Opinion: Saying the L.A. magic words

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Before you saw the date, before you saw the honorees, before you saw anything else about the 32nd annual dinner of the Saban Free Clinic -- formerly the Los Angeles Free Clinic -- you opened the beautifully die-cut invitation and saw this promise:

‘’Once Again, You’ll Be Out By Ten.’’

For reasons I still haven’t fathomed -- traffic? curfews? the expectation of seeing yourself on the 11 o’clock news? -- even the most glamorous events can’t hold on to Angelenos at a late hour.

[The Oscars and other televised events end early, but that’s because they’re being broadcast live to the East Coast, which means that by the time we here in LA see the awards on television, the awardees are actually drifting home from the after-Oscar parties.]

At events that begin at 7 or 7.30 p.m., you’ll see some people straggling out to the valet before 10 p.m. -- maybe a bit later, if there are goodie bags to collect.

If anybody has any theories about why we roll up the sidewalks as early as a cow-town, I’d like to hear them. Maybe ‘’cowtown’’ is a clue -- after all, which professionals have to get up really early? Farmers -- and actors.