Two Slashes

I came across a discussion on 20SB today regarding Michael Phelps and his little ‘drug incident’, the latest controversy to hit the media…right before whatever major controversy came right before it .  (I forget, as that’s what people tend to do.  They forget the previous misdeed as soon as something more recent gets brought to the forefront of their attention, even though the misdeed in question will still have lasting consequences.)

To be honest, I’ve always wondered why people take a particular interest in the private dealings performed by the rest of the world.  With any media format you care to name, chances are it’s been used to delve into the personal lives of countless famed actors and sports figures.  Blogs, television shows…essentially, you name it, it’s been used to tap into things that have no reason to be public.

People wonder why their friends tend to be photophobic and don’t want their pictures posted everywhere.  When you have incidents like this, it’s not a stretch to wonder why.  It can make or break relationships, turn relationships one way or the other, or, in some cases, completely screw up the rest of your life.  It all depends on who finds your dirty laundry and how evil they are with it, with a direct correlation to the amount of fame you’ve garnered throughout your life.  And it’s all stuff that people wouldn’t find out about otherwise, too.

In our quest for information and with the growth of media, we’ve evolved from caring about relevant and timely information to as much trivial tripe as we can stuff into our primitive brains, personal business being just one of the many categories people file away on a daily basis, with the only benefit being the increased average skill at pop culture games like Trivial Pursuit.  And whether that can even be classified as a skill is a debatable topic at best.

I find it rather pathetic that we’ve changed how we define our lives from what we do to what we do without getting caught, too.  Alas, that is a rant for another time.

I never thought I would be adding a marijuana tag, despite the fact that I’m not a druggie.  Go figure.

And yes, this post was almost two hours late, and it’s shorter than normal.  I have a legitimate excuse, though.