Finding the good, the bad, the ugly in 2021

To be honest, I found more to hate than love about 2021, but in the interest of looking on the bright side, I’ll still try to balance out my annual list.

Here are the Things I Loved and the Things I Hated about the year that’s drawing to a close:

Things I Loved

Science: Imagine what 2021 would have been like without those miraculous COVID vaccines. Imagine how much better it would have been if people doing their own “research” had rolled up their sleeves.

Restaurant meals: Whether it was hot dogs or haute cuisine, didn’t dining out seem especially pleasant after long months without it? Tip your server.

June: In Ohio at least, it seemed like the one month of the year when we could believe COVID was on the wane. Delta, then omicron put a quick end to the rejoicing.

Rising wages: The labor shortage is forcing employers to pay their workers better. It’s about time.

Biden administration: Far from perfect but so much better than what preceded it.

History revisited: Despite rightwing attempts to muzzle history teachers, I’ll take the bright-side view: The “1619 Project” is on the top of the bestseller list, Robert E. Lee is off his pedestal, and whitewashing the truth will eventually prove to be the real “lost cause.” I hope.

New Crew stadium: Excitement ran high as Lower.com Field debuted. Nice for fans, Arena District, city image, etc. But where’s that community sports park that was supposed to be part of the package?

Things I Hated

Jan. 6: Horrifying.

Jan. 7: How quickly the lying, downplaying and stonewalling by Trump loyalists began. They’re so fearful of the man and so hungry for power they’ll even excuse the attack he provoked on their country.

Facebook: A whistleblower revealed just how callous, manipulative and toxic this social-media platform is. On the other hand, it did help the feds nab Jan. 6 rioters dumb enough to post selfies on the platform.

Blood in the streets: With five days to go in the year, Columbus has already surpassed its previous record for homicides. Children are among the victims. City leaders make appropriate whimpering noises and flail for solutions.

Zoo woes: It takes some doing to tarnish a local institution with an image as positive as the Columbus Zoo’s. But old leadership managed to do it. New leadership has some repairs to make — and fast.

Voter suppression: GOP leaders ignore the will of Ohioans with redistricting maps meant to cement their retrograde rule. Voting rights are under attack by Republican state legislatures across the country. The message is clear: We fear democracy.

Climate dithering: Yeah, we had an international summit. When the going gets tough, the tough have a meeting. Is that how the saying goes?

Joe Blundo is a Dispatch columnist. joe.blundo@gmail.com @joeblundo