This is repost from Paul Hartunian http://paulspublicityblog.com
It was so good I had to post it on my site, Paul is huge dog lover 😉
Hope you enjoy it!
Carlos Samaniego
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What’s going on? How have we strayed so far from the path of morality, conscience and compassion?
Today, two horrendous events happened that slapped us all in the face.
First, dog torturer Michael Vick got his own reality TV show. So this vermin who tortured and murdered dogs is rewarded by getting his own TV show. And we wonder why young people engage in horrific behavior! They’ve been trained, by all of us, that immoral, unethical, criminal behavior will be greatly rewarded. Oh sure, you may do a little prison time, but it’ll be worth it. The payoff could be in the many, many millions. How many times are we going to turn the scum of the earth into “heroes”, rewarding them with huge paydays, celebrity status and a life that the vast majority of people can only dream about but never achieve?
Disgusting.
Second, Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace prize – simply because he says we should have peace on earth (wow, what an original idea). And this decision was made in February when Obama was president for only two weeks. What an outrageous slap in the face for people who’ve spent years, have sacrificed their lives in the quest for peace. If Obama has any character, he’ll decline the prize and suggest that someone truly deserving gets the award. This comment is not directed at Obama, it’s directed at the people who made the decision to award the Nobel to him.
Equally as disgusting.
Somewhere along the line we jumped the tracks. We no longer admire and respect the people who’ve accomplished truly great things. We don’t admire people who stay on the straight and narrow, are great role models and have led lives of honor.
Instead we admire and reward the lowest of the low or the least deserving or – I’m sad to admit – the person with the best PR agent.
I so clearly remember listening to one of those radio psychologists years ago. A woman call up from Kansas or Nebraska or one of the states in the western US. You could tell from her speech that she was a very modest, kind-hearted woman.
She explained to the radio-psychologist that she and her husband were fostering eight children and on that Friday all of the children were to be returned to their parents.
The psychologist then rudely interrupted the woman and went on a rant. Paraphrasing her, she said: “Oh I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to tell me that you don’t think the kids should be returned to their parents on Friday. You think you and your husband can do a better job than the parents. That’s what all of you foster families think. Well let me tell you…” and then she went on to ream the woman the proverbial new download chute.
After the psychologist had run out of her vile hot air, the woman, in her soft, warm voice, said: “No, ma’am. We know the children have to go back to their parents. We have seven more children coming on Monday. We just want to know if it would be OK to send these children presents on their birthdays.”
There was dead air on the radio station. When the psychologist came back 10 or 15 seconds later, you could tell that not only did she have tears in her eyes and a quiver in her voice, but also she had just experienced the most humbling moment of her life.
The psychologist told the woman it would be fine to send birthday presents to the children going back to their parents. She then asked if she could ask the woman a few questions.
“Yes ma’am” was the soft answer.
“Do you work?”
“No ma’am. We always have a lot of children here, so I have to stay home to take care of them.”
“Does your husband work?”
“Yes ma’am. He’s the janitor in the school.”
“Can I ask you how much he earns?”
“About $27,000 a year, ma’am.”
“You foster all these children on $27,000 a year plus whatever little you get from the state?”
“Yes ma’am. It’s tight, but we do fine.”
“Do you take vacations?”
“No ma’am. Being with these children is our favorite vacation”.
The psychologist then went to a very LONG commercial break – no doubt deeply shaken by what just happened.
That broadcast has had an enormous impact on me. I’ve never told that story without tears filling my eyes. Even typing this I get teary.
Where is the Nobel Prize for those people? Why aren’t we celebrating people who do things like that. Instead, we shower our adulation on entertainers who are engaged in the most aberrant behavior. We come up with reasons why Roman Polanski should be set free, even though he admitted he drugged and raped a 13 year old girl. We admire people like that and call them heroes.
Yeah, I know this is supposed to be a blog about publicity, marketing and business. But there are just times when things aren’t right and I have to speak out.
I’m disgusted. I feel like I need a shower.
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