North Star Writers Group

I don’t understand all the hoopla about the TV series “American Idol”. According to the folks who keep track of program ratings, it’s the country’s most popular TV show.

Personally, my American idols don’t include men who can’t carry a tune in a proverbial basket or women whose chest measurements are greater than their IQs. They call “American Idol” a “reality” TV series, but I don’t see it that way at all.

If I want reality, I’ll spend a little time with a firefighter, paramedic or EMT who hits the road at all hours of the day and night to come to the aid of ill and injured people they’ve never even met.

You want American idols? I’ll give you American idols.

Like the cop on the beat . . . and members of the military who risk their lives daily in faraway places all over the world. . . and school teachers whose hard work and dedication have earned them the respect of children of all ages.

There are all kinds of genuine idols in America, and the last time I looked darn few of them attained that status by singing off-key or hitting a baseball 400-plus feet.

Go ahead and idolize wild-haired rock singers if you want to. As for me, I’d rather look up to nurses, foster parents and men and women who spend their retirement years volunteering at inner-city shelters for the homeless.

While we’re at it, let’s salute all those school crossing guards and mail carriers who brave all sorts of weather in the performance of their jobs.

There are all sorts of genuine idols in America. They include:

Radio, TV and sports celebrities who volunteer their time to raise funds for charitable organizations.
Missionaries
People who take in abused dogs, cats and other animals, then find safe and loving homes for them.
Service station owners who pump the gas themselves.
Department store Santas
Adults who spend their spare time coaching youth sports teams.
Salvation Army bell-ringers

So next time you go looking for an American idol, try your next door neighbor, or somebody you work with.

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