Thursday, February 15, 2007

I Don't Think It's The Hardest Word...

I think I ate more calories last night in our Valentine’s Day dinner than I usually do in a week. But it was GOOD.

We stayed in last night, and I cooked dinner: filet mignon, lobster tails, twice-baked potatoes, green beans almondine, and chocolate cake. Oh, and we washed it all down with a big bottle of Veuve Clicquot. Très yummy. (No, I didn’t make it all from scratch.)

The Farm Boy got me an iPod alarm clock and a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble. He is a very, VERY good man. And I am very lucky. :-)

Enough with the bragging…

next

Today’s more serious subject has to do with saying “I’m sorry.”


When I was a little girl, if I did something wrong, I was supposed to say, “I’m sorry.”

Grumpy’s Sister: “Mom! She hit me!

Grumpy’s Mom: “Grumpy! Don’t hit your sister! Now apologize.”

ME: “Sorry.

Grumpy’s Mom: “If you don’t mean it, it doesn’t count.”

ME: [pretending to be sincere] “I’m really sorry.”

Grumpy’s Mom: “Much better. Now hug your sister.”

ME: “No way! I’m outta here!”


Then I got grounded.


My point is that my mother was right. Saying you’re sorry doesn’t make up for any of your wrongs unless you really mean it... and then take steps to SHOW you really mean it.

It seems that, every week, some dumbass celebrity/athlete/supergigantic, egoistic, idiot gets in trouble for shooting off his/her mouth. Some truly horrible things are said (see Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, and Tim Hardaway for recent examples), and the next day, the PR machine is in full gear. The “stars” (and I use that term loosely) are immediately issuing apologies as quickly as their agents can get them some air time.

Is anyone actually buying that they’re truly sorry???

Are they sorry because they really regret hurting people? Or are they sorry because they regret the possible backlash to their careers and images? You and I both know it’s the latter. So, either it’s okay to be a total arse because someone finds you entertaining in some arena or other…

... or WE need to start backing up what we believe with our loudest voices. That might be our money, and that might be our celebrity 'worship.' Either way, things won't get better until we makes ourselves heard.


End of rant. *self-righteously steps off her soap box*

4 comments:

stinkypaw said...

Never mind "celebrities" what about government and such? Our memory is way too short for many things - we complain, get upset and then we forget!

lizgwiz said...

What bothers me even more than the insincere "apologies" is when they then go out of their way to try to make excuses. Mel insists he doesn't have anything against Jews, Isaiah insists he doesn't have anything against homosexuals, etc.--you DO, we KNOW you do, or those words wouldn't have popped so easily out of your mouths. Shut up, and go get some counseling for your "issues."

M.Amanda said...

Sadly, I've had the sincere sorries conversation with my boyfriend. He thinks saying it will make everything okay again. Uh, no, I need to know that (1) he knows what he should be sorry for, (2) he really is sorry, (3) he will make an effort to avoid a repeat, and (4) he is sorry for doing whatever it was that hurt me and not just sorry that he got in trouble for it.

Otherwise, he can stuff his sorries in a sack.

Nessa said...

I have decided that from now on I refuse to refer to these kinds of people as stars or celebrities. I am going to call them what they are: Attention Whores.