Coldplayed

My Memaw always said "Don't shit where you eat!" This is not an uncommon expression but I haven't heard it in a long time. I love it because it states a fact, in little words. What does it mean?

Basically, it means don't mess up somewhere you are normally at--like home, work, or with friends.

Another expression that Memaw would have loved, if she was still alive, is "Don't get Coldplayed!" These past couple of weeks have been all about this expression. What does it mean?

Don't get caught cheating in a public place!

I do feel sorry for the people involved in this "scandal". I know that both he and she were at fault and their actions had a huge ripple effect on their work, their families, and their friends. I doubt their lives will ever be the same. Don't get me wrong--what they did was totally wrong--no question!

But don't we all make stupid, stupid mistakes? Hopefully, our mistakes were made, we said we were sorry, and learned from them. Hopefully, they didn't have the same consequences as this incident.

I think a lot about this when I hear about other mistakes that have tragic consequences--a teenage car wash worker was driving the car out of the wash and hit another boy on the sidewalk (he was probably driving too fast), or a child dies from being shot by another child when they found an unlocked gun in the house, or when a young adult was driving too fast and caused an accident where other people (possibly their friends) died in the crash. These are horrific mistakes that will haunt the people responsible for the rest of their lives. How do you live with something like that?

The couple who were seen at the Coldplay concert were married to other people, yet obviously were having an affair. By demonstrating their infidelity in public, they got caught (hence the term "Coldplayed"). Now, their families have to deal with the aftermath. I'm sure their friends are talking about it, their kids may be getting hassled at school, and I'm sure there are psychological issues now in the family dynamics, including dealing with a divorce (or two). Then, on top of all of that, the gentleman in this scenario has resigned his job as the CEO of a space company.

I have an issue with the resignation. Why did this happen? Yes, what he did was wrong--morally. Was it illegal? No. Was it between two adults? Yes. But he resigned because the company said that they have standards that he violated.

It's a space company, not the Catholic Church! What "moral standards" does a space company have?? I could understand if he was a teacher, a minister, or even someone who works with children having moral standards, but you have to resign from your space company if you cheat on your wife? Even the President of the United States didn't have to resign his job when he got caught almost 30 years ago!

Yes, this was a bad situation and all involved, directly or indirectly, have a long road of healing ahead of them. Hopefully, counseling will be in their future too.

But some good has come out of all of this. Really!

First, the memes. There have been so many. They have been creative, humorous, and inventive. I know we are not suppose to "laugh" at a tragedy like this, but sometimes we need to look at the positive. It's like someone said, "Hey, a lot of crap is happening right now and all we see is the negative. Our country is getting divided. We need something to bring all of us together." This did just that. Almost all of us came together and showed how creative and funny we really are.

Second, we are thankful that wasn't us. Not that we are cheating on our significant others. But we do screw up. I screw up all the time. I'm thankful that it is not a public screw up. I'm thankful that when I screw up, my husband and my daughters may laugh, but I know they love me no matter what. I can't imagine what it is like to be in the public eye--for 15 minutes or for 15 years. Wow!

Inbetween the laughs, we do feel sorry for this couple and their families. And they have to live with what they did. It was a mistake, but no one died. Hopefully, they learned their lesson--if you are unhappy, do something about it but don't cheat---and we, vicariously, learned a lesson too from all of this.

I think it is ok for us to see the positive from all of this. We read and hear about the bad news all the time. We see people mad at each other over the littlest of things. We see how divided our country as become. I think it is ok to be happy with something that brings us together.

On a sadder note...