“Your delivery sucks. Your paper is going downhill. You should move back to Michigan.”

My eyes got big with phone in hand while checking my voicemail.

I shook my head, took a moment or two to collect myself, and got back to work. People in this business, especially those trying to stay on top of three newspapers, don’t have much time to wallow.

I’m getting pretty good at shaking things off.

As I reflected over that comment over the next few days, sometimes telling friends and coworkers about it in an effort to offer a peek into what I do each day, I had a thought. That thought continued to grow, and is the basis of what’s on my heart to write.

I make it a point to not share interactions between our customers and I in public, most especially those that get heated.

But one continues to stick with me: “You should move back to Michigan.”

Is that really the way we are talking to one another? Whatever happened to discussing differences, seeking understanding, and admitting that maybe one doesn’t have the whole story?

I feel this world is headed in the wrong direction, and I fear it’s headed to the point of no return.

Our political leaders and “wannabe” political power brokers have pushed us to the edges, forming modern-day camps of people who are unbudgeable in their views. Think the Donald Trump base. Or the Bernie Sanders base.

That has created a world where some now say there is no such thing as absolute trust.

Media cannot be trusted, they say, as everything is slanted one way or another. They tell us nobody can agree on anything, so the only thing that is agreed upon is disdain for the other side.

Political messaging, which is dirty and negative by nature, has gotten even more caked in mud. It seems it is less of what a candidate can do for us, and more of what this candidate doesn’t do that the other candidate does. It’s literally, “Vote for me, because I’m not a racist,” or, “Vote for me, because I won’t turn us into a socialist country.”

Then, we have to toss in the hand grenade of a pandemic, which threatened the health of thousands and damaged the economy for millions. The pandemic, whichever way you slice it, has become a frustrating, scary, depressing, maddening experience that is now going on six months.

That creates a powder keg of frustration that can boil at any time. Ask retail or service industry workers. I’m sure they all can tell you a story of someone displaying unbecoming behavior from customers over the last few months.

People are angry. My view is they are angry at bigger concepts, like the political landscape of our country, the rapid changes we are seeing, or the economic and/or health impact of the pandemic.

But, when people are at a boiling point, the tend to lash out at the low-hanging fruit. That could be a barista at your favorite coffee shop. Or the person changing your oil. Or your local newspaper customer service representative.

I can’t speak for other business, but I can speak for ours. We have had to make some changes during this difficult 2020. I can’t think of another business who hasn’t. I know that not everything we do will be loved by our readers. That doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate each and every one, and that doesn’t mean we aren’t open to feedback.

If I have one wish in 2020 and beyond, it’s that we go back to the basics, and, for me, that comes in the form of a book that is very important to me: the Bible.

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

That is arguably the most important thing Jesus Christ said during his time on Earth.

To me, this means understanding and positively influencing one’s neighbor. I hope that, no matter what happens in things as big as the election or as small as the fulfillment of your drive-thru order, we remember that we are all people and neighbors trying to do the best we can.

Jeremy Speer is an Alpena native and the publisher of The Courier in Findlay, The Advertiser-Tribune in Tiffin, and The Review Times in Fostoria, all in Ohio. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com or jspeer@advertiser-tribune.com.