I'm really starting to hate this trend of people becoming famous simply because they were seen or some other fluke of circumstance. Cases in point: Kate Gosselin, Heidi and Spencer, Kevin Federline, etc etc. I'd include Lady Gaga in this list but the truth is, underneath all of the layers of freak is a woman with some modicum of talent. Also, she works for her fame providing an actual service with her singing.
As far as I can tell, none of these people have any talents or special qualities that justify their fame and yet I see them plastered everywhere. Kate Gosselin even walks to red carpet at high profile events like a celebrity. Really? This woman who's only famous for getting divorced and having a buttload of children? And after typing Who in the hell is Google handily filled in Spencer & Heidi. Also listed the Kardashians...a valid question as well. Apparently, Spencer and Heidi come from the MTV "reality" show The Hills. I use reality here meaning totally scripted and in no way believable. Ah, so Spencer and Heidi are famous for being "reality" show show dogs. Suddenly things make more sense.
It seems like all of these fake celebrities have a gimmick, something that no one should care about but everyone pays attention to. In Kevin Federline's case it's getting Britney Spears poontang (and spending a lot of money.) In the Kardashian's case it's being rich and knowing Paris Hilton, something I would know better than to brag about. They're whores, all of them, in the strictest sense. They sell themselves out for lots of money and undeserved fame. And what's worse, that means people like me that know better than to fall for the gimmick, are exposed to this tripe everywhere.
And it's not getting any better. Celebrity gossip is one of those guilty little pleasures that you protest that you don't like but devour when you have a chance. It used to be that celebrity gossip a la TMZ style was focused, satirical, and made you feel like you weren't the only person in the world capable of screwing things up for everyone to see. It was nice to see people that you felt were on another plane of existence as tangible, realistic, honest to God people.
Celebrities are supposed to be, for lack of a better purpose, role models. How can someone who's famous for marrying someone else who's famous be a role model? "Hey kids! Be like me! Sleep your way to the top because you can't do it being mediocre like I am!" or "Hey kids! I'm rich and spoiled and I don't know the meaning of hard work and don't give a damn about my body, my life, or the image I present. Be like me and you'll be popular and making your own sex tapes in no time!" Since when did having money make someone worthy of our adoration? Most of it's an accident of birth. Paris didn't work for anything. She modeled for a while, tried a terrible singing career, and acted in a couple shitty movies. It was a cute experiment for her to try to live a normal person's life a la the Simple Life.
I guess the point is and was made best by a flaming gay man on South Park. Parents, if you don't teach your kids who to emulate and idolize, they'll be influenced by the wrong people. If we stop hanging on every word about the psuedo celebs that are famous for nothing then we can stop the flow of this crap into our lives.
For that matter, I lobby that actors, singers, and football players start making a wage that's a little more decent. 20 million dollars for 12 months of filming or less? Sure, the hours suck, the strain is hard, and you have to keep yourself up but that's all part of the game. 20 million for 12 months of work is roughly 1.5 million per month. That's 375,000 per week! I don't even make 375,000 a year and I don't know many college graduates that do make that kind of money. I could live more than comfortably on 375k a year, much less a week.
Where have the priorities gone? How is it the people that support the economy, keep things running, the common laborer, makes less and is treated worse than someone who happens to have some good looks and can put themselves into various situations and respond like they think they should? I guess my thinking is that while football players are striking for better wages or whatever where is the person fighting for a pay raise increase for the person who bags your groceries? The person who stocks the store you buy from? And where are the employers fighting for the people that provide good customer service. When I was in the world of retail all I heard was that I needed to move with a "sense of urgency."
What the hell is so urgent about working at Pier 1, I ask you???
Yes, it's important to make the sale. Without the sale you cannot help the company. If you cannot help the company than there is no reason for you to be there. That's the fundamentals of business. HOWEVER, running around as if your life depended on it seems like a bit of a large leap. My life does not depend on pacing the store and helping the lack of customers. My life with not end if I'm missing a candle from the wall. Will I notice the candle and replace it? Most likely. But I'm not going to act like a woman on a mission to do so. My priority is to the customer. No one could or ever will deny that I have a way with customers. But I believe a job is something you do, not the definition of who you are.
Besides, there's no sense of company loyalty anymore on either side of the line. Employers know the simple bottom line: no matter what you do, someone else can and will do it cheaper. It's sad, cynical, and true. And employees know the reverse is true. No matter what you do, your company sees you as a number and will treat you like it. This is true in big corporations and in mom and pop stores. It all comes down to the paycheck and the pocketbook. Sure, they want the keep good employees around, but they do the least amount of work possible to do that for the sake of the pocketbook and in these times when people are desperate for jobs, they tolerate less than standard treatment for the sake of the paycheck.
It used to be people took pride in their jobs. It used to be people had a reason to take pride in their work performance. It used to be bosses worked just as hard as the employees and recognized those that excelled for the asset they were and rewarded them for it. Those kind of rewards created company loyalty. Walt Disney is a perfect example. His standards for customer service were (and still are) some of the best in the business and are still enforced very rigidly. And it used to be that the benefits reflected his appreciation for this kind of service. He wanted to create an atmosphere, stage an experience, and he rewarded the people who helped him create that vision.
Having Disney experience on your resume used to have weight to it because Walt's rules and employees were well known to be among the best. Especially the people who put a face out there for people to see. If you could hang at D-land, you were thought to be able to be able to hang anywhere. I wish this attitude of expectation and reward was a spread a little wider. If the whole supply industry got back into the business of making the customer happy and the employees were rewarded accordingly, wouldn't the economy be better off all over?
Day 18 - 347 Days to Go
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