Beauty Pageants

As a child, my sisters and I used to live for the Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. We watched them live, recorded them for later viewing, and even made our own beauty pageants by using the family video camera (this was the '80s so the camera was huge and attached to an actual VCR that we dragged around).

I have since lost the pageant love. I haven't seen one in years, but I've been interested in the latest pageant news. First, it turns out that Donald Trump owns Miss USA. Who knew? (Kind of creepy, actually.) Second, apparently good little girls aren't winning. (I have noted that Vanessa Williams, who was dethroned in the 1980s--I'm too lazy to look up the exact year--is the only Miss America who really succeeded in show business. Intereseting, isn't it?)

Miss USA, Tara Conner, was allowed to retain her title after she had a little too much inapproriate fun at a NY nightclub. Now, Miss Nevada has had her crown revoked for risque photographs posted online. (And no, the link isn't to the photos, it's to the Washington Post. I'm not that kind of blogger.)

Time for our little HR application. First, I hope Mr. Trump has specific rules about how such pictures are not permissable. Second, I would have liked to see Miss Conner kicked out as well. Kind of makes you wonder how someone as ruthless as the Donald (or as he portrays himself to be) would let someone like that stay "on staff."

But, since most of us aren't in the position to choose the fate of beauty queens, a better application would be this. Nothing is quite as permanent as an embarrassing situation. As I like to tell my Sunday School Class, God may forgive you and forget your sins, but your neighbors never will. Your spring break your sophomore year in college could have been 10 years ago, but it may cause you problems in your current job.

So, you must always be good. You never know who is watching--and who is taking pictures. Don't yell at the cashier at the grocery store--the person in line behind you may be someone you are supposed to interview with (or interview) tomorrow. Most companies don't appreciate obscene pictures of their employees surfacing anywhere.

So, be good.