Hollywood broke it's oath and imparted a moral lesson to me recently (unintentionally of course). Compare these two scenarios: In "Fun.." the characters resort to robbing stores and banks after losing their jobs and selling everything they own. The erstwhile upstanding citizens are now desperate criminals (masked as WASPS, with one child, one dog, one 5,000 square foot house, and one Spanish speaking nanny). They justify their thieving spree since they have lived all their lives as upstanding citizens, played the game by the rules and still got screwed by corporate America. (In the credits, the producers thank MCI WorldCom, Enron, etc.)
Cut to Cinderella Man.
It's the Depression. A washed up boxer can't find work and his children are living on one slice of baloney and watered down milk a day. He returns home one day to find that his son has stolen food. The boy is sitting at the table staring at the unopened link of sausage (I imagined he is salivating and his mother is punishing him with the torture). His father orders him to come with him and return the sausage. As they leave the butcher the father bends down, holds him by the shoulders, looking him in the eyes, and not mean, but firmly he says, "No matter what happens, we never steal. Do you understand that?" The boy learns the lesson and in fact, when the father's luck changes he actually returns over $300 to the welfare office he humbled himself to ask help from when they had no food, no heat and no work.
While "Fun" is fiction, and Cinderella Man is based off a true story, I think "Fun" reflects many attitudes today. "I played by the rules and got screwed so I can ____________ [enter law bending activity here.]" Whether it's robbing a bank or fudging on your taxes (and I think we're all guilty of something in between these ends) I think today there's more of a sense of entitlement than there used to be. Imagine if everyone who had suckled off the government's teat paid back? Or hell, even paid it forward? What's that line, "Ask not what your country can do for you?...."
****End Spoilers*****
On a completely different subject. I read the most interesting article in the Post. It was basically all about the future of smokers in DC, since a ban looks inevitable. I didn't really know what to think. Was it glorifying smoking? Or just telling the truth? Or just being cute? It began: "Sure, we'll all live longer, but how will this affect the future of flirting? No smoking in bars, if the city pushes such legislation through, means no excuse to approach a stranger, unless you count You look familiar, which doesn't count."
It went on to talk about "social smokers" (my husband is a recovering social smoker) who only smoke when they drink or are at a party (was that redundant?) One interviewee (NOT a social smoker) calls these people, "posers." Gosh, I HATE posers, them and their life expectancy. It also talked about how girls ignore nonsmoking guys (is this really true? I've never been single in a bar if you can believe that). And then the first shoe drops (the second being lung cancer) the not-sexy, non-posers; "those people outside the office buildings. One hand clutches an unbuttoned coat collar. The other holds a cigarette." And you're freezing your ass off. That is the future of bars in DC, just in case you planned to visit with your Marlboros.
I don't care of people smoke in a bar. Us nonsmokers should EXPECT smoke in a bar. It's not like you're there to eat organic food and practice Yoga. You're there to get hit on, drink beer, do shots and forget about your general health. Smoke is actually an ingredient in the cloud of misjudgment that makes the guy with the crooked teeth, rythmless hips, and shameless bragging look charming, flirtatious and rich.
While we're on the subjects of financial desperation, heavy drinking and tobacco addiction, I'd like to share with you my jolt of cosmic pessimism the other day in the bookstore. I had just picked up my new book, YOU the Owner's Manual, began a new writing idea and was feeling pretty positive about "making it" as a writer one day, when what do I spy on the shelf as I'm almost to the exit?
Bait and Switch; the futile pursuit of the American Dream.
Which brings us full circle to the beginning of this blog entry. I could take this omen as a challenge - or I could just go get a drink and smoke a pack with the rest of the suckers who stupidly bought the line in the Declaration that encouraged us to pursue life, liberty and happiness. Tell that to Barbara! And for the love of God give that woman a drink.
1 comment:
as an unofficial bet, I would say they're going to make it.
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