American Idol

I still hold this truth to be self evident, that most "Bubblees" are men. The reason I believe this to be the case is that men (in my opinion) have a harder time dealing with their insecurities. Personally, I don't know of many men who like to talk things out, or generally share how they really feel about anything. Instead we choose to put on a facade that "it's all good"--hence, making stupid stuff up that eventually becomes real to us. Women have their own insecurities, but they're typically more apt to talk about what's going on. I was really thrown for a loop about my Bubble theory when I met American Idol, a woman.

American Idol didn't offer many red flags the few times I'd met with her. She showed up on time for appointments. Her grades were pretty good. I went as far as even recommending her for a job on campus as a tour guide. She did have the tendency to post some ridiculous status updates on facebook that were somewhat dramatic, but she kept that in check on campus. She also had some dad issues (which all people in the Bubble seem to have in common), but again, given that everything else was generally cool I didn't typecast her as a "Bubblee."

On a random day in the spring I decided to take American Idol with me on a visit to an elementary school. Her task during this trip was to talk to some 6th graders about her experiences as a college student and help me with a workshop. I was pretty shocked at what took place during the visit.

During her presentation to the students, American Idol mentioned that she liked to sing as a hobby. She talked about performing with friends in shows and how she'd like to be a singer someday if it were at all possible. A student then challenged her to sing in front of the group. As she hesitated, and I looked on, the other 6th graders started to cheer her on to sing. Eventually, American Idol got the courage to perform.

I was dumbfounded by what happened next. I stood there stunned as she literally squeaked her way through some tune. There's a fine line between nervousness and just being awful. If she had gone on for another few seconds, I would have had to save her from herself. She was that bad. It was pretty clear to everybody in the room (other than American Idol) that she had a better chance of finding Ronald McDonald waiting for her in the girls' bathroom holding a million dollar scratch ticket than making it as a singer.

(To be continued)