All the Very Important People

North Miami Beach, FL February 14, 2001 Aaron H.
Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then, Opinions pro or con are welcome.

From Nancy in New Jersey: "The 11th Commandment is: Thou shall not should
on yourself or on anyone else."

ALL THE VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE

Now this is not really about Yitzhak Perlman playing his violin for us at
the Broward Performing Arts Center last night. He was linked up with only
one other instrument, the piano, and its player was as inspired as he was.
Watching the now stout man with four lower appendages saw away effortlessly
on his fiddle looking pained (seen through a tiny pair of binoculars) was
almost as entertaining as listening to his music.

But it was not really all about Yitzhak Perlman. The night at this very
magnificent theater was about all the very important people who came to see
and hear him. The theater was sold out. This is not only a compliment to
the artist but to all the very important people who were there, too. You
see, they were there to see and be seen. And they were very visible.

I saw (but could not hear very well for Carol is my ears) a very
interesting phenomenon. There were platoons of very important people. They
came in groups from clubs, condominiums, houses of worship and golfing
associations. There were a few non-connected people who came dressed for
the concert season and they were mostly out of place. They were in small
twos or threes dressed in yesteryear's fashion. Being it was in Florida on a
Tuesday evening, there were no black ties or evening dresses.

Now, the women were all of a kind. They had employed armies of
hairdressers no matter from which group they came. They were dyed, colored,
fluffed, scissored, set or permed. And, everyone was busy looking to see
whom he or she knew or if they were noticed. They were all very important
people.

Very important people do not have to arrive in their seats in time for the
performance to begin. They make the artist wait until they are seated, have
finished talking nice to the usher who tried to shoehorn them in their
seats, and settled their jackets or sweaters or stoles around their necks.
This place was filled with very important people.

You must also understand that very important people love to show their
appreciation by applauding - even when the custom is for them to wait until
all the movements in the piece are finished. Maestro Perlman tried to stop
the inappropriate signals they were sending to each other by pushing his
hand out toward them as a sign to hush. It didn't work. They didn't get
it.
Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.