Boycott Brittany

I don't normally get involved in these kinds of things. I do have my personal boycott list of places I don't go because of poor service or something, but the general boycotts really aren't my thing.

For some reason, though, this one gets my goat. Everything Hollywood or pop culture gets my goat actually, but this one just drives me nuts. Remember Charles Barkley, the NBA star? A few years ago he made the statement that he isn't a role model. There was some outrage over this, and I admit I thought he was wrong. He is a personality and a talent that many people admired and tried to emulate. I think his message was actually that kids should have REAL role models and not sports stars.

My daughters have thankfully moved on from the Spears phenomena. We have all heard of her recent exploits, even though I try like the dickens to avoid as much as hearing about anything labeled as "entertainment news". But this one I couldn't avoid. Spears is set to "make a comeback" and she has two singles that have been leaked on the internet. One used the F word and the other the B word.

Now, I know she shouldn't be a role model, but kids love her music and love the fact that she is famous. I don't think that this is appropriate for our children, nor for society in general. A drunk drug abuser media whore who could do so many positive things with her life and influence an entire generation of children yet chooses not to do so? I guess Madonna is her hero, and it shows.

I guess we all have a "if I were in his shoes" opinion about virtually anyone, but if I were in her shoes I think I would take the high road and be a positive, assertive role model for kids. I would sing my bubblegum songs and find a cause and live for that cause. I am a (newly frocked) cub scout leader, and I do it so that I can spend some quality alone time with my son (I have three daughters, we need to escape the estrogen overload occasionally) and show him all the things my dad showed me. I also get to show those things to nine other little guys who want to learn to camp and hike and fish and use ropes and just be part of a team. Most importantly, though they don't know it, I can help show them how to be men and become self reliant and yet serve others.
What good could I do with gazillions of bucks? What could I accomplish if I could use those 70 hours a week spent working toward a cause?

Boycott Brittany. Tell your family and friends and maybe even make a call or two to music stores and radio stations. Tell them to take that $17.00 that would have been spent on the CD and contribute to a homeless shelter or an abused women's clinic or a service organization for addictions.

Brittany might need the bed someday.