Eat Your Wheaties!!!

Judging others is something I detest.  I’m pretty much a live-and-let-live kind of girl.  So it’s not my intent to judge anyone with these words.  However, some things just need to be said.

As far as I'm concerned, Bruce will always be Bruce.  I was in high school when the Bruce phenomenon came on the scene.  Wheaties became my favorite cereal, and my family consumed tons of the stuff.  I’d sit gazing dreamy-eyed at the picture of that hunky man in those (really short) gym shorts on the front of that orange box.   All the world watched him stand on the podium at the Olympics.  We were so proud.

Now, to be totally honest, I must say that I have little understanding of the transgender thing. And that’s okay.  This is not about him being transgender.  He can glue a cotton ball to his rear end and call himself a bunny rabbit for all I care. 

This is about him being presented as a hero.  That gives me a problem.  Brave?  Maybe  – though what did he have to lose?  He’s already famous, has plenty of money (or not? who knows/cares?), has a wacky family to support him, already has been a “Reality TV Star”, and is now getting his own show-  “I Am Cait”.  I’m thinking he would have been a lot braver to have done this 20 years ago, when nobody ever thought about him any more.  But – whatever the reason – he has chosen to do this now, and I suppose it would take a bit of bravery to subject himself to the ridicule  that he will surely endure. 

But a hero?  

I'm sorry.  Not for me.  

Tell this little fella that Bruce is a hero:

Tell this wife:

Tell his parishioners and family members:

Tell their descendants that Bruce is a hero:

The closest thing to a being hero I can find about Bruce Jenner would be his athletic skill and accomplishments in the past.  I’m not a sports person myself, so I have no true appreciation for his talent, but I’m sure there were young athletes at the time who elevated him to hero status. 

My heroes don’t wear gym shorts and tank tops (or size 13-M Peep-toe pumps)  – they wear fatigues, turnout gear, and bullet-proof vests.  They wear surgical scrubs and operate on indigent children, or nursing scrubs and volunteer at Mercy Clinics.  They leave huge tips at the café for a single mom working hard to support her children.  They wear aprons, and cook/serve dinner to people at the homeless shelter.  They foster and/or adopt animals who would otherwise be euthanized simply because they were born. They drive rescue vehicles and LifeFlight choppers.  They volunteer in the wake of disasters, to see that their fellow man is fed and sheltered.  They donate blood.  They drive cancer patients to their treatments, and sit with them to keep them company.  

They teach our children every day in the classroom.

However the media wishes to define him, I can promise you that “hero” is not a word you’ll ever hear me say in reference to him. 

To the REAL HEROES in our world, I say thank you, and carry on.  We know who you are!!!