R-E-S-P-E-C-T
find out what it REALLY means!
by Athena
Hey it’s me again…Being that it was recently a full moon, a lunar eclipse AND the fact that I am very hormonal,
you KNOW that I am not going to let you all off easy. Then again, that’s why it’s called a ‘rant’ eh?
I am going to begin by asking you a few questions. NO I don’t want you to email me your answers!
I do, however want you to think about your answers and keep them in mind throughout the rest of this editorial.
Question 1:
Picture this scene if you will.. you get an email out of the blue from someone you have never met or corresponded with before,
and they are asking you all sorts of questions. Worse, they seem to “know” things about you.
What is your reaction?
Question 2:
You hear through the grapevine that someone you don’t know is giving out some personal information about
you that may or may not be correct. (Yeah, up here in ol’ New England, we call it gossiping).
How would that make you feel?
Question 3:
Someone you DO know let’s out a few personal tidbits that you have entrusted them with in confidence.
Are you likely
to trust that person again?
I am expecting that your answers were something along these lines:
You would possibly report this person to your ISP because it made you extremely uncomfortable,
block their email address and quite possibly change your own.
2. You would feel hurt, angry, outraged because the people spreading the news “don’t know shit” about you
and even if they did have NO business spreading it around.
3. You would distance or cut yourself off completely from the individual who broke the trust.
If you or that person wish to salvage the relationship, you will make it very clear you need that individual to
earn your trust and respect all over again because they hurt you by being “loose lipped.”
Then make sure you NEVER told them anything more personal than your grocery list ever again.
O.K., all of those feelings are very valid – it’s YOUR life, isn’t it? Well then why the heck are the lives
of the men and women who are in the entertainment industry (specifically professional wrestling) any different?
Why should they have to live in a fish bowl like atmosphere just to satisfy our sick cravings for information?
It comes “with the territory” you say. My question to you is, since when? We take it for granted that is just “how it is”
without fully realizing that it was not always like that. It was because someone somewhere down the line decided that a
celebrity held more than a passing interest for him or her. Thus began the hunt.
It has become so commonplace to “get the dirt” that we have become seriously desensitized to the dangers
and turmoil these people face.
Of course, it isn’t just the entertainers that face this, is it?
Have you forgotten how cruel children can be to each other when they hear something their
parents or another individual were discussing? What about when a wife, girlfriend husband, etc goes to the grocery store, the post office?
Do you really think they are left alone? How frightening it must be to hear threats against those you care about,
never knowing for sure if they are idle or not. I am of the opinion that NO threat is idle, for the simple reason it instills fear.
One does not have to physically carry it out for it to be effective. Often you will hear others say that they wish
that they could live “their” lives if only for one day. Well let’s see, death threats, nasty rumors, and any other stomach
turning episodes are NOT my idea of the idyllic life.
I have enough of my own problems - forget it!
For me, if I pay say $40 for a ticket I want to be entertained inside the ring!!!!
This does not in any way give me rights to know someone’s marital status, health issues or even what they
ate for breakfast that morning. Hell, if the poor guy I happen to be watching get the snot beat out of him enjoys
wearing women’s underwear outside of the ring – that is his business. These people have every right to live a private
happy life under the laws of the land, and we as fans, no as fellow human beings need to start respecting that.
The next time you get the urge to have the inside scoop on your favorite celebrity,
think about this often overlooked fact…those who are really in “the know” rarely tell. They understand the great responsibility
and honor it is to be trusted by another person, and they have respect.