Tiger Woods

Call me naive. Call me out of touch. Call me whatever you wish, but I just don't understand the media fascination with Tiger Woods' private life. The man is a golfer, not a head of state, not a researcher on the verge of curing cancer.....just an athlete participating in what at best could be called a fringe sport.

Why does anyone think he owes them an apology? Why do you think that he needs to explain his actions any more than Joe Schmoe living next door to you does? Why does the news media seem to think he needs to justify his private life to the people reading this? Do any of you feel that you need to confess your private affairs to him?

It really is amazing that people seem to think they have some inalienable right to know what goes on behind every closed door in the world, and yet, they would be absolutely livid if anyone wanted to scrutinize their intimate actions. Isn't it about high time we accept the fact that people have sex, that people drink, that people smoke and that people do thousands and thousands of actions each and every day that simply are none of our business? Knowing which direction a celebrity wipes their backside does not make me a better person, nor does it make me more worldly or intelligent, it just makes me creepy. If we put half the effort into constructive activities that we put into finding ways to expose people's flaws, the potential for making the world a better place is mind-boggling.

Think about it...if we exerted the same amount of energy tracking Osama bin Laden that we do stalking Tiger, do you honestly think he would still be on the run? Let's get our priorities straight and focus our attention on things that actually matter.

As a somewhat related aside, I have an acquaintance that is constantly reminding me that he is a "good Baptist". For a long time, I wondered exactly what that meant. Now I have the answer. To be a "good Baptist" in Asheville, you just need to drive to Hickory or Spartanburg to hit the liquor stores and lottery retailers....and whatever you do, avoid acknowledging people that act like they think you are their next door neighbor!