whatever happened to personal space?

Recently, Burt Reynolds slapped a reporter who asked a question about the film The Longest Yard that he didn't care for. Comedian and mallet-master Gallagher slapped a man in his audience as "part of his routine". Marilyn Manson was reported to have slapped a security guard with a certain part of his anatomy during a concert. All of which beg the question: whatever happened to personal space?

When did random acts of violence, no matter how small, become an okay deal? And why aren't celebrities being walloped by the authorities when these things occur? If you or I walked down the street and randomly smacked people in the puss, we'd be carried away and pistol-whipped (well, here in Texas, at least). What gives these folks the idea that it's okay to just haul off and crack someone?

Russell Crowe was popped today for a misdemeanor after throwing a telephone in a rage at some NY hotel and hitting a clerk in the face. Now, some might say that his only crime was bad aim. Others might say we've got a long way to go when our cultural refrigerator magnets are being more childish than a bunch of three-year-olds.

How do you teach grade-schoolers to act with honor and dignity when the halftime entertainment is Tom Cruise jumping over Oprah's head like a crazed lemur, with Paris Hilton and Tara Reid flipping off your grandma from the sidelines?

It's in times like these that I wish we had that doomsday device from Escape To L.A., and we could just start over. Refresh. Alt-control-delete the world and get back to basics.

People need to learn some manners, and they need to learn to write letters again.

I blame American Idol.