Fame and fortune

Without a doubt, Walter Palmer, during the month of July, has become the most famous "dentist in Minnesota..."

How many of us remember when we were growing up being asked what we wanted out of life. Many responded by saying, "I want to be rich and famous!" And truthfully, very few of us achieve either. Oh, many end up in the "higher than normal" category for income, but rich? Not hardly. And famous is a whole different ball game. To become famous might be a bit different than what we thought as kids.

If I asked right now who one of the most famous people in America is, what do you think the answer would we? Of if I asked more specifically, who one of the most famous people in Minnesota, then what do you think the answer would be? Hint: he is a dentist. Yes, Walter Palmer is the most famous man in Minnesota right now. Probably one of the more famous people in America. And he would love to trade all that fame a heartbeat.

Here is the irony about fame. Many times to become famous, you need to become a pariah. A "bad guy". Look at James Holmes, the theater shooter from Aurora, Colorado. Before 2012, he was a nobody. No fame what-so-ever. However, because he went into a movie theater, and shot up a bunch of innocent people, he became instantly famous. Instead of being a mass murderer, should he have been a person who help build 100 homes for Habitat for Humanity, doing something very good for society, nobody outside of a few in Aurora would have ever heard of him.

Back to our Edina dentist, Dr. Palmer. Let us suppose for a minute that Dr. Palmer instead of trophy hunting decided to donate a month every summer and go to Africa. While in Africa, he would do pro bono dental work on impoverished African children. Just like many of the doctors who volunteer with Operation Smile, or Doctors without Borders. They do more good than one could ever imagine. And who hears of them? Very few. But Dr. Palmer, who shot a lion nobody that few here ever heard of, in a country many can't find on a map, is now famous beyond belief.

Many people who have become famous due to Hollywood, politics, sports, or whatever, say the same thing. They miss the days they were a nobody. It was nice just to go out in public and blend in with the crowd. Not having to wear sunglasses and hats to conceal your identity. No, being famous is not what it is cracked up to be. 

I have a feeling that Dr. Palmer would trade places with just about anyone of us right now. And unlike the Aurora movie shooter, what Dr. Palmer did was not really "wrong". But it was wrong enough within the PC crowd to generate hate against this dentist. Even some death threats. Fame, Dr. Palmer might say - you can have it.