Do you remember when the world had that SARs scare? Avian flu? Anthrax? The fear manifested itself into pure mayhem; a sea of surgical masks and unopened manila envelopes. We were scared! We watched the news, we educated ourselves, we went into protective mode to save mankind. What most Americans don't know is that today in late 2011 we've been aiding the spread of one of the most frightening plagues out there: stupidity. We in America don't just condone stupidity... oh no... we celebrate it. Yesterday I caught a commercial for Barbara Walters' special on the 11 most interesting people of 2011, and almost choked on my Lean Pocket when the Kardashian's made the list. Excuse me? Yea, maybe the Kardashians are interesting the way a car accident is interesting. Maybe they're interesting in the way an oozing boil can be interesting. They're interesting like your friend's response when asked their opinion on your new muumuu. But if Barbara Walters, one of the most respected journalists of her time, can pick out this dim witted family who are an embarrassment to strong, independent women everywhere and glorify them with "Most Interesting of 2011"...then I'm afraid we're lost, folks. What about all the women who overcame hardships this year, who worked toward a cause, who made a difference? Kim, honey, I'm not talking about the hardship over which $20,000 cake to have at your Titanic of a wedding. I wish I could think of more examples, but I keep forgetting what she does. But hey, Kim's on the cover of Glamour this month and we must see if it's true that her ex-hubbie is gay. When does this madness stop? If it takes a village, then pretty soon our village will be extinct if we don't make a point to question the examples we're deeming acceptable in society for upcoming generations. Hell, the examples we choose to award with fancy superlative titles like MOST interesting.
I don't want to catch the stupid, and I think it's time we grabbed our proverbial surgical masks and put an end to this pandemic.
