How The Other Half Lives

We hear a fair share of celebrity gossip, or merely read it in passing at the grocery checkout line. The tabloid mentality has crept into the mainstream media of late. Even in the face of truly important news of the day, someone's divorce, or someone else's catfight with their neighbors, shares center stage.

In our weaker moments, we might wonder how they pull it off, living a life in full view of nagging photographers. Are they truly irritated by the attention -- "Please, not with my children around," they might plead -- or do their publicists work behind the scenes to ensure such a spectacle as good for business? Opinions may vary. The singer Perry Como, for example, completely kept his wife and children from the glare of publicity, refusing even to feature them on TV Christmas specials. But what many of these starlets have in common, is a removal from the mainstream of the human condition itself. Commentator Fred Reed brought this to light at LewRockwell.com, in a piece entitled "Life Is Not an Embassy Party."

A rich friend once invited me to his house in the West End of Richmond, Virginia. At supper when you wanted the mashed potatoes, you didn’t say, “Pass the potatoes, please.” No. You rang a little bell and a black guy came out and held the bowl while you scooped potatoes. It was hugely embarrassing. I suspect that he felt like a fool. I know I did. I wanted to scream, “What’s wrong with these people?” and go have a beer with the black guy.

Sounds like something I'd wanna do.
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