon at Palouse. To my recollection, they did it once, but it did happen. The idea was people would raise money to get people to cut their hair into mohawks or shave entirely. And you know what, there was good participation and it raised money. A quirky solution, but kudos to Palouse for being willing to give it a go.

A recent article stated in today's COVID world you could be a parent or work from home, but not both. One person just can't do both things, especially with young children. And that's true, one person would struggle immensely. Being a working parent at anytime is hard. But there are solutions. It takes older siblings, great-grandma, surrogate grandma, actual grandma, aunt, second cousin and sometimes sister-in-law to watch my five children. And that's just the first two days of the week. But it works. It's a lot of parts, but with a little help from many, one big solution is formed.

Solutions are out there. I dare say there are more solutions than problems. Will every solution work? No. But Edison tried 1,000 different solutions until he found one that stuck.

Instead of getting bogged down in the problems facing us, we need more discussion on the solutions. Eventually, we will find the right one and we can tick off more of today's problems as "solved."

Jana Mathia

Gazette Editor