As I’ve mentioned before, my blog site poses a question each day, designed as food for thought. Some of them don’t apply to everyone, and others are just plain silly; but sometimes one is really thought-provoking, and I end up spending a good part of the day trying to settle on a satisfactory answer.

That’s what happened yesterday, when the question was:

“The genie grants you a wish. What is it?”

Wow! One wish. Just one. That’s more challenging than trying to decide what you’d do with half a billion dollars if you won the lottery. And since I was feeling lazy and looking for an excuse to ignore my to-do list for the day, I sat down and contemplated how I would answer.

I was immediately reminded of a time in the 1990s when I took a visitor from Russia grocery shopping at my local supermarket. It was a good-sized store, but not one of the mega-markets we have today. (I believe her head would have exploded if she’d seen the inside of a Wegman’s store.)

As we strolled through the produce department, then the dairy, and past the deli section, her eyes opened wider and wider. At the meat counter she began breathing noticeably faster. The frozen food section rendered her speechless. But it was the cereal aisle that really sent her over the edge, as she declared that there were just “too many choices,” and headed for the ladies’ room to calm down.

That is pretty much how I felt yesterday as I contemplated what my one wish would be from a nearly infinite number of possibilities. First, I would have to decide whether to be selfish and go for something to benefit myself and my loved ones, or do the right thing and try to prevent the world from self-destructing. In the end it wasn’t really a difficult choice; the world needs that wish far more than I do. So I made a list, starting with some of the big ones:

> An end to all wars, forever and ever. That would be an excellent start; but what about the other stuff?

> And end to world hunger.

> Undoing the damage humans have done to the environment.

> An end to political repression.

> An end to all forms of bigotry.

Then I stopped. Those were all beautiful dreams, but probably beyond the capabilities of even the most powerful of genies. So I tried to narrow it down a bit, focusing instead on individual problems:

> The immediate arrest and imprisonment of all of the world’s autocratic rulers, their henchmen, enablers, and hangers-on. That would include Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, Benjamin Netanyahu, a few Middle Eastern potentates, and, of course, Donald Trump.

> The immediate taxation, at a fair percentage rate, of all of the world’s wealthiest individuals by their respective governments, the proceeds to be used for programs to improve the lives of all of their citizens. (That is not socialism; it is just leveling the playing field. They’ll still have plenty left after paying their fair share of taxes.)

> An immediate cure for . . . .

And that’s where I stopped again. Because I realized that there is so much today that needs fixing, that the list would be endless. And how would I choose just one?

Then, just as I was about to give up daydreaming and turn my attention to something a bit more productive, it hit me . . . the one perfect wish:

“I wish for 1,000 more wishes.”

Now, if someone will tell me where I might find that genie, I’ll be off to save the world.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/3/26