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>>Apologies for the length. I was tempted to edit the >>last line so as to offend none, but left it as the >>autor wrote it. The author expresses what a lot of us >>believe. You don't see us on TV but we are there, >>thankful every day for your courage, skills and >>sacrifice. You are truly America's best. THANKS >> >>****************************************************** >* >>***** >> >>For many years Ben Stein has written a bi-weekly >>column called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's >>is a famous chain of steakhouses known to be >>frequented by movie stars and famous people from >>around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column >>to move on to other things in his life. Reading his >>final column is worth a few minutes of your time. >> >>============================================ >> >>How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star >>in Today's World? >> >>As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers >>say, which means I put a heading on top of the >>document to identify it. This heading is >>"eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. >>I have been doing this column for so long that I >>cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing >>this column so much for so long I came to believe it >>would never end. >> >>It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my >>changing as a person and the world's change have >>overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while >>better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as >>it used to. It still brings in the rich people in >>droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. >>Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, >>and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk >>with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed >>that 'Splendor in the Grass' was a super movie. But >>Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it >>probably will be again. >> >>Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no >>longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. >>They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they >>treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a >>man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing >>lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no >>longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up >>to. >> >>How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage >>and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's >>world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and >>powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars >>are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in >>Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and >>eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls >>do their nails. They can be interesting, nice people, >>but they are not heroes to me any longer. >> >>A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and >>day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little >>girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a >>street near where he was guarding a station. He >>pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it >>exploded. He left a family desolate in California and >>a little girl alive in Baghdad. >> >>We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on >>the covers of our magazines. The non-coms and >>officers who barely scrape by on military pay, but >>stand on guard in war zones and on ships and in >>submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as >>they live and die. >> >>I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system >>that has such poor values, and I do not want to >>perpetuate those values by pretending that who is >>eating at Morton's is a big subject. >> >>There are plenty of other stars in the American >>firmament...the policemen and women who go off on >>patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will >>return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring >>in people who have been in terrible accidents and >>prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who >>throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic >>children; the kind men and women who work in hospices >>and in cancer wards. >> >>Think of each and every fireman who was running up the >>stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began >>to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero. >> >>I came to realize that life lived to help others is >>the only one that matters. This is my highest and >>best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years >>ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as >>Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or as >>good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good >>a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any >>of them. >> >>But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to >>my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who >>had done so much for me. This came to be my main task >>in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty >>well with my wife, and well indeed with my parents >>(with my sister's help). I cared for and paid >>attention to them in their declining years. I stayed >>with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and >>then into a coma and then entered immortality with my >>sister and me reading him the Psalms. >> >>This was the only point at which my life touched the >>lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in >>New York. I came to realize that life lived to help >>others is the only one that matters and that it is my >>duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved >>upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. >>This is my highest and best use as a human. >> >>Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing >>that God will.
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