How right he was. I'm only 23, and don't think that I've had my 15 minutes of fame yet, unless you think that playing in a hockey game that was being aired on Cable 9, the low-budget cable network in the greater Macedonia area, or having my e-mail read by the immortal Howie Chizek of WNIR 100.1 FM includes fame.
For some people, they deserve their 15 minutes of fame. take for example Anthony Robles of Arizona State University:
This guy was born with one leg, but that didn't stop him from being the NCAA National Champion in wrestling in the 125 pound division. He was all over ESPN and the internet and deservedly so. Safe to say he's had his 15 minutes of fame.
Others, will take very desperate and stupid measures for the specific purpose of getting their 15 minutes of fame, such as Richard Heene of Colorado:
You might remember this guy from 2009, when he called authorities (and new$ $tation$ of cour$e) claimed that his six-year-old son Falcon (unreal name) was inside of a home-made helium balloon that was traveling at altitudes reaching 7,000 feet. The media ate it up, coverage was all over CNN, until we found out a few days later that the whole thing was made-up, only after the family was payed huge $$$$ to appear on such programs as the Today Show and Larry King Live.
Which bring us to Rodney Harmon of California. Rodney is suing the Hilton Hotels Corporation for charging him 75 cents for a copy of the USA Today newspaper that was left outside his door in the morning that he did not request. I wish I was making that up. But don't take my word for it, let's hear from his attorney, Kirk Wolden:
“Mr. Harmon and this law firm believe there is more at stake than 75 cents,” Mr. Wolden said Monday. “It exemplifies the types of advantages that, unfortunately, we see companies taking of you and I and everyone else every day.”I'm surprised he didn't sue for an extra $500k for "pain and suffering" he endured while having to leap over the newspaper upon leaving his room.
POINT
Sorry Major League Baseball, make way for the NEW American pastime: filing a lawsuit. Now, for 95% of Americans, upon checking out of a hotel and seeing a 75 cent charge for a newspaper they didn't want or read, would have this conversation, silently in their heads:
"Hmmmmmm $120 for the room, check. $90 for mini-bar peanuts, check. $30 for room-service breakfast, check. 75 cents for a newspaper? Oh, I left that by my door, but oh well, I spend $60 a month on my 6-year old's cell phone bill, so 75 cents is no biggie."
Could this possibly go into the Guinness World Record Books as the lowest amount ever sued for ever? Probably not, but it has to be mighty close. Let's face it, Rodney Harmon was probably having a bad day or something, saw a 75 cent charge on his hotel bill, and instead of doing the logical thing and ignoring it, he saw $$, and his 15 minutes of fame.
COUNTERPOINT
A real shiner of a quote at the end of the article:
The complaint asserts that the practice is not only deceitful, but also wasteful and damaging to the environment.Hmmm, I'm starting to see the light Rodney. This isn't just about a 75 cent newspaper. This is about all those times that the Hilton Hotels have robbed innocent, non-newspaper reading folks of 75 cents. This is about saving the environment. Forget his car emissions that are causing more harm in one mile than 1,000 newspapers ever will. Forget the fact that the amount of money that Hilton is gouging you for your room rate makes the 75 cents seem like a grain of sand in the Mojave Desert. Finally, the illiterates, the stupids, and the oblivious-to-everything-that-is-happening-in-the-worlds'es from every corner of the country have a hero in Rodney Harmon.
PEACEFUL SOLUTION
The Hilton can refund Rodney for his newspapers. But for some reason I don't think Mr. Wolden and his cracker-jack lawyer team are gonna settle for that. The Hiltons could keep the newspapers at the front desk, so that way anyone who wants one can go up there and buy one. But some people can't walk more than their driveway's length for a newspaper in the morning, so nix that one too. No, I think the most effective solution would be to spend a ton of taxpayer money on a long drawn-out legal battle that will most likely end in Rodney settling out of court for a sum of no less than $3,000.
CONCLUSION
This stuff only happens in California.
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