Olympic swimmer loses shorts

Probably, at some point in their life.  They lost their shorts.  Maybe in the laundry, maybe at the gym. Who knows?

I have no verifiable proof that an olympic swimmer lost their shorts.  I just wanted a semi-provocative headline.

My jury is still out on the olympics.  With all good things, there is a cost.  But often times you must figure out if it's worth it or not.  I know there is a lot of negative views on the Olympics being in rio.

But is the quest to prove that you are the best in the world worth it?  What's the point of being the best there ever was?  What is the cost of being the best in the world?  What is the cost of attempting to be the best and coming in 4th place?  I guess most of these athletes are young..and have the rest of their lives.

But at the end of the day...I guess there are positives.  The stories that come out are pretty cool.  The team of refugees, no flag, no country...just talent.  A record number of women athletes in the games.  And a record number of openly LGBT athletes as well.  Note...Open.  They've always been there, just not allowed or welcomed to share their story.  And then that guy in lane 8, Wayde van Neikirk.  Destroyed Michael Johnsons 400m record.  And the Simones.  So, there are a lot of cool storylines.

I'm not saying I'm anti-olympics.  With all good things..there is a cost. The overwhelming majority of these athletes make less than $12,000 a year.  Some far less.  Who is supporting them?  How are they getting by?  All these stories...would be awesome to hear.  Let's talk about that part of training too.

And lets talk about what goes on behind the scenes.  Vila Autodromo was a healthy place to live in Rio.  No where near the violence in that community.  In less than two years....it's population has "shrunk" from 550 families....to 47 and counting.   This among many other situations in rio that makes you wonder...why in the world did they pick Rio?   I know it's not the olympics job to solve hundreds of years of social problems.  I'm just thinking outloud.

I'm just asking.  It's always been hard for me to enjoy "stuff" and comfortable living since seeing poverty.

Is it possible to be comfortable knowing people all around the world are living in poverty that is inescapable.  Even if you do well for yourself in those situations, others can't.  It's got to be exhausting.

So what do you do?  If we see our thirsty neighbors and do not offer them one of our 6 bottles of water, what good is that for humanity?

These are not the blogs I like writing.  Or the topics I even like thinking about.  But I can't ignore it.