The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1480050
D-8 Tuesday, September 27, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times HOME LIFE HOME LIFE Veteran's Voice By George Pickersgill, Gibson County Veterans Service Officer Camp Lejeune questions My So Called Millennial Life By Stephanie Hayes I guess we're supposed to use BeReal now I was proud. A fter denying it for years, I finally accepted that TikTok is a fun and useful app. I produced my first contribution, a clip of my wee dog hugging a stuffed bear. Intellectual? No. Exquisite serotonin juice? Absolutely. If I had more than nine followers, it might have gone viral. (It would not have, but don't tell Rocket. He's very vain.) My pal mentioned BeReal. I pretend- ed to know what she was talking about and quietly Googled "BeReal" in the same window where I'd been Googling "perimenopause age." Not another so- cial network, the description insisted. The next day, my boss, unprompted, described BeReal as the only good so- cial media app. She held up her phone and showed off shots of what appeared to be ... her friends sitting in parking lots. Why was this arguably boring plat- form suddenly everywhere? That thing was happening where you buy a blue Toyota Camry and start to notice beau- coup blue Toyota Camrys on the road. The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon for Rapidly Aging People. BeReal, a French app born in 2020, grew so popular this year that TikTok has already ripped it off. It's a come-as- you-are party. Once a day, BeReal urges users to post whatever lies before them, no matter how mundane (parking lots). Then, the app assaults users with a self- ie. If the picture turns out traumatic, as my first one did, you can retake it. But there's a catch; the app tattles, alerting everyone that you are not real. Real people display their chin acne once a day! You might be reading this and going, "Wait, I'm just now getting on Insta- gram." Or "I'm still using Facebook; should I get my affairs in order? " Or "Any advice for my abundance of Kodak disposable cameras? " Dreadful, the realization that culture moves on with or without you. Exhaust- ing, the quest to keep up. BeReal isn't the only newcomer. Heard of Superno- va? Applaudable? Sunroom? Polywork? Are you sweating? Does it happen for, like, just a few minutes and then it pass- es or... never mind. It's always the coolest, least-exposed people who seem to know new things first. They keep a sophisticated internet presence while I employ all the nuance of Corn Kid. They visit Europe without a single nugget of online evidence. I vis- it the grocery store and post six Insta- gram stories, two tweets and a photo in a novelty llama mask. Coolness is futile, friends. Irrelevance is beautiful. Perhaps not coincidentally, that's why BeReal has caught on. At its best, social me- dia functions as an incu- bator for connection and creativity, an illuminator of new talents, a treasure trove of stories. But peo- ple have grown weary of the hustle for influence, the constant monetiza- tion. They just want to live, and it turns out most living happens in parking lots. We're all stuck in this social media ecosystem, and it's hard not to be cyn- ical when even the most banal and bor- ing moments inevitably become exten- sions of our Personal Brands. Perhaps the answer is to just be generous to one another as we cope with the flattening of our vast and interesting selves into a series of triple-chin selfies and dull-as- bricks parking lot photos.* *Check back with me next year, when my BeReal roll will rival the hallowed grounds of a Costco. Stephanie Hayes is a columnist at the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. Like me, and every other T V-watch- ing American, I am satisfied that you have recently been bombarded with commercials advertising the Camp Le- jeune Contaminated Water Class Action Lawsuit. As you can surely imagine, I have been overwhelmed with questions from veterans seeking advice and guidance. This month I'd like to break from the norm and just share a few thoughts with you relative to this topic. First, let me say that this is a legiti- mate situation. The government has in fact determined many years ago that the water table at Camp Lejeune, NC and MCAS Little River, NC may have been contaminated. I have heard numerous theories as to the source but I believe much of it is just speculation. The affected timeframe has been nar- rowed down to 1 August, 1953 through 31 December, 1987. Therefore, any ser- vice member who served at either of those locations during this window of time, and suffers from certain medical conditions, may be entitled to monetary compensation from the VA. I have per- sonally helped several vets successfully file these claims. A fter many years of research and study, the VA has developed a list of eight (8) presumptive medical condi- tions that are likely to have been caused by exposure to water table contami- nants found on the stated installations. You will remember from numerous discussions here that presumptive conditions are medical ailments for which the government has conceded service connection and as such, proof of exposure is not required. In other words, if a veter- an has been diagnosed with one of the following conditions and served at the aforementioned areas for a period of 30 days (cumulative), the government will presume (or assume) that it was caused by the water contamination. Again, no proof of exposure is necessary. The pre- sumptive conditions are: • Adult Leukemia • Aplastic Anemia • Bladder Cancer • Kidney Cancer • Liver Cancer • Multiple Myeloma • Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma •Parkinson's Disease Now, to the issue of the lawsuit. I must tell you that I am not in a good position to give advice or recommend any courses of action and as one might ex- pect, I have made a conscious decision not to do so. One of the questions I con- tinue to receive is why the lawsuit commercials discuss additional medical conditions beyond the list above. I have absolutely no idea but can only repeat that this is the official list currently accepted by con- gress. So, the bottom line is that I am hap- py to talk to you about the situation and how I might be able to help you in the form of a disability claim but, at the risk of being redundant, I would ask you not to ask me for advice or direction con- cerning the lawsuit. The best I could say is that, if you feel you might be a qualified participant in the suit, call one of the many law firms who are advertising and investigate for yourself. Thanks for your understand- ing. As always, it is a joy and privilege to serve you. you can learn a lot from the Newspaper! Encourage your children to make reading the newspaper a part of their everyday routine for lifelong learning. Newspapers are living textbooks, helping students develop reading, math, social studies and language skills while exploring the issues affecting our world today. 1 Year Subscriptions start at just $34 for 476XX and 477XX Zipcodes 812-753-3553 or e-mail subscribe@sgstartimes.com South Gibson