Astronauts Can Be Crazy Too

Lisa Nowak in court, with Colleen Shipman in the background. Photograph: Red Huber/AP

One of the nerdiest things about my past is that I actually wanted to be an astronaut. That lasted from adolescence to mid-high school. I have since changed quite a bit and could never imagine being an astronaut. But I think my feelings about that illustrate how we all have stereotypical ideas about people based on their careers. Like for instance, I wouldn't have imagined an astronaut engaging in behavior that would be shocking even for a Lifetime TV movie. When I heard this story two years ago I thought wow, how sad and pathetic. Relationships (or obsessions) can truly drive people to do crazy things. This woman, a mother of three, drove 1,000 miles in a diaper to attack and kidnap a woman simply because they were involved with the same man. What I'll never understand is why so many women will direct their anger at the woman and not the man in these situations. If this guy was being unfaithful, why didn't she deal with him? Now I've gotten back at a guy for cheating in some creative ways but I've never considered confronting the woman. What's the point? I wasn't in a relationship with her, and as much as popular culture would like us to, I don't believe women can steal men away. All too often the men are left unscathed from multiple relationships. And it doesn't send a good public message when the crazy woman doesn't even get jail time like in this case. Soon after the incident she was fired from NASA but this just goes to show that a person's occupation doesn't say much for their stability.

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