THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – Pants and politics go hand-in-hand.   They do. It’s true. Pants and politics go “hand-in-hand,” even though you wear them on your legs; I guess one could say they sometimes can help get a leg up on the competition, and other times they’ll have you tripping over your own feet, so to speak. There’s so many sayings / puns / metaphors associated with pants:     Caught with your pants down     Keep your pants on.     Fly by

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR  – We're all critical of something, whether we admit it or not; sometimes it's warranted and other times it's just biased thought. I’m so biased when it comes to politics, yeah... that’s why none of my Sunday Columns are about politics.  – Look in other publications if you want to read political columns on a Sunday. The Shelby Independent is so biased... Well, some like to say so, but they don’t read everything and they only

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column It's not really a Super Bowl column...   All I’ve been seeing and reading, this week, as far as op-eds and columns are concerned, are mostly Super Bowl this or that – and look at me complaining even though I’m reading them.  That’s not a bad thing but do you really need one more column about The Patriots or The Seahawks or the halftime shows? No. There’s no more room on that bandwagon. In a post Belichick - Brady world, it’s nice to see New

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – A while back there were a few teenagers or college kids who were asking people in the parking lot of the grocery store if adults were jealous of young people alive today - it was obviously for a social media thing or whatever. They didn’t ask me but the answer I heard was almost exactly what I was going to say: No . And though the woman didn't expand on her answer, I'm sure what she was thinking was along the same lines as

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – First, you have to understand that while you’re reading this on Sunday (or later) during Icemegeddon, I am writing this on Friday night, eating all my winter storm snacks and typing away, having no clue more than the weatherman on what would actually happen by Sunday. As a friend mentioned to me today, "Being a weatherman is the only job where you can be wrong most of the time and not get fired." By the time you read this.

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR  – The names of restaurant chains have always annoyed me. I don’t know why, that’s just how I’m wired. It doesn’t mean they’re bad names… it’s just some are so obvious I can’t see why they couldn’t be more creative. Others don’t explain what they do at all, but they seem to work. People keep going back. Some have been extremely successful with such basic, obvious, names (like Red Lobster) while others that have no indication

Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – As English speakers (heirs of the English language, regardless of your ancestry, this is about the language itself) our names technically do not follow the traditional oath of English names, which is fine; we should be all about unique and beautiful names, whatever your parents picked for you should be honored and celebrated; I hope you like your name — but traditionally, we (in the terms of historical usage as English lang

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column The Sunday Column's new logo for 2026 OPINION / HUMOR – Looking back, how many times were we encouraged to set a new year’s resolution, either in school, from friends and family, news / TV shows or via social media. I can’t recall, but it seems to be quite often. What a nice thought, isn’t it? That’s really all it is, for most people, a thought. But, after doing research, according to several websites, such as Forbes, Pew Research Center,

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent (Originally published 09/07/2025) When I was a kid, maybe early teens, I had a soccer coach tell me that when I’m 40 I’ll feel all the aches and pains from playing sports one day. 40? I didn’t care. That was a thousand years from now. Whatever, maybe — I believed him, but when I pictured a 40 something year old they looked the same as a 75 year old. “I’ll worry about it then,” I shrugged. Tonight was one of those rare nights I wante

The Sunday Column, by Chuck Thompson OPINION / HUMOR – Recently, I learned that in North Carolina it is illegal to play bingo for more than 5 hours in a row… My question is, why would anyone play bingo more than 5 hours in a row and what happened at the 5 hour mark to come up with that rule?  So at 4 hours and 55 minutes, everything is fine, but at five hours Gertrude had a fit of rage and flipped the tables over?  What’s with the 5 hours… Personally, I think it should be ill

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – Ultimately, self-serve gas and check-outs, buffet restaurants and do-it-yourself-assembled furniture cost more in the long term after adding mental anguish and then the cost of therapy. Whether it’s emotional therapy, or marriage counseling, there’s nothing cheap about self-service. One day I was at a gas station standing in line and I looked out the front windows to see a car drive away with the g

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent In an exclusive local interview, Congressman Tim Moore, of the 14 District, spoke with the Shelby Independent, discussing issues that affect both the district (especially Cleveland County) and the entire nation. From the the topic of the government shutdown, to the murder of Iryna Zarutska, holding judges and magistrates accountable for allowing violent repeat offenders back on the streets – an issue that can affect any of us here in

The Sunday Column, by Chuck Thompson OPINION / HUMOR — I can tell it’s almost Christmas because that’s when I almost get kidnapped (or man-napped) on a daily basis. Y’all women need to please stop asking Santa Claus for the perfect man… I go through this every year. I ain’t got time to elude and evade little elf-looking kidnappers all the time. I’m not as fast as I used to be. I’m 47 now. Ladies, wheres the age limit??? I gotta be aged out of this thing by now… I’m not even t

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English ain't easy, but I prefer it, mostly because I speak it OPINION / HUMOR – At one point in my life (maybe almost 20 years ago) I seriously considered going to South Korea to teach English.   But then, my brain did what it does best, and I started thinking about the silent “G” and silent “K” and I just didn’t have the energy, nor the knowledge, to explain that.  I could just imagine the confusion on the faces of Koreans when learning the spelling of English words, taught

OPINION / HUMOR

The last of the pre-internet pioneer children. The last of the “just yell for my mom, she will hear you!” When you fell off your bike and br