Mardi Gras Knockout Teaches a Valuable Lesson

We have been hearing about the story again and again of Erin Fitzgerald being punched on Mardi Gras over a float in the Independent Parade.  Glenn Stewart now faces charges over a moment that will only be looked on with regret years down the road.

How many of us are guilty of momentary lapses of reason?  How many of us have said and done things that we regret upon later reflection?  Clearly, it is a widespread problem that for many, does not get the amount of media scrutiny that something like this story will do.

The lesson for us is one that is simple and straightforward.  We need to be able to control our emotions enough so that the heat of the moment doesn't get the best of us.  We need to be able to step back from the moments that are unfolding in front of us and see what needs to be done.  It's hard to know what that looks like in this case, because truly how many of us were there at the time that it happened?  I was not, and don't intend to comment on that because I really have no place to.  However, I can say, and many would agree, that the end result of this fiasco is someone that has wounds to recover from and someone that is getting some truly bad press over something that could have been avoided.

Things like this reflect badly on Mardi Gras, which has been a day of celebration for years.  Hopefully, many of us can take it as a lesson in what to do when we face our own tense situations.