RELEVANCY

We have just come out of and survived a contentious campaign for presidency of the United States.  You are either dismayed over the results or are deliriously happy, depending upon your political leaning.  The seemingly endless campaign seemed to begin as soon as Barack Obama won the 2008 presidency election.  And the 2016 presidency is already on the minds of some because I have already heard a preliminary list of people who may consider running.

The economy is still sputtering along with the latest report of unemployment hovering around 7.9%; keeping in mind that 7.9% only represents those who are currently actively looking for employment.  This figure does not include the people who are so discouraged that they are no longer actively looking for work, and it does not include those for whom unemployment benefits have run out or those who consider themselves under-employed.

Kids are graduating from college with unprecedented student loan balances and they can't land work or begin careers which will allow them to make enough money to put a dent in those student loans and still have money to live and plan for the future.

We are dealing with the Benghazi situation and trying to uncover the facts surrounding what really happened and what did the powers-in-be know and when did they know it.  Keep in mind four people lost their lives in the attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Then there's Syria and North Korea...I could go on and on and you can even add your own issues to my list.

With all of that being said, do we r-e-a-l-l-y care about the Bieber breakup?  Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, that is.  Justin was 16 years old and Selena 18 when they became a couple two years ago.  Teen couples come and go.  In teen years, two years really is a long time.  Do you even remember who you dated at 16?  Most people don't if they didn't end up marrying that person.  I can't remember the majority of the guys I was so deeply in love with at 16 years old.  And there is a reason for that.  I out grew them.  The guys I was enamored of at 16 no longer appealed to me as I matured.  It's a growing up process.  Back then my guys had to have a car at the minimum, be a good dancer, and be popular and good-looking.  Or maybe good-looking was at the top of the list.  Nevertheless, they didn't last.  Not one of them.  And for good reasons, among others...one of the guys is now homeless (I'm glad I didn't stay with him).  Another guy is now gay (I guess I couldn't stay with him).  And none of my breakups made anyone's newspaper, not even my high school newspaper and I was very popular in high school.

Was the Bieber-Gomez relationship so important as to warrant the Washington Post (Love, etc.:  Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez break up, November 11, 2012) devoting column space to the subject?  Neither did I care about the Twilight couple's separation and Kristen Stewart's dalliance.  (But, I did hear that they are back together).  Or Taylor Swift's recent break up with that Kennedy kid after buying a house next to his family's on Cape Cod.  Anyone who dates Taylor Swift and breaks up with her should know by now that he will certainly be fodder for her next song.  Ask Jake Gyllenhaal.

Am I too old for this type of thing?  This is exactly why I stay away from People Magazine and Entertainment Weekly and even The New York Post.  Or is it all just relevancy?  Remember Liz Taylor's eight marriages to seven husbands and all of the publicity that garnered?  And the scandal of Ingrid Bergman having a baby out of wedlock with Italian director Roberto Rossellini?  (Is wedlock even a word anymore?)

Maybe it is just relevancy and a sign of the times.

On the other hand, I think I would be interested in reading a newspaper article about Al Green breaking up with his wife.

I'm just saying.


Peace

Michele