You might think it odd that for a supposedly Japan focused blog such as this one, that I haven’t brought up the Olympics.
There’s a simple reason for that. I couldn’t care less.
I will acknowledge that those who are participating in the Olympics are generally the cream of the crop, athletically. I also have little to no respect for athletic prowess. That’s not borne of jealousy, it’s borne of apathy. Athletics is making the human body do things. Congratulations, I guess, that you can run or jump or whatever a bit faster than a normal person. I guess that makes you a hero.
Add in their predilection for shoving social issues down our throat as a side dish, and I’m done with it.
But honestly, I wouldn’t have bothered even with this much if it weren’t for Simone Biles.
Simone Biles is some kind of athlete. I think she’s a gymnast but I don’t give a shit. She recently made the news by ducking out of the Olympics for mental health reasons.
Now this is a topic I have something to say about.
Conservative media is bashing her because she “represents the country” and has “Let us down”. I don’t really agree with that criticism. I think if I have one big criticism about conservatives, it’s that they tend to have a distinct lack of empathy when it comes to mental health issues. Their attitude tends to be “suck it up, buttercup”. If she needs to bow out for mental health reasons, who am I to criticize her for that? Who are any of us?
The only thing they say that I kind of agree with is that she should have bowed out earlier to give someone else a chance. You don’t always get a warning with mental health issues, but often you do. That would have been the responsible thing.
But not really my place to second guess.
As a country and a world, we need to pay more attention to mental health. And you don’t do it by shaming a girl because she couldn’t follow through with something that doesn’t really mean anything, anyway. Let her be.
And then let the Olympics, an overpriced, overhyped drain on world resources for little gain other than the pocketbooks of the IOC committee members, go away. It’s an anachronistic contest that is well past its usefulness,especially in the midst of a pandemic.
And hopefully that is the last post I ever write about this colossal waste of time.