Cheesy Is As Cheesy Does

Thank you, Al Franken. 


Thank you for creating Stuart Smalley.


Thank you for providing snickers, eye-rolls, and laugh-out-loud moments when your satirical self-help guru dispensed his saccharine words of wisdom from his easy chair at 30 Rockefeller Center.


Thank you for creating a catchphrase that 20+ years later is embedded in my subconscious. It's so ingrained, I hear your character's whispery voice, measured cadence, and joyous lilt in my mind every time I think of your words:

"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough — and doggone it! — people like me."

Thank you very much. Because, however ridiculously mocking your character and his bon mots were intended to be, they both contain kernels of truth — as all good satire should.


And today, that pithy little punchline got me through the day. One more day when this lifelong overachiever weathered through a lingering fog of uncomfortable underachievement. One more day when this self-proclaimed attention whore announced her self-affirmation and greedily accepted others' acknowledgements. One more day when minor victories, once too trivial to be remembered a moment later, will instead be noted in the win column.


And that, sir, will push this ordinary Tuesday across the finish line and squarely in the category of A Good Day.


And I thank you, very kindly, for that.


P.S. Thank you also for clearly demonstrating the undeniable power of a teddy bear hug.

STUART SMALLEY CHARACTERIZATION AND QUOTATIONS © AND ™ AL FRANKEN