Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Something to think about

Rosa Parks died yesterday. She's credited with inspiring the modern civil rights movement over her refusal to give up a bus seat to a white man in 1955. Her life was defined by that one moment 50 years ago. I know, I know, she pretty much spent the rest of her life working for civil rights (and sued Outkast for using her name in a song) but everyone remembers the one seemingly small (but really HUGE and amazing) thing that she did half a century ago.

If you think about it, we get one moment, if we're lucky - one thing that will last forever - for instance, do you think Monica Lewinsky is thought of as a great purse designer? Do you think anyone cares that Scott Peterson was a great football player in high school? Who knows if Terry Schiavo was a great cook? Who cares is Baby Jessica* is the valedictorian of her high school? What if Elian Gonzales** can play the piano like Liberace? You've got one chance for the proverbial fifteen minutes of fame (and trying to extend that 15 minutes by being on a reality show doesn't count) so you can either work towards making it a great fifteen minutes, or you can spend the rest of your life trying to live it down.

* there's your completely obscure pop culture reference of the day

** obscure pop culture reference #2