Most of you probably recall Andy Rooney. You know, that curmudgeon who came on at the end of the television show 60 Minutes from 1978 to 2011 with his segment, A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney. Still can’t picture him? Think about the old guy who was going bald but had such bushy eyebrows he let them grow and combed them back over his forehead to cover his dome. Fortunately, Andy, although blessed with eyebrows that didn’t need any Miracle-Gro, had a pretty good mop on his head when he died at the age of 92 just about a month after his last show.
Although I’m still two plus decades younger than Andy was, I think his spirit lives on because some of the types of things that bugged the living daylights out of him are starting to give me ulcers too! Many of these things have to do with politics and the media/advertisements. Why is it, for instance, that none (or at least extremely few) of our politicians can ever admit that they messed up, blew it or made a mistake even on the smallest of things? Take Watergate for example. My memory may have faded, but I don’t believe when this 1972 political scandal of Republicans breaking into the Democratic National Committee’s Headquarters took place that President Nixon knew anything about it. He initially denied any knowledge of the incident. After becoming more informed about it, I believe he placed every roadblock he could in the way of those gathering evidence. It didn’t take too long for some little white lies to turn gray and then threateningly black as the balloon of lies burst in 1974 with Nixon resigning in disgrace and 48 people connected to the scandal going to jail. Please note that I was initially so in favor of Nixon while in high school that many of my friends called me “Nix.”
Of course, over the years, the citizens of the United States became more and more immune to lying, cheating and areas much worse. This type of activity not only occurred but still occurs on both sides of the aisle, as President Clinton carried dalliances to the extreme, repeatedly lied about it and was STILL RE-ELECTED! This was just a precursor of where we find ourselves today, when apparently not enough people realize we’re going down the slippery slope to disaster. There are certain politicians that are on the television that I will not even listen to because I don’t believe a word they say.
I’m sorry, I just went to curl my eyebrows with my fingers but not finding enough there to twirl, I realized I was getting a bit too serious and into the character of Andy.
Let me be a little more frivolous. I don’t understand why someone can claim bankruptcy and then take a flight off to Europe for vacation. Similarly, why can people who lost a spouse find a new partner and live with them without getting married so their spouse’s pension won’t be cutoff? This means that in many cases, you and I are paying for their illegal pensions or other benefits!
Not as serious but certainly bothersome, I’m sure I watch way too much television, to the extent that I like to recite part of the commercial before the commercial does. I think this drives my wife nuts, but sometimes I just can’t help it, even when I’m on my best behavior. Did you know that Blythe Danner, mother of Gwyneth Paltrow, when doing the ad for Prolia (a drug for osteoporosis, which Blythe has) has eight different outfits/activities during the commercial?
How about the lady who has a check-up with her doctor and immediately, upon hearing the news from her doctor that her cholesterol is down (with Crestor, known for its orange color in the commercials), does a happy dance right in the office, takes an orange flower from a street vendor, prances in front of a fountain while petting a white (with orange tinge) dog and makes it to the ball yard to meet her friends for a softball game while wearing an orange shirt, glove in hand and announces to all: “I’m down with Crestor!”
There are so many other commercials drilled into you, like John McEnroe’s commercial for Jublia (toenail fungus): “Ask your doctor if Jublia is right for you.” The avalanche of law firms advertising on television such as Swartz Culleton’s client: “I got justice with Schwartz Culleton!” Obviously, in our society lawyers are needed. However, couldn’t we do away with about 75 percent of them? Why do you think you can sue for any little thing or that bills passed by our politicians are sometimes more than 2,000 pages long? Lawyers and the likes of them.
So I don’t sound like a complete downer, I’d like to comment on a commercial I have seen many times and am completely in favor of. It’s a commercial encouraging donations for Shriners Hospitals. The main stars are all adorable kids with some type of handicap, led by Alec, who is a real personality. Barb and I would just like to hug each one of those kids!
You didn’t know what you were missing during commercial breaks did you? Next time you watch television, take care of snacks and bathroom breaks before your show comes on and find out what you missed (or what you wish you had missed).
Although most times I enjoyed Andy Rooney, and I applaud him for his 62 years of marriage before his wife died, I many times did not agree with his viewpoint.