Followers. The tale of the tiger and the frog

Followers. The tale of the tiger and the frog

It’s common to say that Europe follows the US. I would say it’s almost true…It’s almost true for a lot of things except for some of the very important aspects of life for which Europeans are usually followed. These are food, wine, perfumes, vacations days, learning foreign languages, driving fancy cars, fashion, traveling abroad, cheeses, and so on… the list could be as long as a full page.

But still Americans lead the way in many areas and especially when it comes to interpersonal behaviour such as being at ease in public, not being shy, greeting people, talking (usually much louder than Europeans), talking in public like if they were movie stars, being over enthusiastic ( wao !, Great, Oh my God, awesome !!! ), networking, making you feel that you are friends since first grade, having hundreds friends on facebook and so on. The list could also be very long as well. And in many of these interpersonal attitudes Europeans still have to learn a lot.

Recent news have shown that there is an area where Americans have shot first (sorry for the obvious and figurative term), and that is the area of sports icons and prostitutes. Sorry, the topic is a bit dodgy and goes beyond the codes of American Puritanism normal tolerance, but the truth is that it is very true indeed.

We recently discovered how Tiger Woods mastered the art of cheating his wife with dozens of botoxed blonds in exchange of a tiny fraction of his pocket money. Nonetheless, one of Tiger’s great art was not only a remarquable and intense use of his putter but how he explained and justified that this had nothing to do with lust. At the contrary he was under the evil forces of an addiction which was a serious disease to be cured rather than an extreme appetite for big boobs. The excuse was a bit easy but pleased the innocents. Was his honor safe….? Not sure , but at least his fans were happy to see him back, and crowds applauded him when he finished the Master in 4^th position despite 6 months of sex addiction cure.

And by the way, why do I tell this story? In France we don’t know much about Golf and golfers, and Americans don’t know much about soccer and soccer players either.

So here is the story…The tale of the frog who wanted to follow the Tiger.

Two weeks ago we learnt that three of the top French soccer players were caught in a prostitution case. The least attractive of the three frogs (Frank Ribery – Google his picture and you’ll understand) believed he could be as smart as the good looking and popular Tiger. He followed the Tiger almost every step of the way.

Since Tiger choose blond sex partners (to match with his Nordic wife’s style), the froggy chose an Algerian partner (to match with his wife who’s Muslim ; He converted to Islam when he married her). To protect his aura the Tiger found the excuse of a strange sex addiction illness, and the frog found the excuse that it was a birthday present. The Tiger was caught by the nets of the press and moral disgrace while the French sports minister questioned if the frog should wear the blue jersey in South Africa next month. Tiger’s affairs almost ruined his participation to the most important tournament and the frog is also in such a mental tension that he can hardly prepare for the world cup. The frog who was our last hope to help the French soccer team at the world cup is under such pressure that during his last important game he lost his temper and was sent off the field with a red card.

The simple moral of this tale is that one day a frog wanted to follow a tiger and believed certain interpersonal behaviour could be replicated. Unfortunately the frog was not smarter or more agile than the tiger. The tiger thought that he could land on his feet after a big jump, so as the frog who believed it was a natural path to follow….but they both miserably and pathetically fell in front of their most admiring crowds and fans. So before following, watch out and learn the lessons first.