How Far is Too Far?

There has been some uproar here lately over HB 444 (the civil unions bill), violence and Saturday Night Live. SNL you ask? That lovable show that brought us Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers and many other comedic stars? Yup. You read that right. Apparently last Saturday SNL did a sketch with Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson that didn't exactly portray Hawaii in the most positive light. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

In the last two days I have read 2 blogs about it (WWD and Quarterlife Cafe) and an article in the newspaper. Now as someone who has worked in the travel industry for the last 13 years I think I may have some insight to this sketch.

I can honestly say that most of the people that I have worked with genuinely enjoy working in that industry. It is important to note though that it is our number one industry and whether you want to admit it or not, we need tourists to come to Hawaii.

Over the last 13 years, I have had the pleasure of working with some outstanding people and some not so outstanding people. I also met some of the nicest visitors and some downright unhappy ones. But overall, I really enjoyed my time with Pleasant Holidays.

So what do I think of the sketch? I think they say what everyone has thought from time to time. Some of their comments are brutally accurate but not all of them. Did they go to far? Maybe but probably not. As one blogger mentioned, it is SNL and that's what they do. It's not like it's CNN. They're trying to poke fun at Hawaii.

I do think though, that in the midst of everything else that's going on in our state, this sketch is the least of our worries. I can't see anyone watching SNL and saying, "gee, based on that sketch, I'm canceling my trip to paradise." Just can't see it.