Liked by all

there any universally liked guys or girls anymore? You know, back in the day, everyone liked people like Jimmy Stewart. I have never heard anyone say they did not like Jimmy Stewart. You could walk up to anyone on the street and ask them if they like Jimmy Stewart and you would not hear anyone respond in the negative.

Johnny Carson, the longtime host of “The Tonight Show,” is someone else who was liked without exception. Carson received six

Emmy Awards and a 1985 Peabody

Award. He was inducted into the

Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. Carson was awarded the

Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received a Kennedy

Center Honor in 1993. Obviously,

Carson was good at his job. He had something else, too, though. You would find yourself unconsciously smiling while watching Carson. Regardless of if he was interviewing a celebrity or having a monkey sit on his head, you liked Johnny.

Bob Barker, who hosted “The Price Is Right” from 1972 to 2007, was another person it seemed that everyone liked. Although that may not be 100% accurate because I do recall something about Barker and Betty White getting into some sort of tiff over an elephant. In addition, former “Price Is Right” employees also accused Barker of some heinous acts. So, I guess everyone has chinks in their armor.

In today’s entertainment landscape The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, would come the closest to being liked across the board. Johnson is the most followed man on Instagram with 387 million followers. Around 5% of the world’s population keeps track of Johnson’s pictures and videos on a daily basis. The Rock, of course, is one of the biggest box office draws in Hollywood. Evidently, people like The Rock well enough to plop down some hard-earned cash to watch him drive fast and furious.

Even the much-followed Rock has his detractors. He has gotten in trouble for comments about an Army tank named after him, he endorsed a political candidate for the first time in his career, and that brought backlash.

Can anyone be liked by everyone? Absolutely not. It is natural for us to disagree from time to time with views and opinions expressed by others.

Should that make us mortal enemies? No.

We are all different with different experiences and different wants and desires. We are brought up differently and have different stresses and pressures on us. It does not make us foes. It just means we are friends with differences.

I count Democrats, Republicans and Independents among my friends. I have Catholic, Jew, Baptist, Methodist, Jehovah Witness, Hindu, Muslim and agnostic friends. They each brighten my life and make me a better person. I may not share their same views on some subjects but that does not limit our ability to be friends.

Don’t limit yourself to having only friends who parrot your beliefs and ideas. Grow and expand your horizons with the bounty that a good friend can bring to you.

“A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden.”