Sidney Crosby and 'preferential treatment' given to celebrities.

[LSN80]

Sidney Crosby made headlines locally on Friday, and for once with the like-able off-ice Penguins star, it was negative publicity. The issue? Crosby went to his local DMV to renew his Driver's License, and instead of being made to wait with the rest, he was ushered to the front. Avoiding the lines and the wait that we've all experienced, Crosby was in and out in less then fifteen minutes.

And for me, that was the proper way to handle it.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/penndot-treats-penguin-with-kid-gloves-698800/

According to Pennsylvania law, supervisors at local DMV's are given discretion to allow celebrities to go to the "front of the line" based on the furvor and commotion their presence may cause. The law according to DMV spokeswoman Jan McKnight, was put into place in order to actually decreasewait times, as their presence just standing in line would cause unnecessary delays due to autograph seekers and the like McKnight said:

The decision is based on how much potential the celebrity has to create a furor that causes delays for everyone. If they walk in and the place goes crazy with fans, we would just move them in and out. It's a matter of keeping control and keeping disruptions to a minimum.

Including the very author of this article, some of those waiting in line at the time, including 46 year old Susan Campbell, were upset by this, and disagree with the State policy:

"I disapprove. I spent an hour and half at the center waiting in line twice with my daughter Jessica helping her renew her license before heading off to college. He should have to sit and wait with everyone else."

Phrases being bantered around by others included 'double standard' & 'preferential treatment', and that moving Crosby or another celebrity to the front of the line sends the message that said celebrities are more important than the average citizen. However, Ms. Campbell's other daughter herself, 22-year-old Stephanie, disagrees:

"That would be so disruptive(making Crosby wait in-line) After all, people waiting with Mr. Crosby would text pictures to their friends and his fans would overrun the DMV in no time. If I knew he was going to be there, I'd be down there in five seconds".

And there, I suppose, are the pros and cons equated with the situation. For me, this isn't the case of an athlete or celebrity using his star power to take someone's reservation at a restaurant, or having to skip a wait. This wasn't Crosby coming to renew his license and bringing ten friends with him that needed to also. This was simply a matter of practicality. Fans get star-struck, and when they do, they do anything from requesting autographs to attempting to engage them in long conversation. A place like the DMV is based upon structure and a variety of services, and having a commotion such as Crosby waiting in line would, in all likelihood, make wait times longer for everyone.

From a practical standpoint, how much of an inconvenience to others was his 'line jumping', truly? DMVs by nature are a service that require long waits. As Ms. Campbell said, she was there for an hour-and-a-half with her younger daughter. Yet Crosby was in and out in 15 minutes, tops. How much does one person, being processed ahead, truly extend one's wait time?

There are other places and times where arguing 'double standard' or 'preferential treatment' are far more appropriate then this, I believe.There are plenty of other battles to pick with celebrities with far more legitimacy and ego involved then this one. Crosby followed the law as outlined by the State and in accordance with the DMV, caused little inconvenience for others, and likely saved the patrons and the licensing center from a disruption in the normal process.

Are there situations where celebrities should be afforded 'preferential treatment', and if so, is this one of them?

Feel free to discuss or bring up other examples with relation to the topic, and its appropriateness(or lack thereof) regarding celebrities and preferential treatment.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Are there situations where celebrities should be afforded 'preferential treatment', and if so, is this one of them?

If you're sitting in a hospital ER waiting to be seen when, all of a sudden, Charlie Sheen is wheeled in on a stretcher with tubes hooked into his arms coughing up blood while you're there for a broken finger, then it's an acceptable circumstance. If you're there for a dislocated shoulder and Beyoncé is brought in after having suffered severe burns due to a pyro mishap while performing at a concert, that's an acceptable situation as well. I wouldn't classify such happenings as preferential treatment but as life and death situations. Life and death situations are a different matter altogether.

When it comes to the day to day aspects of everyday life, however, then I don't really see very many instances of justification. If I'm waiting in line at the post office to get some stamps so I can mail in my electric bill or to check out at the supermarket, only for Shaq to be ushered on up to the front of the line just so he doesn't have to wait an extra 5 minutes, then I'm screaming bloody murder and raising holy hell over it. It might not necessarily solve anything, but I'll definitely speak up. I wouldn't behave like some immature jerk, but I certainly would demand an explanation. He puts his drawers on one leg at a time just like I do. He can pay someone to put his drawers on for him, but that's irrelevant.

If it's an emergency where somebody's water is about to break or they have to get to the hospital to see their mother undergo cancer treatments or something, then that's one thing. It's something entirely different, however, if they simply don't want to spend the next few minutes being inconvenienced. Simply because you're famous and have a bigger bank account does render you as "better" in the minds of some people, but not me.

 

[HBK-aholic]

There's a difference between a celebrity demanding they are ushered to the front so that they don't miss their eyebrow wax, and a company making the smart decision to get a celebrity out of the way in order to minimise disruption to other customers and their workers. This wasn't being done to suck-up to, or kiss the ass of Crosby, but simply to keep order.

That being said, you can of course understand the annoyance of people waiting; this certainly looks like someone being given preferential treatment just because of their status and if I were in line for 2 hours only to wait longer because someone famous arrived, I'd probably kick up a fuss too. It's one of those situations where retrospect helps.

Of course, this is for certain situations only; emergency situations such as hospitals should never take into account celebrity status, solely relying on medical evidence. And I don't believe in stores closing to regular customers so a celebrity can browse 'in peace'.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I have absolutely no problem whatsoever in regards to Sidney Crosby receiving preferential treatment in the manner he did, and that's even taking into account the team he plays for. Let's not be naive here, celebrities receive preferential treatment in such trivial matters such as the example cited in the original post, they always have and they always will. And truth be told, every single solitary one of us, bar none, would do the exact same thing if we were in a position to do so. Actors, actresses, singers, athletes, professional wrestlers, celebrities of any sort, they all will use their status to get ahead in the world, to have greater convenience, and I have no problem accepting this fact.

If it were a matter of more urgency, such as moving ahead of others waiting in a hospital emergency room, for example, that would be a totally different matter. But for something trivial like getting your driver's license renewed, what's the big deal? As I understand it, it's not like Crosby demanded preferential treatment, or was acting like a diva or anything. The people at the DMV took it upon themselves to escort him to the front of the line. What do people expect Crosby to do, to say no thank you, I'd rather stand in line for an hour?

How much of a disruption would a star like Sidney Crosby cause in a public place such as the DMV, and how much chaos and associated delays would have ensured from it? And truth be told, how much longer did people have to wait because one guy was allowed to skip line? It's not like the entire Pittsburgh Penguins organization showed up and collectively pushed other people out the door.

Sometimes, people just complain too goddamn much. If Crosby skips line, people are pissed off. If he stands in line and chaos ensues, the same people would be complaining, saying they could have avoided the fuss by pushing him to the front of the line. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

 

[H33LTurn]

As another poster stated, life and death matters are completely different. However, being that this was at the DMV which is regularly crowded as it is, a public figure's presence could cause a great commotion, the preference was appropriate.

 

[HBsam31]

I listened to Mark Madden talk about this today, and it was mentioned that the DMV has this policy for all celebs. It makes sense to me. Everyone else there gets on their phone and tells all their friends Crosby is there, and pretty soon the place is packed. I know it doesn't seem fair, but it really is the best thing to do for everyone. I think the wait for everyone else would have been much longer had Crosby been made to wait in line.

 

[Mustang Sally]

This wasn't being done to suck-up to, or kiss the ass of Crosby, but simply to keep order.

In many ways, it was both. I can accept the idea they were concerned about keeping order, and while they'll claim that's the only reason they pushed Sidney ahead, wouldn't it be fair to suggest they also did it because they were so knocked out by the celebrity in their midst? Never mind how Sidney regards himself; the people in charge at DMV saw him as above them, too. They want to please the famous person.....toward what end I couldn't say.

If the MVD (somehow) had only six people waiting in line and Crosby walked in, can anyone say for sure he would've been forced to stand in line, even for a brief period?

For whatever reason, the world goes completely nuts for celebrated people. They are as important as we make them out to be.

To my mind, the worst example was Paris Hilton being let out of jail because she was crying that she didn't want to be there. (Yes, she was later returned to the slammer when it was realized what the jailer had done). There was no question of people's safety involved in this and no one else was being inconvenienced by Paris Hilton sitting in jail. In fact, if you or I were in there and yelling to the jailer that we wanted to go home, how big do you think the chances would be that he'd release us? No, the difference here was that she was a celebrity and it's a much better example than Sidney Crosby showing up at DMV of what constitutes abuse on behalf of celebrities.

I'll buy the notion of Sidney Crosby being pushed ahead of regular folks, but there are plenty of examples of people who have more than us being given privileges we would never get, just because they're famous.