The Black Sheep of the Family

I remember a song from my childhood by country music artist, John Anderson. The title is, Black Sheep. In it, Anderson sings about being the black sheep of his family. I remember thinking the song was fun, because of Anderson's deep voice. I also remember not knowing what in the heck he was talking about by being the "black sheep." Remember, I was a kid.

As I have grown older, I came to understand what being the black sheep of one's family, or social grouping, means. I understand that sometimes we, or sometimes we become, make others the butt of our jokes or derision as we take out our own fears and limitations upon others who might be a little different than us or everyone else. It's too bad. Too bad especially for the one going through that.

I listened to a Sklarbro Country podcast episode yesterday. Normally, they have a comedian on in which they talk about sports, comedy, pop culture, etc. Yesterday, they had Richard Simmons on. Yes, that's right, Richard Simmons. They met him on a plane ride; and he agreed to come on their show. This particular episode was a complete departure from anything they had done in their over one hundred episodes to date.

The guy is crazy, in a good way. He is, as they described him, "the mayor of wherever he is at." I had kind of always thought the guy was a bit strange, myself. But after having spent over an hour with him yesterday, I have a whole new appreciation for him.

One of the more interesting things I learned about Simmons is that he never does anything socially. He says that he never goes to parties, get-togethers, etc. He has not been to someone else's house in over seven years; and he rarely has people over to his house, except for meetings. Besides doing work at his workout studio, he spends most of his time at home, with his housekeepers and his dog.

The main reason for this, he said, is because he still remembers being made fun of and being the black sheep as a kid, in school. School, particularly elementary school, was not kind to Simmons, as I can only imagine. Simmons is unique, in many different ways. The scars he bore from his childhood are still with him to this day; and they keep him from doing much of anything in social situations.

That's horrible. The bullying and abuse Richard Simmons received as a kid keeps this incredibly famous  person from ever going out because he's afraid it might still happen to him.

We need to remember things like that when we are tempted to make fun of someone. We need to remember things like that when we, ourselves, are the butt of other people's jokes. And we need to remember things like that when we have the chance or the opportunity to stand up for someone, especially the opportunity to do something about the awful epidemic of bullying in schools.