If the tabloids have taught us anything, it’s that being a celebrity isn’t easy. For one thing, people are always up in your business, especially when you’re trying to keep things on the down-low. Just ask Robert Downey Jr – every time he tries to casually go about his day-to-day activities, someone has to run and blab about it all over town. And in this case, that someone is me.
Yesterday afternoon, everyone’s favorite rehab habitue was strolling out of the CAA offices in Beverly Hills with a crazy-haired preteen boy (his son?) and some other guy about RDJ’s age. Apparently the boy and the Other Guy needed a sugar fix bad, because they started shrieking about frappucinos and ran straight across busy Santa Monica Boulevard toward Starbucks. They could’ve walked 50 feet to the corner, waited for the light to change, and then crossed the street safely, but no. They had to have it right away, traffic or no traffic.
Now RDJ was faced with a decision he’s had to sweat out a few times in the past: Do the right thing or give in to temptation. My girlfriend and I watched as he scratched his stubbly chin, twirled his man-purse, and mentally calculated how much longer it would take him to actually cross the street in a safe, legal fashion. Finally he turned towards the corner, then at the last second turned and ran right out in front of a Jaguar screaming “Wait for me, guys!” The Jag slammed on its brakes, and RDJ skipped (literally) all the way across four lanes of traffic. Giving in might not be safe, but it always feels soooooo good.
– Chris May