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For rich and famous, truth is tough to hide
(by Christine Thome - May 21, 2009)
BEYOND MY CONTROL, BY CHRISTINE THOME
For rich and famous, truth is tough to hide
As I stood in the checkout line of the local grocery store, I couldn't help but stare at the cover of the National Enquirer. Prominently posted on the front page were pictures of famous models and movie stars, unknowingly photographed during private beach vacations in their bikinis, complete with (gasp!) cellulite, muffin tops and thunder thighs.
I am so glad I am not rich and famous.
Not only do I not have to worry about my friends vomiting in the grocery store checkout line because they are forced to look at my jiggly, wiggly body on the cover of some stupid magazine, but, most importantly, nobody cares if I have a wiggly, jiggly body.
Because I'm not rich and famous, I don't have to worry about what the world will say when I have a bad-hair day. Thank God, because I get enough grief from my daughters.
Because I'm not rich and famous, I can wear sweat pants and old T-shirts to the grocery store, drugstore, heck, even to teacher conferences and out to dinner if I really feel like it. And no one will take my picture and post it the next morning.
Because I'm not rich and famous, I can use a baseball cap for its true purpose -- covering my uncombed hair when I don't have time to shower -- not covering my identity.
But if I was rich and famous, or had the opportunity to become rich and famous, I think I would behave a little differently than some people recently in the spotlight. For one, I would either tell the truth or learn how to lie really, really well. It's been said that any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well. I guess the rich and famous may have fame and fortune, but they are missing quite a bit of common sense.
How many proposed cabinet members did Barack Obama have to go through to finally find one who paid his or her taxes? Don't you think that would be one of the first questions in the vetting process?
"Sir, you're just what we're looking for, but we need to ask you a few standard questions. Have you ever dealt drugs to small children, ran naked through Daytona Beach during a college spring break or been a member of polygamist cult?"
"No to all three? Awesome! You're in! Oh, one more thing, you've paid your taxes on time and declared all your earned income, haven't you?" After all, the vice president says it's the patriotic thing to do.
As I tell my children, "If you tell me the truth right now, you will still be in trouble, but it will be a lot less trouble than if I have to find out from someone else." Don't you think these proposed cabinet members would rather fess up to a small vetting committee during the interview process and find a private solution to the problem, rather than have a reporter announce it to the world? I bet their mothers are furious.
Right or wrong, the rich and famous are held to a different standard. They are scrutinized and criticized, and everyone is out to knock them down a peg or unveil their crocked crowns, as Miss California 2009, Carrie Prejean, recently found out when she made controversial statements during the pageant.
Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. However, she must have known that, when she lied on her application by checking the "no" box when asked if she had ever posed nude or partially nude in photographs, someone would find out about it and announce it to the world. I don't remember much of what I did when I was 17, but I'm pretty sure I would remember posing for some breast-exposing pictures.
At the ripe old age of 21, did she forget what she did four years ago? Did the Washington, D.C., big shots forget that April 15 is the deadline for filing taxes, every single year? Maybe.
But perhaps they need to follow Mark Twain's advice: If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
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