Respect the title

I've had enough.

Every time I turn on the television, someone new is imitating him.

The impressions make him look like an idiot.

So far, I've seen actors, comedians and even a country music singer take a crack at him.

You know who I mean.

Colonel Sanders.

Just when I thought I had seen it all, the daytime soap opera, General Hospital, proved me wrong.

Let me explain.

I don't actually watch General Hospital.  I simply use it to take a little cat nap in the afternoon.

Here's my method.

Since I've always wondered what the English language sounds like to non-English speakers, I turn the TV volume down real low and focus on the sounds, not the words.

Before I know it, my unique technique puts me right to sleep.

But not on this day.

As I was ready to close my eyes, I saw the over-tanned, "extra crispy," actor George Hamilton posing as Colonel Sanders in some ridiculous story line.

My afternoon respite was ruined.

Don't get me wrong.

I had a crush on the handsome, tan, "Ryder Smith," I mean George Hamilton, when I was a kid and saw him in the teen movie, "Where the Boys Are."

(Obviously he started working on his tan back on the beach in Fort Lauderdale that faithful spring break.)

Back the late 60s, around the same time I was dreaming that Ryder Smith was my boyfriend, I imagined the Colonel was my grandfather.

(My television relationships ran deep.)

In his thick southern accent, Grandpa Sanders, I mean the Colonel, told me how he cooked his famous chicken, in commercials of course.

He felt like family with his kind, gentle demeanor.

He even wore glasses like my dad's.

I craved his finger lickin' chicken cooked with eleven secret herbs and spices.

And on a lucky day, after some serious begging, I'd ride along with my mother to our local KFC and bring home the red and white striped bucket of chicken and hunt for the legs.

Unlike Ryder, however, Colonel Sanders was a real man.

Ok, not a real Colonel.

He was given the honorary title by the Governor of Kentucky for his service to the community, state and nation!

For this, the man deserves respect.

Colonel Sanders had a hard life filled with failures.

"One has to remember that every failure can be a stepping stone to something better," the Colonel once said.

Interestingly, he didn't succeed in business until well into his sixties proving that hard work and perseverance pays off.

And once he made his fortune, he gave it away.

"There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery.  You can't do any business from there," he said.

Take that Ryder Smith.

I mean George Hamilton.

Oh yea, and Reba McIntyre.

Leave my grandpa alone!  I mean the Colonel!