2018: expectations vs. reality

With many considering 2016 and 2017 horrible years to be alive, we all had big hopes for 2018. “This will be our year,” we said, as mudslides in California kicked off 2018 by killing at least 13 people, just nine days into the year. For many, the year did not even remotely improve life. Some of this let down may be due to the wonderful things we were guaranteed in 2018 that never materialized, such as world leaders’ empty promises and the depiction of the future we were promised in “Back to the Future 2”. So what did we think was going to happen in 2018? Realistically, many predicted a casual economic crisis while others were adamant that a string of natural disasters were on the way. While we had our fair share of both via earthquakes, wildfires and those fun couple of days in January when the federal government shutdown, let's put both of those factual arguments behind us and instead discuss what “Back to the Future 2” taught us about 2018. Disappointingly, many of the most notable things from the movie that were promised are still are not a reality. While we were promised hoverboards, self-lacing shoes and flying cars, the closest we came to those are glorified segways, velcro and airplanes. But don’t worry, they still managed to highlight the worst parts of 2018; even in the sky, traffic is still ridiculous. Needless to say, the reality was much different from what Marty McFly promised us. There were some things he got right, though. Flat screens televisions do in fact exist, as well as drones and fingerprint technology. Pepsi even revealed their specialty line, “Pepsi Perfect,” in honor of the Pepsi that people from the future appeared to be drinking in the movie. The reality does not rise up to our expectations, but they tried. Another kind of 2018 predictions came from supposed psychics. Several websites boast articles about predictions from people who claim to have foreseen 9/11, the rise of Hitler and the like. According to psychic Craig Hamilton-Parker, who says he completely foretold Trump’s election and Brexit, 2018 was going to be an insane year. Kim Jong-Un would apparently be stripped of his power and disposed of, there would be a flu epidemic possibly linked to biological warfare and a failed attempt to impeach Trump would make him more popular. 2018 is coming to a close, and I can sincerely say that none of these have come true. Despite many websites publishing Hamilton-Parker’s predictions, his talent (or luck) seems to have fallen short. I know I’m disappointed with the lack of accuracy in the prophecies boasted by psychics and movies alike. Hopefully, they will get back on their A-game when foreseeing what’s going to happen in 2019.