Heroes

For those of you who may not know, Baltimore's very own golden boy -Michael Phelps- is, once again making headlines. Not for all of his Olympic accomplishments though. No, this time, Mikey is in the news because he was at a party and someone took a picture of him smoking weed out of a bong. I didn't like the guy before all of this came to the surface so this recent news has only added fuel to my fire and for some reason, I just can't let this go. This is why I'm so angry: alot of people have come to his defense and said "He's not doing anything I didn't do when I was 23" blah blah blah. Here's the difference though. This guy has been labeled as a hero. There was an entire friggin parade in his honor. The reason? Because he knows how to swim really, really well. Sure he broke a bunch of records and won a bunch of medals but come on! He's been training for this his entire life so I don't think we should expect anything less from him. So getting in the water and swimming really fast makes someone a hero. Ok fine, I'll play along. Everyone else seems to think of him this way, especially young kids all over the country. Kids have been idolizing athletes since the Grecian Olympics, I'm sure so why is this guy different? Because for all of those kids who are looking up to him, he pretty much put swimming on the map. I mean seriously, name 5 famous swimmers. Can't be done. So Michael Phelps comes along and shows these kids what can happen if you work hard. And THAT'S why I can't stand him. Because all of those kids were watching as he accepted those medals, they watched when he took part in a parade in his honor, they may have even stayed up late to watch him on Saturday Night Live. So you can be sure they're seeing this now. Kids who probably have no idea what a bong is now know thanks to their "hero".

So all of this got me thinking about the word "hero". I was thinking of all the people in this country who are labeled heroes. Firefighters, soldiers, teachers, Olympians, etc. Then I started to think about how these people actually earned the title. Firefighters - they put their lives on the line every day in an effort to save other people's lives. Yea, I'd say that's a hero. But can you really make such a vast generalization about an entire group of people? My dad is a veteran and he fought in the Vietnam War. Does that automatically make him a hero? Some might say yes knowing only this one fact about him. My siblings and I would disagree. See, our dad, the guy we know - not the veteran - was abusive, manipulative, controlling and just an all around bad guy. BUT, he fought in Vietnam so he's still a hero right? He went into Vietnam with a basket full of issues and he came back even more messed up. He was even there when they sprayed Agent Orange so he brought me the lovely parting gift of a birth defect that is still effecting me to this day, 29 years later. Sorry, but he's far from my hero.

We have entire award ceremonies dedicated to actors, musicians and athletes. People who make their living entertaining us and as a nice little perk, happen to make millions of dollars doing it. You'd think that'd be enough of an award but no, they need a statue and the adoration of their peers to boot.

I think we're honoring, acknowledging and idolizing the wrong people. My good friends Matt and Katy spend their life dedicated to helping others. When Hurricane Katrina hit, Matt was there. When their son Caleb died, Katy was the one showing others by her example the message of forgiveness and healing. THEY'RE heroes. They deserve a friggin medal.

My sister-in-law Raimie stayed home while my brother went to serve in Iraq. She not only had to deal with supporting their daughter but also handle a pregnancy on her own. Not to mention give birth to their son with her husband thousands of miles away. She never complained, never asked for help. She just did what she had to do. She's a hero. Yes, my brother fought in the war and yes, he is a hero too but she didn't ask for this. She didn't sign him up to be in the military, but she did her job all the same.

I was talking about this with my brother, Don, today. He made a very good point about Michael Phelps. He said "Sure, the kid can swim, but when my troop and I came home from Iraq, where was our parade?". I remember the day he came home, very well actually. We all went out to dinner and I made a point of letting the waitress know that the dinner was in honor of my brother who had just come home from serving a year in Iraq. So they gave him a free piece of cake. I mean it was nice but seriously? That's what people get on their birthdays at these places. But it showed me just how grateful we are as a society for our true heroes. Don fought in a war, faced and witnessed death on a daily basis, missed the birth of his only son, comes home a year later and gets a piece of cake. Michael Phelps trains hard, goes to Beijing, swims alot, comes home and gets a parade, TV interviews, etc.

So the next time you label someone as a hero, just think about it first. Ask yourself who they really are a hero to. It's a term that is tossed around and shouldn't be taken lightly because we're now at a point that it's been taken for granted.