TIME Magazine covers. (ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- The moment none of us has been waiting for happened yesterday, the release of Time Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people.
It’s the usual mix of actors and actresses I’ve mostly never heard of, the usual suspects in Washington, newsmakers like the kids from Douglas High in Florida, and so on.
Meghan Markle, the soon-to-be-new-princess, is in there, due to her pervasive influence.
I would have read Elton John’s essay about Prince Harry, who also makes the list, if I didn’t have to make a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich instead.
How do the editors at Time make these choices?
It’s a “designation of individuals whose time, in our estimation, is now,” they say.
I don’t get it. If you’re here, above ground, isn’t your time inherently now?
Anyway, skimming Time’s list got me thinking about the people who really influence our lives around here, in the Athens of America.
What about the guy (or gal) who plows out our driveways?
Until they come, we are trapped; if they don’t come at all, we’re ruined. Now that’s influence.
There has to be room on Boston’s most influential people list for the gal (or guy) in the car ahead of you. If he or she doesn’t know how to use the gas, you may never get to work. If they don’t understand the brake, you may wind up in the front seat alongside them.
I realize, those are categories of people, not specific names.
So I’ll close with one as my pick for most influential Bostonian of 2018 – Mother Nature.
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