THE OBJECT OF LIFE

 “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape being consigned to the ranks of the insane" -- Marcus Aurelius

Every year I try to remember the first two weeks of March. I  missed it this year but will try to make up for it now.

On  Monday in March 3, 2008, Vancouver used its full legal might to prosecute a student who threw a single potato chip at a friend. A bylaw enforcement officer saw it happen near the court house and the lad was charged with littering. The Vancouver Law Department prosecuted and the young man plead guilty. The JP fined him ten dollars payable over 100 years.

Co-incidentally, this happened on or about the 150^th anniversary of the invention of the Potato chip. George Crum, employed as a chef at an elegant resort in New York, decided to rile an annoying guest by producing fries that were too thin and crisp to skewer with a fork. The rest is history.

 March 10 was also the day that New York Governor Elliott Spitzer was forced out of office. FBI wiretaps revealed he had been purchasing the services of a high priced hooker.

Meanwhile, back in Vancouver, a former City Manager who  had become our most accomplished lobbyist, plead guilty to engaging in his employment without completing a required form. (He did not know he had to.) More, to be pitied then censured, he was required by the Court to write an essay about lobbying,

It was in New York, however, that the lobbying profession received its come-uppance. On Wednesday, in the home state of the potato chip, a reporter bluntly asked Spitzer’s successor, Governor Patterson if he ever patronized a prostitute.

 "Only the lobbyists," he replied.

Then on Thursday it turned out that while Gov Spitzer had been brought to his knees, first by the hooker and then by the FBI, the hooker became an overnight sensation to more than the Governor. She was to be featured in a juried publication, Hustler Magazine!  Her songs were the number one down load on the Internet.

Today, the Governor is a frequent guest on TV talk shows. 

For some people things just work out.