thank a hero: who is a celebrity?

I slid into the computer chair. Finally I had some time to check my email. Ok, so I know I won’t die if I don’t check my email every day, but…

I signed in and cleared out the one or two junk mails that I get once in a while. No, I don’t want a job with eBay! And then I looked at a Facebook update. Does anybody really care that Jane Jones likes chicken sandwiches? Whatever. Into the archives those two went. Two down, one to go. Ahh, this could be interesting. I always enjoy getting updates on my favorite bands, and this one happened to be a Celtic Thunder update. I read through it. They had to be kidding me! So, I read through it again. I shook my head.

This Valentine’s Day, you can win a phone call from your favorite Celtic Thunder sweetheart! After filling out our simple entry form, you will have a chance get your name drawn to receive a call from Damian, Ryan, George, Paul or Keith on February 14th. Winners will be notified in advance on Friday, February 12 and we’ll arrange a convenient time to call you on Valentine’s Day! Good luck!

I choked laughing. It was about as ludicrous as the Bye Bye Birdie! plot! I mean, One Lucky Girl Gets a Kiss (in this case a phone call) from her Favorite Heartthrob!

Is that all we as Americans, can think about? Do celebs really mean that much to Americans that we would die if we got a phone call from them? Would we really care if we won a call from a serviceman or woman? Perhaps we need to really rethink our celebrities and those we fawn all over just for their signature and a picture with them. Can we, in good conscience, raise our celebrities on a higher pedestal than those who have sacrificed their lives for our country?

I once read a quote that said a singing army is a happy army. Now, having favorite bands or singers is not a bad thing. But I am saying that perhaps we need to readjust our priorities, and perhaps we need to raise our opinions of our servicemen and women. We need to raise it up enough it that would make our day if we won a call from a hero.

So thank a hero today. Because they’re celebrities too.

— Killeen Partridge