For the past three full months, the final contestants in the national song contest have been performing songs from different genres each week. They have crooned sad, sentimental country tunes. They have belted out lively rhythm and blues classics. And they have motivated everyone in the huge theater and across the world to hum along with their interpretation of a recent #1 hit. Tonight, you are one of two surviving contestants. Standing on stage, you wait in anticipation as the nationwide voting results are about to be revealed. As the host lifts the envelope’s flap, you can almost hear your heart’s thump thump. He slides the card out of the holder and you feel your entire body tense up as if enveloped in a Scuba suit. With millions of eyes on him, the host announces, “And the winner is….”
Our fascination with contests, real or imagined, show just how obsessed we are with being first or best. Consequently, in a society where being the best is the ultimate goal, it makes sense to search for the best mortgage lender.
Second Best Is Not Best
Being second best never cuts the mustard in modern times. Professional athletes never...