Wednesday open thread: Take care of yourself
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Oh, the vitriol came out right quick. The likes of Charlie Kirk, who isn't fit to touch Simone Biles' little toe, savaged her for not being "brave" and for letting down the country.
What athletes like Biles and Naomi Osaka are realizing and acting on is that they're not our performing monkeys. They are human beings, exceptional ones, and their main job is not to entertain the mass mediocrity of people who will hold them to impossible standards. As long as they perform to expectations, they're lauded; once they step out of the lines, the opprobrium descends. And they've had enough of it.
I love watching athletes because I know that even at my prime I couldn't have done what they do. I had neither the talent nor the dedication. As such, I appreciate what they have to give me. And if they say that they just can't, then that's cool, too, because they've done things that I could only dream of doing.
The mouthbreathers who disparage athletes for showing any weakness are small people who expect to be entertained by paid serfs. "Shut up and dribble," as if their athletic prowess is all they have to contribute to society. These are insignificant churls who resent their mediocrity, and seize on any chance to impose their own failings on those who far surpass them.
The likes of Osaka and Biles are teaching us a lesson: Everyone should do what they need to do to care for themselves, both physically and mentally. Even at the risk of disappointing others; unless you're whole, you can't do the things you love, and you'll be of no use to yourself or anyone else. This lesson is even more important as we are in the second year of a pandemic, with all of us stressed and worried.
So, on this hump day, do something for yourselves, however small it is. You will thank yourself for it, as will those who love you.
This is your open thread.