No reason to expect less going forward

Pandemic woes. Supply chain woes. Border enforcement woes. Labor shortage woes. Inflation woes . . . and the list goes on. There’s no arguing the last two years bruised the ego of our great country.
    Fortunately, bruises don’t last forever. The United States has faced challenges through the generations and each time we rebound. There’s no reason to believe that our country won’t be able to heal up this time, despite what some may say.
    Last week, a columnist for the Washington Post suggested Americans have come to expect far too much, like speedy service at the restaurant or customer service desk or having goods on the shelf when they want them.
        “American consumers, their expectations pampered and catered to for decades, are not accustomed to inconvenience,” the columnist said.
        Instead, the columnist suggested Americans should just lower their expectations. Are you kidding me?
        “Rather than living constantly on the verge of throwing a fit, and risking taking it out on overwhelmed servers, struggling shop owners or late-arriving delivery people,” the columnist said, “We’d do ourselves a favor by consciously lowering expectations.”
    As a parent, when was the last time you lowered the expectations for the performance of your son or daughter in school? We wouldn’t do it there and there’s no reason to lessen our standards anywhere else as our country digs its way out of the current challenges.
    The message of lowering your expectations is yet another smokescreen to take the heat off our current leadership in Washington, now and in the midterm elections in 2022.
    Let’s just deal in facts. The fact is, that in the latest Quinnipiac University survey, President Biden’s job approval rating stands at just 37%. It’s not surprising that 95% of Republicans disapprove of his performance while 80% of Democrats approve.
    His support from independents stands at just 28% Independents made a big difference in the 2020 election results. It’s my opinion their vote was a vote against President Trump, not necessarily for Joe Biden.
    Based on these survey results, I’m guessing those independents who voted for Biden are suffering from a major case of buyer’s remorse right now.
    Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been prodded to accept the “new normal.” If lowering our expectations of what we expect for ourselves, our leaders and country is the “new normal,” then no thanks!
    That’s never been the American way and there’s no reason to expect anything less going forward.