A funny thing happened Wednesday morning. The sun came up and life went on.

That seemed to come as a shock to some people in our country who seem utterly flabbergasted by the outcome of the presidential race.

Hopefully, we can all now understand that we should never underestimate the American people.

Like many Americans, I have been shocked since Wednesday morning, but not by the election outcome as much as by the childish reaction to it.

Protesters have taken to the streets making a huge deal about their candidate of choice losing.

Good grief, I’ve voted for dozens of candidates through the years who have lost. The thought of publicly protesting never crossed my mind. It’s baffling to me that so many protesters are doing this.

They’ve suggested the Electoral College system is unfair.

They’ve cried foul using anything imaginable — and a few reasons that aren’t an acceptable means of protest.

It’s a sign, I suppose, of how soft and spoiled our country has been that so many of us cannot seem to grasp a simple concept of losing.

Maybe all of those protesters are spoiled members of a family with only one child?

I know from my own experience, having a much older brother growing up quickly engrained me with concept of winning and losing.

“Want to have a pillow fight,” my brother asked.

“Sure,” I said, the first time or two before realizing his 6-year seniority meant he was pretty much always going to win.

My own baseball career was short and un-illustrious, but among the lessons I learned was — sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

Mostly our teams lost, but we had fun.

And we certainly didn’t fall apart when we lost a game.

We didn’t scream at the umpires and question their professionalism.

We didn’t refuse to leave the field until justice — our version of justice — was served.

No, instead we did a Haley Barbour.

Our nation learned much about the former Mississippi governor — and the rest of Mississippians — when in the days after Hurricane Katrina, Barbour said, “You just hitch up your britches and do what you gotta do.”

That lesson, it seems, is lost on thousands of people who appear to have a horrible case of being sore losers.

That disconnect is one of a hundred reasons why Donald Trump gained so much popularity so quickly.

Most of us — even those who don’t personally like Trump — simply want to tell the protesters, “Please stop. Grow up and go find something productive to do.”

America was once so much more built on resolve.

I think back to the few World War II veterans I’ve been privileged enough to meet in my life.

They didn’t cry foul or say the enemy was playing unfairly.

No. They simply did what they needed to do with their britches hitched up and their chins held high.

Much has been said negatively about the presidential election.

And, sure, it was ugly at times.

But what’s more ugly is the ridiculous reaction to the clear winner.

The whiners among us need to realize, no one ever said life was fair or that you get everything you want.

Our country needs to grow up. Whether or not the new president can help the country’s citizenry mature is yet to be seen.
Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.