Thursday, July 30, 2009

Gettin on my soapbox

So with all this talk about Michael Vick coming back to play for the NFL and the many varied reactions I felt I needed to say my piece too. Because after all, when do I ever not have an opinion about something.

I feel that we should hold professional athletes and celebrities to a different standard. They have chosen professions that place them in the public eye and therefore have a certain responsibility to the public that idolizes them (especially children). I am not saying that because you are a celebrity that you have to be a perfect angel that never makes mistakes. However, when mistakes are made you should take responsibility for them and make amends. If you are making millions a year there is absolutely no reason to get a DUI. You have more then enough money to call a cab to get yourself home. And this bullshit of serving less then a day in jail is ridiculous. This is not how "real" people are punished for the very same offenses. All this does is tell our children that even when you break the law and put other people's lives at risk it's no big deal because you'll just have to sit in "time-out" and make a public service announcement.

Professional athletes and celebrities are being paid millions of dollars to "play" at their job. I am not saying there isn't stress and hard work associated with it. At the end of the day though, they are lucky to be able to do what they love and get paid for it. I think if you are a professional athlete that commits a violent offense against human or animal you should lose your job permanently. There is no excusing this behavior. Would we allow someone that beats his wife or murders innocent animals for sport teach our children? Would you let a drug-addicted drunk babysit your child? Hell no. So why should we allow these same types of people to be role models for our children? Why should they continue to be able to "play" a game for more money then most of us will see in a lifetime?

Winston Churchill said, "The price of greatness is responsibility."

The Dalai Lama teaches, "Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life."

Hell, even Spiderman said, "...with great power comes great responsibility."

Is it really asking too much for these athletes, celebrities, and the society that idolizes them to hold themselves accountable for their negative actions? We as a society need to step up and say no more. We need to stop feeding into the madness. If we stop letting them get away with it, things will change. You may feel as if your small stand won't make a difference in the big picture, but it does. One less ticket purchased, one less jersey worn, one less game watched on television, it all adds up as those one become many. Maybe then the point will be made.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Oops!

So here we are, my guy and I, together only 6 months and expecting a baby. OOPS!

Ironically, our little one is due almost exactly a year to the day we met on POF.

I am excited, nervous, anxious, overwhelmed, happy, and curious all at the same time. I am about to start this massive journey without a clue as to what I'm doing. I feel like I have so much to do and so little time to figure it all out.

If you'd like to keep up with the pregnancy news, send me an email and I'll send you the link for our baby blog.

More updates on life in general soon...