Oprah's mom and "The Partridge Family" redux

No, Oprah's mom is not joining the Partridge family - those are two different stories, silly!


Free Shopping for the Stupid

This story says that Oprah Winfrey's mother doesn't think she should have to pay a $150,000 credit bill at a high-end fashion store because they shouldn't have extended the credit to her.

Lee filed a counterclaim Friday contending that Valentina took advantage of her "lack of knowledge, ability, and-or capacity" when creating her credit account.

The only way I'm going to buy that is if she has some sort of mental disability. If she's just ignorant that if you run a credit line up, it means you actually have to pay it, then no, that's a frickin' idiotic reason for not having to pay the bill.

This paragraph confuses me:

Court papers say Lee resolved a 2002 case with the company over a $175,000 bill. The resolution prohibited Valentina from extending further credit to her.

I can't tell if this bill is related to that bill or if she was indeed given more credit even though they weren't supposed to. But then, if they weren't supposed to, I don't see how they could be filing to make her pay the bill.

But ok, let's say that technically, they shouldn't have extended her the credit, so legally, maybe she's not liable. Then the store is completely stupid. But she gets to get away with "oh, I didn't know any better, so I shouldn't have to pay up this massive debt I racked up on a total luxury item"? Should I launch into my rant on people who are completely irresponsible with money and feel entitled to everything and don't owe anyone anything whereas everyone else owes them? No, I won't do it right now because I don't have the time. But I'm tired of people like that. If you can't afford it, don't buy it, especially when it's frivolous stuff.

And no, I don't think Oprah should pay the bill for her mother. It doesn't matter how much money Oprah has - it's her money. Her mother racked up the bill - it's her responsibility.


Come On, Get Happy

NBC apparently thinks that the world is clamouring for more of "The Partridge Family".

"The new version will reflect what seems to me to be the more realistic family band scenario these days: a struggling, sort of well-meaning mom pimping her kids in order to create a wholesome-slash-sexy cash cow."

I can't be the only person who thinks this is a bad idea. I wonder what Danny Bonaduce thinks about this.