Pushing a Rock

The real woman behind the fake Flo.

My son, a serious chap who hates wasting a second of life, often wonders what he should "do with it" so as not to squander what he regards as a precious commodity. I admire this trait in him although I don't really share it, having personally never wondered what to do with my life as much as how to get through it.

Still, I have chosen my pursuits wisely, not counting the acid trips, and waste no time extricating myself from situations I deem worthless, be they friendships, jobs or that one ill-fated marriage. So I am more than a little mystified when I see people who stagnate in unfulfilling jobs offering no growth for thirty years or more, or celebrate anniversaries with spouses they abhor year after year. This brings to mind "Flo," the obnoxious spokeswoman for Progressive Insurance.

How does she do it ? How can she wake up each morning knowing that she's got to put on that heavy makeup and get her hair done in that weird way, and wear the ugly outfits and say the dumb lines again and again and again? She's been at it since 2008, and if this woman is not a modern-day Sisyphus then nobody is.

I did a little research and learned that "Flo" is portrayed by 47-year-old Stephanie Courtney, who is actually quite pretty underneath all the gunk. She earns about half a million per commercial, and I guess that's enough for her to keep doing it. But really, one wonders if playing a ditzy sales clerk in all sorts of ridiculous situations, just to sell insurance, is what she envisioned when she said in an interview, "I was never tortured over whether I wanted to become an actress. There was never another option in my mind."