Johnny Manziel can’t stay out of his own way. Constantly in the spotlight for everything but football, well, it has grown quite tiresome. It’s hard to continue to feel sorry for Manziel, no matter how much “on the brink” he seems to be.

I try to stay away from social commentary on this blog, but Manziel simply won’t go away. The problem with Manziel is that he has had plenty of opportunity to do so. His family has reached out — his father so much as saying that Manziel may be dead soon if he doesn’t clean up — friends reached out, even his agency tried to get his head straight. He just doesn’t want to listen.

It’s very indicative of the youth in today’s current society. Let’s not forget, after all, that Manziel may be suffering from that scary disease: affluenza. 

Too much too soon. Not keeping score. Participation trophies. These things that don’t teach kids how to lose. Losing, dear readers, is ok and part of life.  Not knowing how to lose doesn’t allow you the understanding of the process of how to handle losing, nor does it teach you to be humble.

My disdain for Manziel is the fact that he has all the attention in the world, with people in the pubic eye begging him to slow down and he basically shoves it in their faces and says watch how much worse I can do this week.

For 22 years (longer if you consider the hot dog cart I worked at my dad’s office one summer on Saturdays as part of a promotion) I have worked in the restaurant industry. I have seen many a young person — some, the least expecting — become a drunk or struggle with drug use.

No one reaches out to them. In fact, most people expect it. That’s the perception of most bartenders and servers, right? People that don’t want to get a job and then spend all of their money going out late night and boozing it up. I know that’s the perception, because at 41-years old and still working part-time in a restaurant to support my family, I know how many people (not all, so don’t go all crazy) treat servers and bartenders. We’re scum, whose only purpose in life is to serve thee.

So, why should I care about Johnny Manziel? No one steps in or cares about the many people I have met over the years with the same troubles, many of them college students trying to pay tuition, but have dropped out because they got caught up in the lifestyle. Neither behavior is acceptable in the long run, but to constantly give attention to a kid who didn’t graduate college so he could chase millions and then throw it all away for no other reason than he’s a selfish, immature brat… well, that’s what’s wrong in today’s society.

I do feel bad for Manziel in the sense that I understand what it means to struggle with addiction. But hundreds of people — with much less attention and much less people telling them to get help — seek the help they need every day in this country.

$1,000 rumored on drug paraphernalia? You know how hard half of America has to work for $1,000, and this guy — who hasn’t done anything meaningful in months — is blowing not even on drugs, but drug paraphernalia? DUIs, thrashing public and private property and domestic violence… seriously, how many chances does this guy get before they lock him up? At this point, wouldn’t it actually be a favor to Manziel?

In that sense, I don’t feel bad for him at all. He’s been presented opportunites that many people I know don’t have, and he’s thrown them aside. They’ll continue to make excuses — he’s acting out, he has serious mental instability, blah blah this, blah blah that — but at the end of the day, I just can’t sympathize with him any longer.

And that’s all I have to say about that.