Anne
1 HJERSMAN
Shattered trust
ExhwmrMaflm
He’s human. I’ve always known
that.
But Bill Cosby cheated on his
wife.
Is that what it means to be
“human”?
I hope not. I plan on marrying a
human someday. A faithful one — if
I’m lucky, I guess.
Some people may argue that
Cosby’s fame does not give the
media the right to pry into the life
he leads behind closed doors. But he
sought out that fame, fully aware of
the public curiosity that comes along
with it.
And I don’t think it’s terribly
unfair to expect faithfulness from a
man who plays himself up in his
comedy as a real family man — a
man who authored a book solely
based on “Fatherhood.”
Perhaps it’s silly of me, but I’m
hurt. I’m disappointed. Bill Cosby
was the dad I always wanted. He
was funny but firm in his
fatherliness. And dependable — or
so I thought.
I realize my timing is bad. Cosby
just lost his only son, and I hurt for
him. But I also hurt for Cosby’s wife
Camille because of the pain he must
have caused her. And I hurt for
those who have looked up to the
family funnyman over the years,
only to see their hero fall.
66
Bill Cosby chose to
have sex with
someone other than
his wife while his
wedding vows were
still fresh on his
lips. ”
Maybe I’ve been deceived, but
I’ve always had the understanding
that being “human” means that
unlike the other members of the
animal kingdom we have the ability
to think about what we are doing.
w m
We can ponder our decisions and
weigh the consequences. We make
choices.
Bill Cosby chose to have sex with
someone other than his wife while
his wedding vows were still fresh on
his lips.
He was young. He made a
mistake. He’s only human.
None of us is infallible, but I
don’t think that means we shouldn’t
be held accountable.
And I don’t think adultery should
be brushed aside as something that
just happens. I have problems with
the popular opinion that forbidden
sex is the ultimate turn-on.
There’s nothing sexy about
violating the intimate trust that
should form the foundation of any
marriage — not to mention the
physical risks that come with
sleeping around.
Cosby’s wife says all has been
forgiven and forgotten, but I’m quite
certain their marriage was never the
same after that trust was violated.
My trust was violated, too. I had
faith in the Cosby father-figure. I
wanted to believe it wasn’t just an
act.
Hjersman is a senior news
editorial and English major and
the night editor and a columnist
for the Daily Nebraskan.
Steve
WILLEY
]
Do someone a favor, but don’t ask me for one
' ’ ’ 2
I’ve been doing favors all of my
life. When my buddy wants me to
recommend a good lawyer — I tell
him. And when the managers at
Super Saver ask me to locate my
pants and put them on again — I do
!' it.
Hell, even my professors ask
favors of me.
“Steve,” they say, “could you
please miss class on Thursday?
We’re having a speaker.” I’m always
happy to oblige. I know they’re just
trying to save the speaker and class
from THE embarrassing question
I’m bound to ask.
(Note to reader: During a
chemistry lecture about the effects of
titration on Wombats, I proposed the
profound and enlightening question:
“How many g’s in marsupial?”)
If you stop and think about jt, the
very nature ui lavurs is khiu or oaa.
You are essentially asking someone
to give you a good or servidb
absolutely free of charge and with no
strings attached.
“Maybe, if you’re lucky, I will
thank your
This goes against everything ; -
American society has ever taught
me. The only real stipulation when
asking favors is that they generally
have to be asked of friends, as they
are seldom granted by strangers. j
And I can tell you first-hand that
favors are NOT done by corpora- x_,
tions.
ME: “‘Momin’ sir. I was wondering
if you would like to do me a favor. I
would like to trade this stapler you
see here for that Maytag washer and
dryer set. (Wiggling eyebrows and
elbowing salesman in the rib) Huh?
Huh?”
SALESMAN: “Get off our prop
erty!”
Lord knows I’ve tried to squeeze
out the occasional favor from some
of the bigger companies. For
example, I recently asked the CEOs
of all my different credit-rcard
companies to please “dismiss all of
my balances, lest I’ll be forced to
send you nudie photos of my father
and Aaron Neville.”
I won’t get into the specifics of
how my favors went, except to say
that Discover Card sent me a formal
rejection letter, in which I was
periodically referred to as “you
imbecile.”
Meanwhile the lawsuit Citibank
filed is still pending, depending
largely on, as Supreme Court Justice
Thomas observed, “whether or not
these photos truly exist, and how
many copie? I will be given to view
alone in my chambers.”
The point to all of this, of course,
is that for you to receive a favor, it’s
important to ask one of the follow
ing people for it:
1) Your friends.
2) The GUY who would break up
a fight between an alligator and a
pit-bull if you asked him to.
Everyone knows a guy like this.
Some folks just have great
difficulty refusing favors: Personally,
and I may regret revealing this later,
but I am physically unable to deny a
favor, especially if a girl asks.
It doesn’t matter if she asks me
nicely or orders the favor like some
Nazi drill sergeant with PMS, I still
end up doing the favor. Of course -
even I have my limits — which, by
the way, I have set as: “obtaining i
Tom Cruise's bun. Even 1 refuse to
sink so low. (Sorry, Sarah.)
I know I’m not alone in this fear
of favor refusals. My roommate, a
shy farm kid from small-town
Nebraska, gets absolutely abused by
people asking for favors. He receives
so many phone calls a day, that he’s
had to hire a personal secretary. He
honestly leaves home at 3:37 ajn.
and docs favors for people until
12:30 pan., trying politely to
squeeze in less important goals —
such as attending class and eating.
Personally," I’ve gotten to the
point now that I’m beginning to
behave oddly whenever I’m ap
proached by favor-seekers.
For example, before anyone asks
a favor of me, I instinctively seek the
highest possible ground. I FIRMLY
believe that there is a direct correla
tion between how close you are to
the ground and how crappy the favor
is.
Think about it this way: If
someone says he has a favor to ask
and then proceeds to ask you to sit
down, you can rest assure that it's
going to be one of those “Can-you
help-me-move-to-Libya” types of
favors.
And if he says, “You may want to
lie down for this,” forget it! You
might as well quit school and work
because for the next several months,
you’ll be helping your friend
develop some crazy scheme to take
over Australia using only a kazoo.
I suppose it's human nature to
ask for favors. It’s hard to be
independent nowadays; we need the
aid of other people.
And I don’t know whether you
know this or not, but I’ve done you
readers a favor already. I left out the
joke about a brain-damaged arma
dillo that has a secret desire to write
comedy for Jerry Seinfeld.
You can thank me later.
Willey is a senior news-editorial
major and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
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ance and the Nebraska Arts Council.
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Award
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This annual award, presented
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development of a humane,
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