What strange times we have in 2017. Despite virtually unanimous agreement that ‘distracted driving’ is every bit as dangerous as ‘impaired driving’ when it comes to killing people on highways and biways, more and more people are texting and tweeting every day, including from the driver’s seat with the wheels turning at high speed.
How many more will die tragically this year because of such reckless carelessness? Americans get to observe the worst possible example, the 70 year old who lives at the White House, and behaves worse than most five year olds we’ve ever met. President Trump is a compulsive tweeter at 4 in the morning, most often on a personal smartphone, with all the ‘bad dudes’ of the world being able to tune in at any time. About the only positive is the fact that The Donald probably won’t be driving himself for a while.
What is it about these digital devices that didn’t even exist 40 years ago? Does anything that is really worthwhile even happen on smartphones, that couldn’t possibly wait like it had to back then? Perhaps the saga of Brian and Martha will mark a turning point.
As these words reach you, Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz are still gainfully employed by Price Waterhouse Coopers in Los Angeles. That’s the famous accounting firm that has tabulated the Oscar ballots and been responsible for preparing those famous envelopes since Irving Thalberg was alive in the mid-1930’s.
Last Sunday, as we were all falling asleep waiting for Bonnie and Clyde to tell us who won Best Picture, Brian and Martha were backstage in their Sunday best, but they were a bit ‘distracted’ it seems. I won’t repeat the details, but the accounting couple have been made to carry the can for the worst snafu in the 89 year history of this premier event.
Why? It seems that Brian was busy tweeting, when he should have been paying attention to which envelope was front and centre on the podium. Knowing the distracted world of Hollywood, someone is probably preparing a movie about it at this very moment, and Samsung and Apple will provide the financing. Brian’s 15 minutes of fame hasn’t ended yet.
I’m Roger Currie
