David McElroy

On the night I made the mistake, I had no idea I was doing anything wrong. I was clueless. Even arrogant. Within five or six years, though, I had grown enough — and learned enough about myself — that I had to apologize to someone for that night.

It was about 15 years ago. I was getting to know a woman who I’d recently met. We would go on to date seriously and almost marry. But on that night, we were still getting to know each other. She had graduated from college with an education degree and was about to start teaching. But I thought she was too smart and too capable for teaching school.

I don’t remember how I worded it, but I let her know that I thought she would be wasting herself if that’s what she did with her life. I let her know that she was capable of far more than that — and I subtly made it clear that I would prefer she did something more “impressive.”

I was more concerned that night with what I wanted her to be than with what she wanted. My mind was focused on how her choice would reflect on me. I was blind to my error at the time, but I’m ashamed of it now.

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When I conceived of the video project I’ve been working on, I thought it would be quick and easy. I was seriously mistaken.

I’ve done a handful of YouTube videos in the past five years, so I thought I was generally prepared for launching a serious YouTube channel. But as I studied existing YouTube channels, I quickly realized I wanted to do something entirely different.

I didn’t want to do videos which looked like some guy in his basement. I wanted to make broadcast-quality video — and that’s gotten complicated quickly.

After going through dozens of show names — each one worse than the last — I finally settled on the obvious. Since this website and some of my other online presence is already branded with my name, I gave up on the search and just called it DavidMcElroy.TV.

The target audience is people who want to be prepared for the economic, social and political changes coming in the years ahead. It’s for people who see a dysfunctional culture, a failing economy and a dying political system — and want to figure out how to protect themselves and their loved ones.

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As the little boy struggled to run toward me, his mother seemed a bit embarrassed.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “but he seems to want to come to you. I don’t know why.”

Her 2-year-old son ran to me with his little arms extended and I reached down to pick him up. His mother smiled as she realized that I wasn’t bothered by her son’s eagerness for attention. As the toddler threw his arms around my neck and hugged me tightly, I told her that I found her son delightful.

I don’t know why this little boy was so eager to see me. He and his mother had just arrived to look at a home that I was showing to them. He had certainly never seen me before. But he wanted my attention — and I was delighted to give it to him.

The meeting was only a few minutes. There wasn’t really anything of lasting importance about it. But as I look back over my day Monday, those are the only minutes that stand out as enjoyable and meaningful.

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