Offtopic....China and the Olympics

Ok...lets say you live on a street....lets call it league of nations road....you have a cross section of different nationalities. Across the street are the Ricechex, er...Rizchecks, whatever (thankyou Molly Ringwold); next door are the Smiths and the Gonzales family(I was going to make a joke about the kids sneaking over the border but thought better of it - lets keep this on track). Down the street is the Hung family (wait for it...its coming later....thats what she said....stop). The Hungs are a friendly family but you just cant put your finger on it. You shop in their import store for their cheap prices but not sure that the quality of goods are that good (but what the hey, its cheap and the quality is almost good). Plus, they buy a lot of stuff at your family business. Therefore, when they invite your kids over to their birthday party along with the rest of the street its an invitation you feel obligated to accept. Why not, your kids have gone to every other birthday party of the kids on the street. The problem is that you dont like the way they treat their kids and have on good authority they arent very good parents. However, you still shop at their store and never say anything when they shop at your store. SO.....when you find out the local paper is going to take photographs and put them in the paper of the birthday party. Well, you dont like the fact that the party will be publicized. What do you do? You told them months ago that you were going to attend and looking forward to it. Some of the other parents are looking at you and hoping that you will not attend. However, you still plan on doing business with them and hope that they will keep your store in business.

My point is that this whole boycott thing is silly at this juncture. All of a sudden a bunch of people are reacting to the Olympics being in China like it just happened. Folks, the Chinese were awarded these games years ago - why the outrage just a few months before the opening ceremonies. I was almost in college the last Olympics we boycotted and have known a number of people around my age that missed out on the Olympic experience due to that boycott. Everytime I think of the number of kids my age who never got to get their face on a Wheaties box , appear at Disneyland or do a cameo on the Love Boat or a saturday morning cartoon I get upset. Sorry Jimmy but it was the wrong decision then and it would be the wrong decision now - the Olympics are about athletics and advertising not politics.