What is Mature?

Welcome home Funkyman readers! I'm back for real. I hope to post weekly like the good old days in May.

What's on my mind today is the growing display of immaturity in our culture. Note I say "display." I do not suggest that people are more or less immature today than in eras past. However, we live in an age where the display of that immaturity has reached new levels. TV, internet, cell phones, etc. have made it almost impossible for you to make a bad decision and walk away without lots of people knowing about it.

We all make bad decisions. We all have bouts of immaturity. However, we all don't get to suffer the indignities of having them played out before crowds of millions of voyeurs looking for an excuse or justifications for their own mistakes. Here are the recent examples of how this has affected our culture.

10. Don Imus - O.K. I'm finally going to address this! I actually blame him less than I do his bone-headed producer for starting the comment off with "Those are some hardcore hoes." The "Nappy-headed" hoes comment from Imus was bad too, but never would have been said without the lead-in. On the other hand, kudos to Imus for having the guts to apologize and go to the team in person to do so. He wins points in my book for that. By the way, he wasn't fired. He lost his job, and HE did it. O.K. now you can discuss amongst yourselves.

9. Rosie O'Donnell - All you have to do is watch the videos of her on The View and see why people do not take her seriously. Her messages are sometimes relevant, but her delivery is horrible. And why be on a show with a bunch of women bickering back and forth - as if this is relevant discussion? Maybe I'm not the target audience for that show, but I question their impact. Debate is great. Bickering is immature.

8. Bobby Brown - New Edition. #1 Hits as a solo artist. Mr. Whitney Houston. But have you seen "Being Bobby Brown?" As my friend Shaunielle would put it - He is a hot mess. This is beyond immaturity. This is criminal. Pray for him, please.

7. David Hasselhoff - Yeah, you might have seen the drunken stupor video on YouTube. But being drunk and having someone videotape it is not immature. He's on the list because of this video. God help you all if you click on it.

6. Cynthia McKinney - The congresswoman who thought it would be a good idea to hit a security guard for doing his job and then hold a press conference about racism in congress. How about the issue of you not wearing your identification, walking into the Capitol building in a post 9/11 world? I'm black, and I was ashamed. Racism in America? Really? Wow - who knew?

5. Michael Vick - "I have a lot of growing up to do." Satan? No. But what a sad case of denying something and then admitting it's true after you lied to everyone. That's two immature things - both played out on talk radio, TV, internet galore. Not a good day for pro-football, black men, or any role model.

4. Michael Richards - I addressed this at length here. It deserves mention on this list, though.

3. Lindsay Lohan & Paris Hilton - Drinking too much is not good. Driving while drinking is worse. Going to jail for it is even worse. Doing it again after jail - what do you call that? A cry for help. Someone please get these women out of the tabloids and into some loving care. Obviously, there is a sickness here.

2. Britney Spears - "It's Britney, bitch!" - If you don't know, that's the beginning of her new song. What else can I say? From teen sensation to totally lost.

1. Bill Clinton - You knew this was coming. I mean of all the mistakes in history. "I DID NOT . . . HAVE . . . SEXUAL . . . RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN! Oh wait, well if you mean those times, then yeah. Define 'sex'. Define 'is.'" Hey Bill, define "stupid." Define "self-centered." Define "busted." Though I'd take him any day over W.

Maturity is simply TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS. It does not mean you and I are perfect. But if you crap without flushing the toilet - own up to it. Otherwise, you make two mistakes and even more if you persist in resisting the mature consequence. Denial is a dangerous, but obviously necessary human illness. What is the antidote? We have it . . .

Forgiveness.

- Funkyman