I recently paid $50 to attend a preview screening of the movie, Still Alice. The film was to start at 7 p.m. But it began 40 minutes late. Not only did executives of each of the sponsors insist on their (equal) time at the podium, but, much like victims of an interminable home invasion, the 500 of us in the audience had to endure "greetings" from three different politicians. Why do we put up with this?