Rampant double standards

I'm sitting in my living with my husband.  He's watching the 2016 Rio Olympics.  Right now he's watching some women's swimming event.  Before that it was men's gymnastics.  I appreciate the Olympics.  I am not an athlete myself, not by a long shot.  So to see all of these athletes on the television that have devoted years to their chosen sport . . . to practice, to injury, to a dream that could possibly not come true . . . it's inspiring.  When was the last time you were that devoted to something you were passionate about?

The 2016 Rio Olympics also have me thinking about what the Olympics would look like for the more mundane activities of everyday life.  NASCAR is already the Olympics of the morning commute.  Extreme couponing is already the Olympics of grocery shopping.  But what about an Olympic event for cleaning out the goldfish tank?  What about an Olympic event for getting your toddler into the bath (or into bed, for that matter)?  What about Olympic vacuuming?  Or Olympic car repair?  I'm not saying this to make light of the Olympiad.  Nor am I trying to make fun of those of us that will never see an event starting block.

I don't know about other countries, but in the United States we tend to elevate our athletes to superhero status.  Yes, they train hard and compete hard.  They earn a certain amount of notoriety for their accomplishments.  But what about the police officers and firefighters in your city?  When was the last time you saw them getting endorsement deals and free swag just for doing their job the best that they can?  They spend hour upon countless hour away from their families to serve and protect your family.  They put their lives on the line so that you can be safe.

When athletes get busted for doping, get arrested, or mess up in some way, we forgive them because they are idols in the eyes of their fans.  But when our police officers, our firefighters, our military, do something that we don't agree with then we persecute them.  We tear them down, pick apart their entire career, and declare them to be corrupt.

Why the double standard?

Why are athletes treated as if they can do no wrong, even when they do?  Yet the people who serve and protect our cities, our homes, our families, are treated as if everything they do is wrong.  The United States is a country that is always screaming for equality.  Yet as we are demanding in one breath that each and EVERY person be treated equally, we turn around and with the next breath demand that our celebrities be treated better than those that are not famous.

What was originally intended to be a post about Olympic events for the more mundane events in life has turned into a post that got me up on my soapbox. Thank you for your patience.  And remember that my opinion is MY opinion.  It is not an opinion that you may share, but I ask that you respect it as mine.

Until next time . . .

Heather

One final thought:  no comments will be approved for this post.  This is not a post meant to turn into a right/wrong debate.  Those kind of arguments tend to turn ugly, and I will not tolerate that on ANY of my posts.  So, I say again, before you comment on this post remember that no comment will be approved, and therefore will not be visible to the public.