Perspective

Being someone who could care less about sports (but it would take a special effort on my part to do so) you may not think I would be writing about this topic today. You may not figure me for someone who knows or cares about what city some big sports star moves to. But one would have to be a recluse of world-class stature to have missed all the hoopla over where LeBrom James chooses to play basketball.

They have talked about it interminably for weeks and any hope that it would abate now that he has made his decision seems to have been dashed by the fact that they are still talking about it two days later.

But this is not a column about that. This is a column about the people who (for reasons I cannot understand – due mostly to my rampant apathy on the topic) actually seem to care about it. This morning, as I was watching one of the newscasts I habitually watch on Sunday mornings, they played a clip of a guy who really needs a reality check.

This person appeared in a promo for the upcoming story. It is a guy who is a fan of whatever team LeBron used to play for. The guy is in tears, and is being supported by a weepy person; presumably a friend of his. He wipes his streaming eyes and declares to the camera that "This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me."

At the risk of sounding condescending, it probably has nothing to do with you dude. I am pretty certain your personal feelings didn't enter into the decision. ("It's not you, it's him.") Get some perspective! If this is the worst thing that has ever happened to you, you have lead a charmed life! You've never had anything happen to you that actually involved you? Get a grip, get a life!

Wherever you are today, I hope that this is the worst thing that has happened to you this week!

Don Bergquist – July 11, 2010 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA