Although clearly a tremendous athlete and apparently a cool dude, LeBron James is…drumroll please…just a basketball player (cymbals crash).
Renee Antonelli Valente
We hunger for entertainment so much that we don’t blink at his $100 million salary, or the sponsorships that could bring in five times as much. Yet we bark whenever teachers, hospital personnel, researchers, aides, and people who truly make a difference go on strike after being offered paltry paychecks with subpar benefits.
It’s so ass-backwards that those who won’t think twice about forking over $150 for a LeBron “Miami Heat” jersey are the same people who’ll bitch and moan over the five bucks the PTA asks for so their kid’s class can have a party.
The same ones will flock to Town Hall meetings to protest a $100 increase on our annual tax bill and then pay primo prices to see yet another guy dribble a ball and do something neat with it for 2 hours.
Seriously?
The more significant price tag here, I believe, lies on our children’s heads. They see these guys as heroes with their glitz and entourages, their celebrity and paparazzi, and get a perverted idea of who is “worth” more. What 11-year-old wouldn’t be even a little enamored? What if he just saw an EMT worker use the Jaws of Life to save a mother of 5 from a highway wreck?
What’s even worse is that we tell our kids they can “be anything you want.“ Sounds great, doesn’t it? Poetic, even. But realistic? Not a lick.
Know why? Because you can’t walk around life assuming just because you put in the effort you can be another “King James.”
Politically correct positivity fools many of us into thinking the impossible is possible. Unfortunately, reality has a way of snatching off those rose-colored glasses and showing us that hard work doesn’t instantly breed reward. And that, in turn, could lead to a lifetime of disappointment, which isn’t where we don't want those we love headed.
Not that our offspring shouldn’t shoot for the stars. It’s just that if we do OUR jobs, we can teach them to be at peace wherever their efforts take them.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not looking to let the air out of the karmic waves. I firmly believe that reflecting on yourself, recognizing who you are, where you belong, what makes you happy, and striving for it with everything you’ve got is the only way to go.
I’m talking about perspective. While it’s great to admire someone for their abilities and strive to be like them, we also need to admire those who take care of us, teach us, save us, build things, affect our lives -- and help keep us free.
Aspiring to make the world a better place is as admirable a calling as I can think of. And if the calling doesn’t directly involve taking a hand, it also could be by lifting others with your successes while, at the same time, teaching them through your limitations.
So maybe while in the throes of this recent hero worship, we can take a TV timeout. We can admire those who make life a little better for all of us, give 'em some well-deserved props. Because without them, we couldn’t so easily and readily enjoy these superficial pursuits we call entertainment.
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