It won't be long before I walk by you on the beach with my shorts, metal detector, white sneakers, and black socks. The aging process is taking a toll on my fashion sense, but more than that, it is affecting my thinking.

I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing.

The mental aging I'm referring to is the non- politically correct thought process that makes me about as cool as a bowl haircut because I've grown tired of applauding the survivors of bad choices - at least the ones we insist on putting in places of honor.

I realized this a while ago after I watched Walk the Line, a 2005 movie about the life and times of Johnny Cash. The critics loved it, which should have been my first clue not to watch it, but I did anyway.

It started well enough showing that Cash grew up in the Great Depression. As a youngster, his brother was killed in a table saw accident, which his father blamed on little Johnny. Cash later joined the Air Force. At this point in the movie I was thinking, This is all very admirable - a country boy overcame horrible economic conditions, the death of his brother, and a less than sensitive father. He went on to serve his country, got married, and had a child.

 

 

 

 

 

But then Cash made it big with a record deal. As his fame grew he became a raving drug addict and longed for a woman other than his wife. Eventually, his marriage crumbled and the rest of the movie glorifies the rehab of this poor Man in Black.

There was a time in my life when I would have loved this story along with the critics, but these days I see the world in a different way.

I wasted two hours of my life watching Joaquin Phoenix portray Cash making bad choice after bad choice. I know I'm supposed to applaud Cash for pulling himself up out of the metaphorical ditch, and I am glad he did, but the old stooge in me suddenly got tired of the forced admiration for people who simply make bad choices.

There's plenty of room on those pedestals for people who do not create their own adversity - even Mr. Cash. The man overcame great odds to become a country legend and battled type 2 Diabetes. That is admirable. There are many other people worth admiring including cancer survivors and the kids who escape gang- ridden streets to get an education. Just about everyone that's ever put on one of the uniforms of the U.S. military should be put on a pedestal for all to admire, but I guess that's not what sells tickets.

Admiration is subjective, and I've been exposed to about as much admiration for bad choices as I can take. I am sure Cash's story as portrayed in the movie was something admired by many, and I understand that to a point, but I personally have a hard time with it. Just last year actor Heath Ledger was raised to hero status after he lost his life because of a drug overdose and Michael Jackson may be more popular now than he was in 1988. These guys are the poster children for self- induced adversity, yet we stick them way up on pedestals for all to behold.

There are a lot of heroes and regular everyday folks who go through life making the right choices. They fight through real adversity, and they live life the best they can, but I doubt they'll ever show up on a 24- hour news cycle. Call me an old stooge, but I'd rather see them recognized for their efforts than these poor millionaires with talent and a drug problems.