Who Can Really Say?

Life Meets Art

While reading this article from today's NY Times I couldn't help but wonder how Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer were doing.

Cellphones are chock-full of features like built-in cameras, personalized ring tones and text messaging. They also gave a real boost to Kenny Hall's effort to cheat on his girlfriend.

Mr. Hall, a 20-year-old college student in Denver, decided in March to spend a weekend in nearby Boulder with another woman. He turned to his cellphone for help, sending out a text message to hundreds of other cellphone users in an "alibi and excuse club," a network of 3,400 strangers who help each other skip work, get out of dates or give a loved one the slip.

Assistance came instantly. A club member, on receiving Mr. Hall's message, agreed to call the girlfriend. He pretended to be the soccer coach from the University of Colorado at Boulder and said that Mr. Hall was needed in town for a tryout.

"It worked out pretty good," said Mr. Hall, who signed up for the network on www.sms.ac, a Web site that offers access to hundreds of mobile chat rooms.

How does that go again? Life imitates art? Art imitates life? Art Vandelay imitates . . . .

Posted by Peter at June 26, 2004 09:06 AM