if you don't vote, don't complain

Hope everyone had a great Super Bowl XLV Sunday! So glad the Packers won (31-25 in case you didn't catch the end). Not really a GB fan, but my uncle was an ex-Packer (tight end), so I root for them when Team Homeland doesn't play. Speaking of the best team ever formed, my birthday buddy Tom Brady was unanimously voted the MVP of the NFL. As expected. Tom Brady: practically perfect in every way.
Tonight we went to a Super Bowl party, which i really fun and loud. And they have a really nice pool table. We don't have a pool table, but I absolutely love playing, and I do whenever we go over someone's house and they have one. I don't really know the official rules, but I pick some up as I go along. It's fun and rather sophisticated.
After the game, and after I wrote a French essay about the problems of the world, I logged onto my computer to blog. And on the AT&T Yahoo homepage were articles about the game and its multiple "issues". Everything was a critique of not necessarily the game but the entertainment surrounding it. First there was the national anthem incident, which got many people (the whole country) inflamed. Articles were already written and published about the lines that were missed when it was sung.
Then there was the halftime show. I thought it was really cool. But maybe that's because I'm a teeny-boppin' hipster kid and some of these old timers were like "who are the Black Eyed Peas?" I thought it was very cool. But one critic says it was the worst show ever and that the effects were boring. It was, for the critic, a "been there, heard that" show. Thousands of comments followed, saying "I agree" and "worst show ever".
I didn't see any articles about how hard the performers must have worked to get that show to look the way it was. About the rehearsals, the costumes, the lights, and the crew members that had to move parts of the stage around during the performance. And how various people dropped out of the sky and sang with them.
You know, when all you do is critique things, you suck the fun out of them. When all we do is expect things that are outrageous, we will be disappointed. I'm not saying you should lower your expectations or not expect good things, but if you only think about the bad, you won't get anywhere. Sure, she messed up the words and left out the part about the ramparts. Don't you think she felt pretty bad? Or really embarrassed and nervous? How many of us would be willing to get up in front of a stadium of thousands of people, and national TV, and sing a song that is so near and dear to us? Some of us don't even sing in the shower. And none of us could do a halftime show. Singing, dancing, remembering choreography, all the dancers moving in complete unison, and the fantastic crew members. For a 15 minute show. That is dedication. Imagine if you worked really hard on something and someone wrote an article about how terrible it was. And then thousands of people disagreed. I'd feel terrible in either position - the critic or the performer.
I commend them on their performances. The halftime show was great and they worked really hard. And at least Christina didn't stop and run away after she messed up. She continued and confronted her mistake.
My aunt has a shirt that says "If you don't vote, don't complain". This is sort of true here too. If you didn't put in an effort to make something happen, don't complain about the result.
My French essay was about how the biggest world problem is ignorance and lack of tolerance. If we were more understanding, the world would be a better place.