And the award for the worst writing of the week goes to...

I read this in a suburban Chicago newspaper:

"With a collective sigh of relief, Carpentersville’s board on Tuesday hired Mundelein-based Mechanical Inc. to end the hard water agony that’s dogged the village for four months.

But all the news wasn’t good. It won’t be until October or November that Carpentersville residents will see soft water trickle from their faucets again.

That surprised trustees who have been telling angry residents the white scales on their dishes would be a thing of the past come mid-August, as they’d been told by public works Director Bob Cole two weeks ago."

PEOPLE, there is a war going on, and people are starving to death, and there is
a whole continent set to be wiped out from AIDS.

In light of that, hard water is not "agony that's dogged the village." Anger should be reserved for more important things than spotted dishes. And sighs of relief are
for when your son comes home alive from combat duty.

Until real problems cease to exist, reporters should stop writing about
minor ones with such hyperbole. Save the dramatic language for when it matters.