Friday, February 19, 2010

Glass Houses, Stone Furniture


I told myself that I wasn’t going to touch the Tiger Woods issue. To be honest, it’s not an issue to me. Tiger Woods is a great golfer, the best at what he does. From what I’ve observed, he seems like a cool dude, not the best “player” in the world, but the game has been known to swallow a shark or two, so why were we expecting anything more from a Tiger? This thread isn’t about Tiger’s infidelities, personally, that’s between him and his wife. I’m not going to condemn the man because he got caught doing what too many men AND women are out here doing; to me, that’s out of bounds. What actually intrigues me the most about this entire fiasco (and yes it has become a fiasco) is the fact that so many people that have no type of relationship or association to Tiger Woods feels as if he owes them some type of apology; some type of statement. In the words of my man Jay-Z, “I THOUGHT THIS WAS AMERICA PEOPLE??”

Anytime a celebrity or public figure makes a mistake, people turn into vultures and look to pick the story apart until there’s nothing left. Aside from elected officials (and sometimes even they deserve some privacy) these celebrities don’t ask to be idolized. It is us that lose focus of the fact that they are human, we place them on these pedestals and hold them to impossible standards; yet we’re disappointed when they prove that they were undeserving of such lofty expectations? I mean, some people would find fault with Jesus, so why are we surprised when MAN falls short of our expectations? Athletes mess up, actors and entertainers mess up, our parents mess up, our spouses and significant others mess up, our children mess up, our politicians, bosses, colleagues and friends all mess up; it’s human for us to fall short sometimes. Too often we’re worried about the screw up rather than the lesson learned from the screw up, which in the end is more important. It’s not about how many times you fall; it’s about how you get back up.

Tiger Woods doesn’t owe us an explanation. He didn’t cheat on us, he owes us nothing but to return to get himself healthy and become a better citizen, friend and neighbor. That’s all you can ask of a person and until their actions start affecting you directly, simmer down and remember that they are only human; same as you.