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By Patrick Hurley Aug. 5, 2006 To say that Mel Gibson had a little too much to drink the other night is tantamount to suggesting the Challenger had an issue with its O rings... Mel didn't just party too hard. He may have lost his entire career. When a policeman pulls you over going 84 miles per hour in a zone half that restrictive and you are a famous movie star, the last thing in the world you want to do is offend the cop and his cohorts. When you are a movie star in Hollywood, the LAST thing you want to do after that is offend the Jewish community. In case you haven't noticed, there are more than a handful of Jewish citizens who work there. No really. Honest. There are only two other locations where Jews have such a dominant influence....New York and uh, Jerusalem. Mel picked the wrong time and town to mess with here. But allow me to regress for a moment here. I have embarrassed myself at times after drinking too much. The lowlight came when I was dancing with Mary Jo Fakes in college and I began to get really sick as she swayed back and forth in front of me. I quickly excused myself and raced for the bathroom at the Legion Hall. The next thing I clearly remember is my mom coming into my room the next morning holding up my dad's velour shirt I had destroyed the night before and stating the OBVIOUS, "Uh, this needs to be dry cleaned." My mom always was a wordsmith.... Mel now joins the ranks of famous people who will be forever linked to one person or event for the rest of their days. I will list a name and you say the first word or phrase that comes to mind, okay? Richard Nixon. (that was an easy one!) Bill Clinton. (think of a name beginning with the letter "M") Okay, no more hints....it gets a little tougher now. Pete Rose Robert Downey Jr. Sharon Tate White Bronco Woody Hayes Michael Jackson Bill Buckner Joran Van der Sloot General Custer Waco A country that lacks BALLS! Maybe the goal in life is to spend it so you will not be forever "tagged" with an embarrassment. Most of us are not going to be branded by anything so permanent that we will have it as the lead sentence in our obituary. We may have been a good father or mother, an asset to our community, someone who used a particular talent.... But, to have a blushing millstone around your neck for the rest of your life is a heavy cross to bear no matter what you did wrong. People can forgive, but they rarely forget. I am a little angry that so much information was given out about Mel Gibson's DUI that night. I don't condone the things he said, but I don't believe he is an anti-Semite in terms of Adolph Hitler or Osama Bin Laden. Many of us have gotten angry at another race or religion in heated moments. But, when a person is drunk and raving away I think we need to cut them a little slack and listen to them more after they sober up and apologize. Mel should have realized that he is a high profile actor and producer and when he loses it, people listen. It is not fair, but it is the American way. It is also American to allow certain celebrities and politicians to escape with their mistakes and to put the spotlight on others who are not so popular. In our case, as the common man trying to survive from day to day with very few people noticing us, we would have to really blow it for our friends and family to label us forever. Unfortunately, we are capable of that mistake. Remember that the next time you have too much to drink or make a really bad decision. Your legacy forever may depend on it.... Just ask Floyd Landis. ------------ About the author:   Pat Hurley has won three Emmy awards for writing, hosting and producing television shows. He resides in Southern California. Email: coolhumor@sbcglobal.net Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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