Maybe It Is Just Me, But...

You know just when I think I have this thing called life figured out, something happens that proves to me just how stupid I really am. There seems to be a plethora of stories in the news lately that just leaves me scratching my head.
Now, I understand part of that is due to itchy scalp disease, but it’s more than that. I read the news and I’m thinking everybody can’t be a moron, so it must be me. Sometimes I feel like Oliver on Green Acres. You know, it’s like everyone around me is crazy, when in all likelihood it probably is me.
But, take for instance this deal with Bode Miller. The guy couldn’t have done a more pathetic job at the Olympics if he had tried, and, come to think of it, based on his comments, maybe he did try to fail. I never met anyone who seems to so joyously embrace failure as does this guy. And if someone enjoys putting his worst foot forward, it certainly should be his prerogative.
What I don’t understand, however, is why anyone would choose to give him an all-expense-paid vacation to Italy as a member of the U.S. Olympic team. I’m not the most competitive guy in the world, but I would think that the United States would like to make as good a showing as possible.
It would have been a lot less expensive to have given the guy a little cocktail expense money and let him stay here and have his own little "Miller Time." As he would say, "That rocks." Then there would have been room on the team for someone who really would like to win. But, maybe it’s just me.
On to bigger news. I don’t really have an opinion on the United Arab Emirates taking over the ports in the U.S., but I do have to wonder how the President can spend five years putting an Arabic face on terrorism, and then say, “Oh, by the way, the Arabs are taking over our ports.” It seems that it may have occurred to him or to one of his advisors that there may be a little fall-out over that, but, again, maybe it’s just me.
What really has me scratching my head today is all the hubbub regarding the Maymont Park bears. Hey, stuff happens. Move on.
Over the weekend, two Henrico County teenagers were killed in an auto accident and two Chesterfield kids are missing after having gone canoeing, but all anyone can talk about is those two bears that were euthanized.
I think it’s a shame that it happened. I think it’s foolish that the parent or parents of the four-year-old who stuck his hand through the fence, weren’t supervising the kid any better. But, as I have already so wisely put it, stuff does happen.
Some are even pointing a finger at Maymont officials for being so quick to put the bears down in order to determine if they had rabies. Yes, it’s true that the chances were slim that either bear did, but inasmuch as rabies treatments can be excruciatingly painful (or so they tell me), did Maymont officials really have any other choice? And, even if the shots are not as painful as they used to be, why subject a kid to unnecessary medical treatments. Do you take the attitude that the kid and/or his parents were so irresponsible that he deserves a little pain? Somehow that just doesn’t’ make sense to me. Or, am I being silly again?
Just think of the uproar if Maymont had come out and said they had decided to wait and see if the four-year-old kid started foaming at the mouth. Sometimes you just can’t win for losing, and this was a no-win situation for Maymont. I suppose the folks at Maymont could have come out and requested that the kids parents be put in front of a firing squad, but, even that position would have met with an outcry from some, albeit not many, Richmonders.
Now the mayor is in a turmoil. I hear he’s calling for some sort of an investigation into this whole thing. Personally, regardless of what Richmond Mayor Governor Wilder thinks, I feel Maymont did exactly the right thing. I’m sure Wilder is involved because he’s such a great bear humanitarian, and not because it’s another photo op.
Maybe it is just me, but if I’m the moron here, then so be it. In fact I think I’d rather be a moron in my own sane little world, than be viewed as politically correct out there in this Hooterville world of 2006.
But, then again, maybe that’s just me.