Xoutpost.com - Whatever happened to Joe and Jane Goodfolk?

Whatever happened to Joe and Jane Goodfolk?
Written by the Grump. An article found in the "The Daily Review" which has been truncated for your entertainment and comment.

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I do feel sympathy when I hear stories about people who have overcome some form of addiction to lead productive lives again. I always want the best for people, regardless of what some of you readers think.

But what really bugs The Grump is the ungodly number of stories about important people who have lifted themselves up, in essence, from the gutter of life to the penthouse suite.

We're inundated with stirring accounts of authors, actors, athletes, politicians and rock stars who turned themselves around, when it was their money and egos that created their mess in the first place.

I'm sorry, but I can't feel too sorry about those who throw away success as if it's disposable. They had opportunities the average man and woman in this country don't have, yet who live cleaner lives.

What truly gives The Grump a rash of grumpbumps is that these average, solid, underpaid, unknown Americans get no adulation at all for being reputable citizens

There is no place for them anymore, what with schlock tabloids and celebrity-driven television.

Joe and Jane Goodfolk have been displaced. If they don't hang out with Paris Hilton, then they're nobodies.

Paris Hilton has all the appeal of a Hilton hotel broom closet, but it's the current rage to make celebrities out of those who possess no talent whatsoever. Anna Nicole Smith? The Grump rests his case.

Joe and Jane Goodfolk remain the American Gothic, but the picture is fading because Norman Rockwell, who succeeeded Grant Wood, isn't around to paint them.

And Charles Kuralt no longer is here to interview them. Or Mr. Rogers to raise them. No one pays attention to Joe and Jane, it seems, because Jon Stewart, Jay Leno and David Letterman are making fun of those who spend their lives under the same spotlight as themselves.

The Goodfolks get up every morning while the celebrities are still asleep. The Goodfolks make breakfast, pack lunches for their children and drive the kids to school and themselves to work. Meanwhile, the celebrities have nannies and chauffeurs. Then the Goodfolks get to bed at the same time the celebrities are going out to play.

Pick up your Sunday newspaper or magazine: Celebrities are featured again. Turn on the TV to "Entertainment Tonight": Celebrities are fawned over again. Joe and Jane Goodfolk might as well be doorknobs for all the praise they're not receiving for being unimportant.

However, the unimportant make this world go'round more than the important. The unimportant may be boring to the celebrity crowd, but the unimportant certainly make celebrities rich or richer by supporting their talent or lack thereof.

But there should be a reward for Joe and Jane Goodfolk in our society, some form of recognition for the lawns they mow on weekends, the peanut butter sandwiches they make for their kids during the week and the favors they do for others even though they're worn out from the working grind.

Should Joe and Jane go unnoticed forever? After all, they have no addictions, they may have put themselves through college, and they manage through tight budgeting to pay all of their bills on time. Knowing Joe and Jane, they're not seeking attention, but they deserve it regardless.