What Tiger’s Done (No, Not That.)

Tiger Woods is a rotten role model. And not because he’s an adulterous bastard. (He is. But if you’ve been getting relationship guidance from celebrities’ lives, I can’t help you. ) I mean because he had created a professional persona around his lifelong dedication – but now he seems to be saying he has a sex addiction.

There is not much that will annoy me faster than people who medicalize their ethical failings, or otherwise push their own performance off on something ostensibly outside their control.

And worse, it’s not just a few individuals who do this – it’s become a societal phenomenon.

Kids who do poorly in school get to take their tests with twice the time in a private room. Then, after school, they go play a sport where they all get a trophy even if they lose every game.

My goodness, of course they grow up to think poor performance isn’t their fault and to expect always to be able to find blame. How would they know any different?

Now yes, of course, there are real medical conditions. But this isn’t what I’m talking about. What I’m talking about is that sometimes you lose and sometimes you fail. These are not doomsday scenarios to protect against at all costs. It’s learning. It’s life.

Competition and discipline are not the bad things that our society is making them. Excusing your performance is not a default response.

Moreover, it’s a terrible shame that kids aren’t getting the full pride of a job well done. If they’re always praised no matter what, it loses its meaning. Kids are not stupid. They know when they’re being given a line.

So yes, it really bothers me that this rush to hide and excuse failure is not only the way of the world, but that it’s now being fed by Tiger Woods, who should know more than most people what dedication and hard work actually are.