Why Do We Care?

OK, OK. Tiger Woods. Most of you (I assume) don't know him or his wife personally. So here is my question to all of us who are "keeping up" with this story: WHO CARES?

Since this story broke, I have been disgusted at the tales of his infidelity. I have read about it, seen it on TV, discussed it with my friends, given theories of why he might have done it and suggested that certainly she should leave him (like I have any business making that kind of judgement). In the end, why does it matter to me and on a bigger scale, what about our society has now made everyone's personal lives our business.

It is not secret that people (men and women) have been unfaithful since the beginning of time. There are many theories as to why--especially when women get together to talk about their unfaithful men. It's about finding something "better". It's because the wives don't understand them or have "let themselves go" after years of marriage. It's because men are just dogs, plain and simple. There are so many "reasons". But what is the reason for our obsession with it?

Have we, as a society, gotten so bored with our own tired little lives that this type of "news" (and I use that term loosely) has become important? It seems that we are always looking for that little tidbit that just came out or some new disgusting details of his extra curricular activities. For example, in Vanity Fair recently one of his mistresses gave the detail that she left her tampon in a church parking lot after sex with Woods in the back of his SUV. Seriously, who needed that little detail?!

There has always been a part of people, whether they want to admit it or not, that is voyeuristic. We like peeping in the windows of others' lives and snooping through their drawers. Agencies like TMZ have made this free and easy. They are hugely successful because WE want to know the nasty little tampon stories. But digging deeper than that, I wonder why we think its our business. Do we think that they owe us some type of backstage access to their lives because they are celebrities? Do we think if they are going to do it and get caught, that we deserve to hear all of the dirty little details? OK, I accept those as valid, but WHY DO WE CARE? Why do we care who he slept with, how much he paid for it, where they did it, if they used protection and (for God's sake) that he never bought his mistress more than a Subway sandwich.

So, as of today, I am off the Tiger trail. I am not going to read about it, talk about it, watch in on TV or write about it. I am a very analytical person...I make lists of pros and cons. To save my life, I cannot come up with one reason that this story interests me. Off I go to see what else there might be going on in the world. I hear there is a war going on somewhere.

Racism Today

I am a person who chooses my friends not by their skin color, sexuality, religion or political views but by criteria that actually matter like ethics and morals. I feel like the ideas and cultural differences that a diverse group of friends can share with me bring so much to my life. On top of that, truthfully, I believe that biggotry is ignorant. Plain and simple.

I live in the South. I am well aware of the prejudices that exist here and I try to ignore them. I was raised differently. My mom was a hippie in every sense of the word so I was raised in a very liberal house during the Civil Rights movement. So, imagine my surprise when someone I considered a friend used the "N" word when referring to President Obama. Now, to be clear, this is not a political issue for me. I knew long ago that she was very conservative and would never vote for a Democrat; however, it never occurred to me that she would never vote for an African-American. How could this be possible in this day and age? If Colin Powell was a candidate for the Republican party, I guess she would need to seek therapy to come to the decision to go to the polls.

She recently moved to Boston and was back in town for a visit. I was very anxious to see her and we ended up getting together at my favorite watering hole on a Saturday night. Within the first several minutes of being there, we were having a discussion about her trip and how long she would be staying in town. She looked at us and very casually said "I'll be here about three weeks. I am here on that nigger, Obama's, dime" meaning unelmployment. My jaw hit the floor. I know that people have these feelings, but do they really talk like this? The next thing she said sent me into a complete tailspin. "Oh blacks are ok-everybody should own one." She dropped the "N" word once more in the time it took me to pay my tab and get the hell out of there. I haven't bothered to tell her that our friendship is over. I think she will eventually figure it out. I consider myself a smart woman and want to surround myself with the same.

I am so disappointed in her, but more disappointed to be reminded of how far this country has to go when it comes to racism. I thought about it when I got home that night and I know that these types of people are great in number. We need to do better in America. We need to do better FOR America.