It’s so moving to hear the stories of hardship that competing olympians have had to overcome to reach the heights they have achieved. NBC has gone to great lengths to provide us with details of their personal lives in order to add a human interest touch to their coverage of the winter events. I was particularly touched by what the young woman from Bogart, Kentucky, who is competing in the crock-style brake sled event, has had to deal with. When she was conceived her unfortunate parents lived in an apartment without air conditioning. While copulating they were forced to leave the windows open and had to endure the sounds of street traffic below, not to mention heat in excess of 85 degrees and barely tolerable humidity. It’s a wonder her father was even able to do the deed. Then, nine months later, when her mother went into labor, her father started the car to drive to the hospital. He noticed that the gas gauge registered only one third of a tank. What if the hospital had been farther than ten or fifteen miles away? He might have had to stop to refill the tank. She related an incident once, as a child, when she wanted oatmeal for breakfast, but much to her mother’s dismay, the microwave was not functioning. She realized she would have to use the conventional oven. To make the tragedy even worse, there was only standard oatmeal, not instant. She would have to stand for a full ten minutes while it cooked, just to prepare breakfast for her hungry daughter. Lastly, when the poor girl applied for her learner’s permit, they misspelled her name. She was forced to return to the department of motor vehicles and wait a full ninety minutes to have the error corrected. Yet here she is today, in spite of these unbearable setbacks, representing our country so proudly.
Ramblings and assumed insights