Despair at the gym

Why do we obsess about this woman?

I was working out The Ridge, a Bozeman athletic club, on Friday morning.
In front of the treadmills, stationary bikes, and elliptical trainers are a number of very large flat screen televisions. Two of them are always tuned to Sports Center. One is usually tuned to a local station. Another one broadcasts re-runs of popular cable shows. One television is dedicated to the entertainment channel E!
That television is usually right in front of my favorite elliptical trainer, the third one from the left in the back row.

At the time I was doing my workout, between 8:45 a.m.-10:15 a.m. E! was broadcasting a report about the recent arrest of Paris Hilton in Las Vegas. She was charged with drug possession, a minor charge if she didn’t have a prior criminal record. Unfortunately she does have a record, so it’s big entertainment news.

The report continued with countless portrayals of Ms. Hilton at parties, gatherings, celebrity functions, and the like.

Ms. Hilton appears to enjoy the spot light, no matter how harshly it shines upon her.

My question to the E! Channel and to my fellow television viewers is “Why do we obsess about this woman?” There is hunger in the world. Countless men, women, and children are dying for lack of food, clean water, and sustainable shelter. Who gives a rip what Paris Hilton is up to these days?

Throughout much of my workout I was in great despair.

Then I came to work at Christ the King.

In the social hall, against the north wall by the kitchen entrance, there is a table set up for Gallatin Valley Food Bank. During August and September Christ the King collects boxes and bags of cereal for the food bank. Our goal is three hundred boxes collected by the end of September.

Fifty boxes sat on the table, waiting to be brought to the food bank. Fifty boxes had been collected and distributed.

We are a third of the way to our goal!

I am glad to know there are people in the world who worry more about their hungry neighbors near and far, than the troubles of a misguided celebrity.