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  • 2004-04-11 (xsd:date)
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  • Albert Einstein Switches Places with His Chauffeur (de)
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  • One of the best-loved character types of our literature is the scamp, the affable ne'er-do-well who manages to get himself into any number of scrapes but who extricates himself at the moment of crisis by dint of his quick wit and natural aplomb. He's adventurous and daring and cool under pressure, and we envy him his facility in finding the right thing to say in the nick of time to escape the just deserts that would otherwise be meted out to him. Our admiration is of the Gosh, I wish I could be like that variety, as too often real life leaves us stumbling about ungracefully when the spotlight is unexpectedly shined upon us. A tale about a switch in roles between a famous person and his servant shows the scamp at his weaseling best: at the instant when his duplicity is about to be revealed (and before a large audience, yet) he finds a deft way out of his predicament. Even as the story reminds us that there's a big difference between looking the part and actually being the man who has a right to be in the spotlight, we can't help but be delighted by the antics of this natural comedian: However, this incident no more happened to Einstein's chauffeur than it did to the Easter Bunny. This story has long been part of the canon of Jewish folklore, usually framed as a tale about the envious manservant of a wise rabbi who has been invited to address a gathering of elders in a distant town. Einstein is a particularly bad fit for this legend in that of all the brilliant people chronicled in history, he's about the only one almost everyone would immediately recognize. Thus, the story's premise, that the scientist and his driver could change places without others catching on, would fail. (In fact, every version of this anecdote that involves some famous personage is inherently implausible, because how could an audience fail to recognize the well known person they'd come to hear was not the one actually speaking to them?) Here's how a non-Einstein version of the tale was told in 1950: (In other versions of the preceding Jewish folktale, the driver is presented as the scholar's manservant and traveling companion.) In 2004 the story appeared in Reader's Digest, minus Jewish scholars or Albert Einstein, but picking up a couple of Marines in exchange: The story element of a famous person's switching places with his driver turns up in other jokes, too: The same tale popped up again in 2008, this time involving former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda switching places with his cab driver for a speaking engagement at a baseball banquet: Sightings: Comedian Jerry Clower tells this yarn as The Chauffeur and the Professor on his 1970 album From Yazoo City, Mississippi Talkin'. (en)
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