A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the LYS ...

I don’t want to talk about knitting. I don’t want to discuss how my beautiful cashmere “Holiday Poncho” (which was 2/3 finished) is now going to be started again from the beginning (something to do with a force of nature. I’m sure it wasn’t because of something I did. Anyway, we’re not going to talk about that.

Instead, on my way to the LYS, I was listening to NPR (yes, it is possible) and they were discussing the somewhat sorry state of current political affairs: who was seen with whom, who was accused of stealing what, who was accepting money from whom, etc. You’ve heard it before. You get the idea. And I started thinking (yes, that too is possible) that “our” lack of interest in all things politics and overall “acceptance” of political corruption is quite sad & depressing. (I’m speaking in general – of course - and oversimplifying and making great assumptions. But, go ahead and play along. Oh, and present company is included.) I also thought it’s kind of “silly” that we have “celebrities” that run (and get elected) for public office. To use technical terms, “it’s whacked!” But just then, another lightening bolt struck. On second thought, maybe all politicians should be celebrities. After all, there is great interest in where Paris Hilton goes, what she wears, and who – sorry, I mean – what she does. We’re all quite aware of those things. So, if Paris, Brad, Jen & Angelina were our politicians, maybe – just maybe – we would ALL be so interested and concerned with everything they do and say. And, we’d all be ready to pass judgment for whatever they did – right or wrong. Hmmmm … might not be a perfect world, but it is an idea. So, I bring this up at the LYS for discussion. Sally was there and proceeded to shoot down my idea. She thought I was incorrect about:

• People today not being interested in/concerned with politics;
• Most politicians are corrupt;
• Corruption is just a part of politics;
• People today are more concerned with people named Jen, Ben, Brad or Britney.
• And that celebrities would make good politicians. (They wouldn’t, she said, because quite a few are … uh, not very smart.)

For the record, I never stated that celebrities would make good politicians. I just thought it might raise the general level of interest in politics. (And, I didn’t argue with the “smart” comment. Unfortunately, I had to agree that the same could also be said about some politicians). She continued to say that just because Angelina had adopted 2 babies, had been married 3 times, and was pregnant now, that did not mean that she should be or would be a good, public official. To which I stated that she had only been married twice – as of yet, the third (with Brad Pitt) hasn’t happened. So, then, we discussed who she had been married to, when, and why (supposedly) it had ended. After which, Sally gasped, put her hand over her mouth and said, “Oh my, now we ARE sitting here discussing Hollywood gossip!” BINGO! I think I made my point.