A Baked Potato!

Okay...I'm gonna admit up front that this post is probably, okay definitely, a little mean-spirited, but it just begs to be written.

As some of you probably know, I was sucked into the, ahem, interesting realm of the Miss America pageant world when I first began my professional career. I was drawn in, silently kicking and screaming, because my first boss had strong ties with the Miss Kansas pageant and it was in my best interests to be involved. So, I shut my mouth, pasted on a smile, and volunteered in the ways that she asked. It didn't hurt me, so I sucked it up and stuck it out.

I learned a lot about the pageant world. Honestly, not all of the young women involved in the system fulfill the stereotypical pageant girl mold -- goofy, dingy, blonde, and devout wishers of world peace. Sure, plenty of them do, but I also learned that there are some who are incredibly conniving and bitchy and others who are intelligent, kind, and genuine. But, I digress...

Once I moved up the ladder in my career, I figured I was done with pageants, and, for the most part, I've remained removed from them (although I've been asked to judge since and was supposed to, until something came up and I couldn't).

Something I saw online this morning caught my attention and sucked me right back in to the pageant world. What caught my attention? A link to a webpage that features recipes submitted by this year's Miss America contestants. I skimmed through them, stopping to read a few that sounded either good or horrifyingly awful. I was three-quarters of the way through the page when one caught my eye: Miss North Dakota had submitted a recipe entitled, "Baked Potato."

Seriously? A baked potato? I had to click on it, and as I waited on it to load, I desperately hoped that it was a recipe that would feature a new, unique, and innovative way to prepare a baked potato. Was it? Nope. It literally was a recipe on how to bake a potato. Wow. I was speechless. Doesn't nearly everyone over the age of ten know how to bake a potato? Is a recipe really necessary?

I'm thinking that, perhaps, this year's Miss North Dakota fits the sterotypical pageant girl mold -- not the most sparkly rhinestone in the tiara. No matter, though -- I still wish her the best in all that she does and, if being Miss America is her life goal, then I hope she achieves it.