I, like over 6 million others, watched on Sunday, December 20, 2015, in utter shock and disbelief, as the now infamous mistake unfolded. As I watched with baited breath the heart-sinking moments for not only Miss Colombia, but for the host, Steve Harvey, I immediately began to envision what everyone be would be talking about the next day. There was a mind-boggling abundance of both comical and hateful tweets, posts, and memes on social media, as well as media commentary and scrutiny of the gaffe. For all the Media personnel who judged and criticized, I wonder… what would they have done? It was a monstrous platform and a monstrous faux pas. It’s easy to sit back and laugh and post funny pictures about someone, who in their humanity, made a seemingly idiotic mistake. But given the situation, a live show with millions of viewers, I thought he handled it better than most would have. There really was no “right” way to rebound from that. I can’t imagine how his heart must’ve been pounding; how heavy he felt going back out there, with no direction from the Production/Stage Manager (so I’ve read) to make THAT announcement.
I can’t imagine the sleepless nights, feeling defeated and being down on himself, carrying concern for the safety of his family with looming death threats from those clearly taking things way too far, (It’s a pageant people, no one died), and the heart-felt weight of being responsible for the hurt, heartbreak, embarassment and humiliation of two young women, one moreso than the other. We should ask of ourselves, “what would you do”, “how would you feel”, before we judge someone else’s behavior, mistakes and shortcomings, and take a que from Steve Harvey on accountability, conviction, humility, empathy and grace under fire. We would all want a little bit of kindness and compassion extended to us.
Now what everyone should have been focusing on was who made the horrendous decision to leave those two girls standing there side by side while they de-crown one and re-crown the other live on national television!!! Yikes!
