Tired of ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? Let's Keep Some Perspective

By now, the only living things on Earth that haven't seen the ice bucket challenge are the penguins in the North and South Poles. It's a viral phenomenon that has been going on on the international scale for well over a month at this point. You can't open your Facebook, Twitter, Vine, any news website, turn on the TV or even open an email without being reminded that its momentum hasn't slowed.

Of course, as to be expected, this has led a large group of vocal detractors to express their irritation with the cause. Lots of people just do it for the attention. Many don't have any idea what ALS is. People do the challenge but don't donate any money. It's run its course. It is a one-time thing that people will forget about and likely never donate again.

Fine, we get it. Not everyone is a fan. I can even understand that many people look past the fact that it has raised more than $41 million for ALS research. You're tired of it and waiting for the fad to pass. Waiting for stories to stop appearing on the New York Times, USA Today, CNN, Buzzfeed, Mashable, so that your life can just go back to normal and not feel like it is being crammed down your throat.

While listening to NPR this morning on my walk to work, the first story reported on the horrific riots and protests in Ferguson. The next story was about the unspeakably evil acts of ISIL and James Foley. The story after that was on the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, which has gotten so bad that the government has quarantined off an entire village of 80,000 people for fear of the disease spreading further. Next story talked about how Hamas had shot more than 120 rockets at Israel and Israel responded with more than 100 air-strikes in the two days since the 72-hour cease fire broke. Then a story on Russia sending unauthorized trucks into Ukraine, another escalation in the already delicate area.

That's just what was covered in the twenty minutes it took me to get to my desk.

In case you haven't noticed, there's quite a bit of turmoil in the world right now. This summer, in particular, has been filled with enough negative stories to fill an entire calendar year. We're bombarded with stories of violence, political unrest, disease and murder that if you stop and try to digest all of the horror that takes place on a weekly basis, you'll end up like AJ at the end of the Sopranos.

So excuse me if I feel the need to tell all those who are sick of the Ice Bucket Challenge to simply shut up and let it ride itself out of the public's eye. It has been about the only incredibly positive story that we have had over the last few weeks. One month from now it'll be gone. But the crisis in the Middle East, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, partisan politics in the US and every act of rape, murder and general violence will still be around us.

The next time you groan about a story on the Ice Bucket Challenge, just consider the alternatives of what the news could cover. Or what your friends could be talking about. It should give you a change of heart.