Dear Editor,

“It must suck to be you.”

Even in jest, having these words or any variation of them directed at you could be momentarily disheartening, if not downright puzzling — “I am what I am, and that’s all that I am!’,” a certain animated sailor once exclaimed (of course, God’s “I AM THAT I AM” response to Moses came first, but that’s for serious scholarship, not my screed).

How can it suck to be me when there isn’t another person exactly like me on the Earth? I’m unique — as are you, dear reader — and my being here is no accident, no matter what the sentiment behind “It must suck to be you” infers — put that in your Funk and Wagnalls!

Of course, when the above sentiment is applied to celebrities, there is much more at stake than mere name calling. When the public looks at a celebrity disparagingly, the vicarious thrills which this celebrity once provided fade into memory and the reality which follows brings to mind the words of John Lennon: The dream is over What can I say? The dream is over Yesterday … And so dear friends You just have to carry on The dream is over.

This brings me, ultimately, to Tiger Woods. Simply stated, I want to thank Tiger Woods for being Eldrick Woods for the past two and a half years. Just as Captain Kirk and William Shatner are two different people, Eldrick and his alter ego are separate entities as well. Eldrick’s personal struggles and Tiger’s demise bring the advice that John Lennon once gave to distraught Beatles fans to “… just carry on” with their lives and to bid the dream adieu.

In short, it sucks to prop up a facade; it does not suck to embrace the wonderfulness of you.

Ben Shell

Rockingham