A few days ago, enthralled Americans watched the sight of a shiny, mushroom-shaped balloon flying through the air on national TV. By now, everyone knows the story was that a six-year-old boy was allegedly in the balloon. We all saw the video image of the balloon landing in a wheat field, volunteers frantically struggling through the uncooperative earth, finally reaching the balloon to find it empty. It was empty because the boy was safe at home, right where daddy had hidden him away.
As the facts came out one by one, the portrayal of the dad is somewhat less than flattering. The more we learned about this man (I will not use his name because that is what he wants us to do) the more we realized he is nothing more than a self-centered media whore. The facts speak for themselves.
He met his wife during acting classes. Both were unsuccessful actors, and so he chose to market his other hobby-science. I have found radio shows of his dating back to 2006. He was also a tornado chaser. When I read this quote, I got chills: “The {edit} take their sons on most of their missions. “I think they really are having fun," {edit}{edit}said. "They get so much more that they can't get from any other entertainment."The {edit} had a close call July 12 when they found themselves in the midst of a tornado in Buckeye."I think I have odd kids. They start screaming with excitement," {edit} {edit} said”. Hmm. I took my kids on a whale watch once. I do not think that a whale has ever sucked a car up off the road and hurtled it, and its occupants, to their deaths, as a tornado is more than capable of doing. Yet both of these parents saw nothing wrong with this potentially fatal behavior.
We all know that the couple appeared twice on the show “Wife swap”. We all know the couple both feel they are descended from aliens. Now we find the that the dad has been shopping a reality show based on his “The science detectives” radio show, featuring footage of him and his wife endangering their children by chasing tornadoes with them in the car. The first network, TLC, turned them down. What was the dad’s reaction? He planned the stunt that captured the nation’s attention. That will surely land them a reality show, right?
I fear it just may. I was listening to a radio show today. They had a guest from Ireland. He is a radio talk show host over there. When asked about balloon boy he stated that they do not have kooks like that in Europe, because the press humiliates them rather than publicizes them. You see, in America, we reward incompetence. It starts in tee-ball. They call them participation trophies. You get one just for taking part, even if you do not hit the ball all year. Incompetence rewarded. Our government gave billions of dollars in bailout money to banks that had screwed things up in the first place. Incompetence rewarded. Automakers too stubborn to notice market trends and found themselves in bankruptcy received bailout help. Incompetence rewarded. A man who figuratively bombed the moon and sent 14,000 troops to Afghanistan gets a peace prize. I do not know if that is incompetence, but it is definitely a participation trophy.
The family of balloon boy will undoubtedly end up with a TV show. Regrettably, America will watch. You see, that is what America does best; it rewards incompetence. What a shame.
