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Times columnist Steve Lopez took the bus from home in Silver Lake to the office for the first time since he lost his driver's license due to suffering seizures after a bad bike mishap.
My wife and daughter walked me to the corner, and I felt like a kid on his first day of school. We waved goodbye and I headed off to start my new life in Los Angeles.A man without a car.
No fewer than 40 readers have offered to drive him around, Lopez writes. (Insert gratuitous cracks about his rumored $200,000+ salary from envious scribes around town.)
Good thing for Steve he lives in Silverlake, not Pomona.
Posted by: Mr. Ricey at March 25, 2004 09:14 AMSteve I frequently read your column in the Sunday LA Times but as of late I’ve become disabused with your thinking. A couple of weeks ago you asked in a column why doctors (in reference to illegal aliens) “…should do the dirty work?” A good question and usually good questions lead to good answers but not in this case.
In the paper today is an article by Bill Cosby in which he calls for parents to sit down with their kids and see that homework is completed, that they are rested and have eaten before being sent to school. I’m sure you’ll recognize this as more “dirty work”.
Illegal aliens have a difficult time with driver’s licenses… etc., in this country??? It would be remarkable indeed if they didn’t since they didn’t want to do the “dirty work” of coming here legally.
Do I even have to mention what kind of job required doing in Normandy sixty some years ago today?
But back to your originally question that stuck in my mind ‘why do the dirty work?” I’ll tell you a story. Seems many a year ago that an insurance company was frustrated because they had such a high drop out among their sales people. So they began to ask all the people that were quitting what they didn’t like about the job. The list was a consistent one… cold calling, rude people… etc., Then they asked their top sales people what they didn’t like about the job. I know you’re way ahead of me, but guess what, the list was exactly the same. Difference was the top people were willing to do the dirty work in order to get where they wanted to go!
There is an article in the New York Times today, first section, page 29 wherein some Jewish guys thought that the sixty-six year old illegal that cleaned their synagogue was wrongly convicted of molesting a child in their congregation. They did research and got his conviction over turned. There probably isn’t any dirtier work than that, to stand up for a person so accused, but they did. You might ask them why they did it since you don’t seem to know why anyone would or should do the nasty stuff that needs to be done.
As I’ve been writing I’ve begun to wonder what kind of dirty work you do to make sure things go right. Surely you’re not going to say this bullshit trip down to Mexico you have planned qualifies?
It gets yours up to the top dude! The girl will enjoy it!
Posted by: cialis uk at July 14, 2004 02:07 AM
of LA Observed
Steve Lopez, meet Tony Pierce.
Posted by: Howard Owens at March 24, 2004 10:43 AM