Instead of being sorry later, how about just being nice now?

"Be careful of the words you say; keep them short and sweet.  You never know from day to day which ones you'll have to eat."

This year's winner of the I Wish I Hadn't Said That Award goes to the young lady who also just won the coveted tiara that goes with being Miss Teen USA.  Her name is Karlie Hay and she learned a lesson at age 18 that a lot of people still have yet to apprehend:  The Internet is forever.  

Take it to the bank: whatever you write or paste on these electronic walls will be around when Karlie Hay's great-grandchildren are taking driver education.  

So it was with chagrin that Ms Hay and the people around her found out, just minutes after her triumphant walk down the runway, that in 2013 and 2014, she was twittering tweets using the unacceptable-in-any-setting "N" word.  Hay, born in December 1997, was 15 and 16 in those years, certainly old enough to know better, yes. 

You know, there is a whole profession dedicated to scrubbing off the tarnished images of people who should know better than to call each vile names.  I can see that one such practitioner had a hand in crafting this response that Ms Hay put out:  

"A few years ago, I used language that is inexcusable, and I sincerely apologize for my actions. At the time, due to a number of personal struggles, I was in a place that is not representative of who I am now. Through hard work, education, maturity and thanks in large part to the sisterhood that I have come to know through pageants, I am proud to say that I am today a better person. I am honored to hold this title and I will use the Miss Teen USA platform to promote messages of confidence, inclusion and perseverance."  

Apology tour underway.

It's just my opinion, but these pageants for women of any age are just outdated and kind of sad.  The Miss Teen USA people proudly promoted this year's extravaganza as being more relevant because they ditched the swimsuit competition and only had female judges. This still leaves the impression that beauty and the ability to be dolled up are the only worthwhile criteria for judging a young lady. 

I don't know anything about Ms Hay besides all this commotion, but the fact that she used such language at any age is revolting. For all I know, she spends weekends visiting the aged and infirm, collects food for the needy, works as a volunteer firefighter, plays rec league softball and maintains a stellar grade point average to stay on the Honor Society.

Oh wait.  That's a couple of other young women I know.  You won't see them sashaying around with sashes and tiaras on television.  They're too busy being beautiful, doing beautiful things in the real world.  And using respectful language all the while.