Of Kevin and Jay and Conan

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands... " 1 Thessalonians 4:11


For a few years, our local morning news station (CBS) had the Why Guy. What's a Why Guy, you ask? 

He was a hilarious young man who drove each dark morning to interesting places here in Western New York. He'd visit shops, diners, farms, factories or even peoples' basements if they had wild memorabilia collections. 

The Why Guy segments were popular. Everyone loved Kevin and we all enjoyed learning more about our area's history, our neighbors and places we'd not yet visited.

Life was good back then.

But then, something happened. Kevin, the Why Guy quit his job at the CBS station and moved over a few blocks away to their heaviest competition--the NBC station, where he pretty much does the same thing, except that he's not called the Why Guy. He's just called Kevin.

Boy, was I steamed at first. I called Kevin a traitor. I vowed to boycott the NBC local news and when I'd catch Tom secretly watching it, I'd ask, "How can you watch that, knowing how they stole Kevin away--and how he accepted their offer and just left his friends at the CBS news for probably money, money, money?"

Yes, I did that. Good grief. I know.

But alas, I eventually took peaks, myself, at the NBC morning news. Wow, those local folks were good. They made news fun--imagine! They showed us how to save money and did product tests with regular people in their homes, visited elementary schools for weather shows and the camaraderie between the newscasters was delightful. Not to mention that they had good ol' Kevin and his fun, around-town segments, too.

Three years later, I'm still watching them at 5:00 a.m.

What lessons I learned. I mean, hey. Kevin had a perfect right to switch jobs! He has a right to make more money, to go where he wants--and none of that is any of my business. Just because I enjoy seeing Kevin on tv does not mean I own him. He has his life, his choices, and I have mine. 

And I have no right to wish away any of Kevin's freedom. None.

Yes, the CBS local morning news suffered. They held auditions for another Why Guy, but they stopped searching--they could never find another Kevin. They fired one of their longtime news anchors which caused quite a stir (it upset me, too, because I'd sent her a couple emails--she'd read one on the air. She was a sweetheart. People wrote newspaper articles calling the whole team, boring compared to the NBC one).

Why am I writing about this? Well, this latest thing with Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien got me all riled up, especially after Oprah's (rather mean) interview with Jay yesterday.

Tom and I much more prefer Jay Leno (or perhaps it's the Old Jay of the Old Days we prefer). We don't understand the huge majority of people who appear to be on Conan's 'side.' For everything they say against Leno, we are thinking, instead, those things about Conan.

But here's the thing: It's all none of my business.

God has given me hundreds of beautiful things to contemplate and well, I've absolutely no leftover time to get all steamed up about the Leno vs. O'Brien fiasco.

Life is way too short. 

Other people have a right to make their own decisions. I have a right to make mine. And it's not up to me to yank them together, creating a mess inside my own head all because I could not, yes I'll say it again--mind my own business. 

There's no Grace in minding other peoples' personal affairs. Trust me, I know. And I only want to go where Grace is.



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People who keep their noses in other peoples' business deserve the discomfort they often get by doing so.

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This is my business, though: "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." ... 1 Timothy 2:1-4


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