Did You Know That Sometimes Kids Do Dumb Things?

Hey, let's all go and make a big ado about nothing! Jason Cohn/REUTERS

Whew, man. I'm glad people brought this whole Jiri Tlusty thing to my attention. I had no freaking idea that sometimes kids go wild and do dumb things. Good Lord. Society really needs to get a hold of itself.

This is one of those times that makes me sick to my stomach and ashamed to not only be a part of the "media" (albeit a tiny part) but to be a human, in general. Every time a public persona slips up, someone is there to dig up the juicy pieces. And by juicy I mean "things that are meaningless, but people use to deride others and prop themselves up with."

Yes, although many people are unaware, celebrities and athletes are human. They go out. They have a few too many drinks. They do some dumb things. They act like they're 16. I've never been a person obsessed with celebrity or any body's personal life. Would I be in awe if I met Wayne Gretzky? Sure. Absolutely. Would I want to know what goes on behind closed doors? Unless he's killing people or something, no. Not at all. Personally8iuii, I believe that whatever someone does behind closed doors or after hours is their business, and theirs alone.

Every time a Senator does something in a men's bathroom, Paris Hilton goes to jail or a public persona has unsavory pictures "leaked", it really amazes me how much of a fuss is made about it. They're just like us, and I can't understand how society: a) still does not realize this and b) is completely and endlessly enthralled by it. Imagine if we paid this much attention to things like curing cancer or achieving peace in the Middle East. We would be rid of those issues in about a week. In a month, we would have found extraterrestrial life and be living on Pluto.

Now, I'm not going to act like I'm above posting random crazy pictures of people or anything like that. I've posted pictures of Jeremy Roenick flipping the bird and the like (and I'll even hyperlink to it). There's one difference; I'm not doing it to laugh at Roenick, make a scene, or benefit from another's' private life, which is what happened to Tlusty. I'm doing it to laugh along with Roenick. I've never met the guy, but photos like that show me that he's probably not an ass and is likely down to earth. What's more, he's obviously a cool enough guy to take some time out for fans and have a good time in doing so. I'm not trying to embarrass or slander the guy. Not even close.

The funny thing about all this is that if you were to go on any young adults' Facebook or MySpace, you will almost always find tons of pictures that resemble the ones that have been floating around of Jiri Tlusty (or ones that or worse). If there were social networking websites and camera phones 40 years ago, imagine how many ridiculous pictures of today's adults would be floating around. Yes, believe it or not we were all at one time or another Tlusty's age. While we all may not have done the things he did, chances are we know someone who did.

No matter what, we all need to take a deep breath and lighten up.