Do You Love Your Job?

Hines Ward smiles his way to a better place

Hines Ward works to counter plight of bi-racial children in Korea

I think I have a pretty cool job.  I get to meet kinky people and introduce them to other people, and we party. Pretty much, that's it. How cool is that?

But I can't beat this guy.  Hines Ward, Pittsburgh 86 is the poster-child for love your job.  Not sure why Monster.com hasn't got a corner on him yet, wish I could broker the deal.

Found a great couple of articles about Hines Ward and his ever-present smile.  One fellow claims to have resolved the question of where the smile comes from. He asserts it's because "Hines Ward is retarded and thinks every Sunday is his birthday." 

The Inept Owl reports, " “It’s true,” said a trainer recently. “Hines Ward, though he may be a good receiver, is actually retarded. That’s why he smiles so much. He has no freaking clue about what’s going on. In fact, he thinks that it’s his birthday every Sunday, which explains the constant smiling.”

Do go read the full article. Funny stuff, but only for joke.  There is nothing wrong with Mr. Ward.  In fact, his off-field story is fabulously heartening.  Another celebrity with a cause, he has taken on a niche need, enhancing the lot of biracial children in South Korea.

Hines was born in Seoul to a mixed race couple. His father is black, mother korean. My assumption here is pops might have been military, but I didn't go digging on that.  The fact that they moved to Georgia before he was a year old adds to my theory. Is a pretty common family setup within Army circles, so I'm familiar with the cultural norms that make life more than just difficult for children of mixed race in Korea.

Race aside, Korean + anything not Korean (white, black, irish, military, Zulu, blonde, unusually tall... you get the idea. It's a tough culture for blending.)

As a Superbowl MVP,  Hines Ward has the money and the fame to make an impact. According to ABC news, "because of his superstar status as an American athlete, Koreans treated him like a long-lost son, making him an honorary citizen of Seoul, inviting him to tea with the president and giving him a tour of the royal palace".  His visit prompted editorials espousing tolerance (that's a start at least) and some laws to protect the rights of biracial citizens.  This tidbit forces me to question, what rights did they not have? 

I'm going to go research this further and report later, but I did find one example reported.

The story goes that a child wanted to be an altar boy at his local Catholic Parish, but was denied due to his mixed heritage. That decision was reversed after Wards well publicised visit. If true, it's a pretty powerful statement Hines Ward can make with his winning smile and loving his job like nobody's business. I think changing lives is what cool jobs are all about.

Article at Inept Owl