Those of you who are regular readers of this somewhat sporadic scribbling may remember that I have an affinity for the HBO program “The Newsroom,” as well as musical theater. And the title of today’s column pays homage to both.

Well, kind of, anyway.

If you twist the words around just a little bit, you can imagine the opening line (What A Day This Has Been…) of “Almost Like Being in Love,” from Lerner and Loewe’s “Brigadoon.” I love the intricate way that lyricists can move a storyline along through songs that you remember for the rest of your life. And Aaron Sorkin, who created and wrote “The Newsroom” is to conversational dialog what Steven Sondheim was to musical theater lyrics.

If you are a fan of “The Newsroom,” you may also recognize today’s headline as being the title of the final episode of the three-season program. This is fitting as well, as this is my final column as the editor of the Plainsman.

A hearty “Thank you” to those of you not jumping up and down in celebration at my exit right now. Apologies if your spouse spewed coffee on you over the top of the paper or tablet.

Much has changed in this business since I first punched the time clock here, which was back in the fall of 1980, as a sports stringer.

At that time there were nearly a dozen people working in the newsroom and the crappiest desk was the one that was stuck in the corner by the noisy, constantly clattering, AP machine downstairs.

Each department had a similar number of people. There is a photo we found in a closet that shows about 50 people posed before the press that still lives downstairs. Now, the advertising and news departments could all ride to the company picnic in a large SUV.

I’ve enjoyed a front-row seat to extrordinary things that have taken place, and met amazing people and can say, with hand on heart, that I grew to like and respect every person with whom I have crossed paths face-to-face, whether a co-worker or someone I was talking to for a story.

We may have started out disagreeing, but if we both put forth the effort, we found common ground.

I think that is something that is lacking in our world today - talking to fix a problem.

The first inclination now is to prove that I am obviously right, which means you must be wrong. And we do it in 15-word bursts in the comment section on social media instead of speaking to a person face-to-face.

I know, I know.

I am undoubtedly old-fashioned and wildly naive.

In 2016, when the primary elections left us with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as presidential candidates, people were overwhelmingly ‘meh’ on both of them. Neither excited people and it was doom and gloom.

I wrote a column then, saying it was my opinion whichever candidate came out on top, the country was going to be okay. That the government would continue to function, despite whomever occupied the Oval Office.

To a large part, I think I was right. We did okay. Our black and white world - or blue and red if you prefer - muddled through.

Eight years later, my hope is that the country begins to heal and in the meantime is again strong enough to withstand the probable back-and-forth that is on the horizon.

There are things that can help make things less cruddy. Become educated and aware of what is taking place. And I mean really taking place.

Not what your cousin’s sister-in-law’s dog groomer presented as her ‘facts.’

Case in point - the Dakota Avenue project. There were discussions and meetings and meetings and discussions that all talked about what was going to take place for three years before a single construction vehicle rolled onto the surface up by Market Road.

And there were stories in the Plainsman describing the discussions at those meetings - all of which were open to the public by the way - yet when work began, the social media outcry over “Why didn’t anyone say anything?!?!” was laughable. If it didn’t just make you sad.

Any community newspaper’s bread-and-butter is coverage of governmental meetings.

The people elected to represent you on the city commission, county commission and school board collectively decide how to spend the lion’s share of the tax money that you and I part with each year.

And frankly, ours do a very good job of being stewards of those funds. We have good, trustworthy people in place.

And remember, the lone source of funding for all of the various government entities - city, county, school, federal - all of it, comes from us. Governments don’t make and sell anything.

So, if local boards are overseeing the dispersal of most of our money, why are you so up in arms about who is elected president?

I see the president as a figurehead - a version of a monarch if you will - with the ability to decree with the flick of an executive order.

Think of it like this...the closer the elected people serve their terms to where you are sitting right now, the larger their impact on your life.

And never forget that in our black-and-white - or red-and-blue - world, in actuality, things are a startling array of shades of grays and purples. No one person and certainly no political party has all the answers.

Ben Chase is moving into the managing editor space and will do an excellent job. Crystal Pugsley and Mike Carroll are veterans here at the Plainsman and continue to do top-notch work each day. My exit will open a space in the newsroom, for which there is an ad running right now.

And if half of the folks who have shared their insights how I should have been doing what I have been doing for the past two decades drops off an application, well, the hiring team will be inundated.

Whomever joins the team will have the same opportunity that I had 20 years ago. To have a front-row seat to the events that shape and change our corner of the world on a regular basis. Most of the time that happens while sitting in a school board or city commission meeting. That doesn’t make it any less important.

What kind of a day it has been, for sure.

Thank you. G’night.