Walking to the ATM with muted purpose I notice a guy dressed for a jog on his cell phone leisurely crossing the street. Is he going to the ATM at my corner bank too?
Yes.
By mere milliseconds he gets to the ATM first. I stop to the side about 5 feet away. He immediately takes offense. "What's your problem?" he says barely stopping his cell phone conversation.
"I'm waiting for the ATM." I say
"You're standing to close." He replies.
"I'm 5 feet away." I say.
"You need to step away. You're being rude."
"I'm not going to stab you in the heart and take your card," I reply in a laconic non-threatening tone. "There's witnesses." I lightly point to the 4 dozen people in line at the Honey Baked Ham Store next to my bank. It's the day before Thanksgiving so there is a line down the block.
"You go first." He proceeds to back up to the curb and talk loudly on his cell phone about the rude guy at the bank. He says I need to learn manners. Ignoring him I quickly do what I need to do at the ATM and leave.
As I am walking away he says loudly, "You need some manners."
I continued walking away thinking on his manners. He was more rude than me to the world in general talking on his cell phone like he was in his own house. I'm sure the people in line thought he was more of a rude person than me, though they didn't hear the "stab in the heart" comment I flippantly tossed out.
It's the holiday season and the douchebags are in full bloom.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Death To Twinkie
I never have eaten a Twinkie.
I am a particular eater, and some things I never have eaten. Brussel Sprouts, for one, and Twinkies, for another.
I always liked Ding Dongs, and Cupcakes. I also liked Zingers which were Dolly Madison before they were bought out by Hostess. But Hostess went out of business this week because of a bunch of bad business decisions. Honestly, I think they got "Bained." Seems to me like they got the same kind of treatment for their money problems that Bain Capitol (I'm blaming you Mitt) did with a bunch of other businesses.
I went around to 15 stores after work yesterday to find some of the treats I liked, but people had already gotten there and snatched them all up. This was kind of sad. I found a box of cupcakes and 2 boxes of Chocolate Zingers, and a 2 pack of Ding Dongs.
I ate them as a kid, but not so much in the past 20 years. I'd get a box of something every once in a while as a guilty pleasure but not often. They are tasty, but supposedly bad for you.
With luck some company will come along to resurrect Hostess and their signature treats. Bimbo foods owns Sara Lee, Thomas English Muffins, and Enteman's. They seem to be the perfect choice. If they are watching the news, they are noticing a frenzy of people buying up hordes of Twinkies and Ding Dongs.
Ebay has become a haven for Twinkie profiteers. I saw a 24 box got for $30. It's crazy.
And sad for all the people out of work because Hostess went hardline on labor negotiations.
They need to eat a Ding Dong and fuckin' relax.
I am a particular eater, and some things I never have eaten. Brussel Sprouts, for one, and Twinkies, for another.
I always liked Ding Dongs, and Cupcakes. I also liked Zingers which were Dolly Madison before they were bought out by Hostess. But Hostess went out of business this week because of a bunch of bad business decisions. Honestly, I think they got "Bained." Seems to me like they got the same kind of treatment for their money problems that Bain Capitol (I'm blaming you Mitt) did with a bunch of other businesses.
I went around to 15 stores after work yesterday to find some of the treats I liked, but people had already gotten there and snatched them all up. This was kind of sad. I found a box of cupcakes and 2 boxes of Chocolate Zingers, and a 2 pack of Ding Dongs.
I ate them as a kid, but not so much in the past 20 years. I'd get a box of something every once in a while as a guilty pleasure but not often. They are tasty, but supposedly bad for you.
With luck some company will come along to resurrect Hostess and their signature treats. Bimbo foods owns Sara Lee, Thomas English Muffins, and Enteman's. They seem to be the perfect choice. If they are watching the news, they are noticing a frenzy of people buying up hordes of Twinkies and Ding Dongs.
Ebay has become a haven for Twinkie profiteers. I saw a 24 box got for $30. It's crazy.
And sad for all the people out of work because Hostess went hardline on labor negotiations.
They need to eat a Ding Dong and fuckin' relax.
Republicans Anonymous
I was working a job this week. There was a symposium at the house of a wealthy man in Beverly Hills. We were there to hook up the sound so that the 60 or so people who came could hear. The room was small, but the institute sponsoring the talk wanted to record it. The moderator was a face I recognized from TV, but don't remember his name. Matt something I think. There was a Republican and a Democrat as well.
This was not a contentious argumentative talk. It was a discussion about the election and the two political parties. As someone who watched the election and political stuff closely, I was paying attention. The thing I found odd was the general beaten down attitude of the audience. This was illustrated during the Q&A portion after the talk. The people in the room were all well heeled and Republicans. Not surprising, but what was surprising was the questions. They were saying that the Republican party had left them behind. It had been taken over by radicals and driven off a cliff. One went so far as to blame Reagan and his embracing of the religious right back in the early 80's.
What it sounded like when someone got the Q&A mic was the start of an AA meeting. "My name is Bob and I'm a Republican." "
"Hi Bob"
"My party left me behind..."
The moderator asked the room, "If there was a party that was fiscally conservative and socially liberal, would you vote for them?" EVERY hand went up. Every one. He asked if anyone wouldn't vote for them. No hands went up. It was shocking. The people in the room were fiscally conservative (i.e. Rich) but socially don't give a shit about gay marriage and the sexy bits that got the Republican party into trouble with, well, 51% of the electorate.
The panelists agreed that the Republican party would probably never win a presidential election if they didn't figure out how to get rid of the crazies and not have candidates kowtowing to the far right crazy agenda.But they need to stop watching FOX television and listening to Rush. Doubt that will happen.
Then, of course, Romney was tape recorded on a conference call with BIG money donors this week saying that people were voting for Obama because they were given gifts. No, Mr. Romney, they voted for someone who is not a puritanical dickhead who wants a smaller government in their bedrooms watching them fuck.
Ah, politics...
This was not a contentious argumentative talk. It was a discussion about the election and the two political parties. As someone who watched the election and political stuff closely, I was paying attention. The thing I found odd was the general beaten down attitude of the audience. This was illustrated during the Q&A portion after the talk. The people in the room were all well heeled and Republicans. Not surprising, but what was surprising was the questions. They were saying that the Republican party had left them behind. It had been taken over by radicals and driven off a cliff. One went so far as to blame Reagan and his embracing of the religious right back in the early 80's.
What it sounded like when someone got the Q&A mic was the start of an AA meeting. "My name is Bob and I'm a Republican." "
"Hi Bob"
"My party left me behind..."
The moderator asked the room, "If there was a party that was fiscally conservative and socially liberal, would you vote for them?" EVERY hand went up. Every one. He asked if anyone wouldn't vote for them. No hands went up. It was shocking. The people in the room were fiscally conservative (i.e. Rich) but socially don't give a shit about gay marriage and the sexy bits that got the Republican party into trouble with, well, 51% of the electorate.
The panelists agreed that the Republican party would probably never win a presidential election if they didn't figure out how to get rid of the crazies and not have candidates kowtowing to the far right crazy agenda.But they need to stop watching FOX television and listening to Rush. Doubt that will happen.
Then, of course, Romney was tape recorded on a conference call with BIG money donors this week saying that people were voting for Obama because they were given gifts. No, Mr. Romney, they voted for someone who is not a puritanical dickhead who wants a smaller government in their bedrooms watching them fuck.
Ah, politics...
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Voting
The election is in 2 days and I'm still glued to television political shows. MSNBC is on in the background as I go thru my day. The chatter of the pundits I agree with comforts me and quells my rage at the political system and it's disfunction. Or maybe it stokes me. I don't know.
In one of the segments they showed clips from the Kennedy - Nixon election of 1960 and another clip of the Nixon - Humphrey contest 8 years later in 1968. What I noticed was the tally boards. The 1960 one was a chalk board that they would erase the numbers and write in a new total with chalk. In 1968 it was more like a baseball score board with removable numbers. But both boards held a revelation for me. In 1960 the tally they showed in the clip was about 19 million on each side. In 1968 the tally was 29 million on each side. So the electorate was about 40-60 million voters. The current 2011 census has the population of the USA at 314,165,191. Back in 1960 the population was about 181 million.
So 40-50 years ago to have 40 - 60 million people vote on one day made sense. But now when there are 314 million people in the country it makes no sense to have a single day be the only one for voting. There was an idea put out by a senator that election day should be a holiday so no one has to lose work or money while waiting in long lines. The simpler idea to stop long lines is to have the 2 weeks before the election, weekends included, be open for voting in all states, counties and cities. Early voting would then end on election day. It would give the voters time to get to the polls when they can and not worry about getting fired or being late to work.
There are long lines in Ohio and Florida right now where they are having early voting. There are lines that are 2 to 4 to 6 hours long while people are waiting to vote. They may give up and not vote. Which is a shame. Because in Ohio and Florida voting became harder. This was done by Republican state office holders and taken to the courts to block early voting, purge the voter rolls, and make voting in Democratic strongholds less than in Republican areas. If people get discouraged by how difficult it is to vote, Republicans may win.
What a shitty way for a political party to be. But it only reflects the way they have obstructed the current President. To get him out of office they did nothing to help the country. They think the office of the President is only theirs. Rich white guys. They don't realize that the angry white guys are now outnumbered by people of other colors.
Go vote. Don't let them discourage you from doing your civic duty.
In one of the segments they showed clips from the Kennedy - Nixon election of 1960 and another clip of the Nixon - Humphrey contest 8 years later in 1968. What I noticed was the tally boards. The 1960 one was a chalk board that they would erase the numbers and write in a new total with chalk. In 1968 it was more like a baseball score board with removable numbers. But both boards held a revelation for me. In 1960 the tally they showed in the clip was about 19 million on each side. In 1968 the tally was 29 million on each side. So the electorate was about 40-60 million voters. The current 2011 census has the population of the USA at 314,165,191. Back in 1960 the population was about 181 million.
So 40-50 years ago to have 40 - 60 million people vote on one day made sense. But now when there are 314 million people in the country it makes no sense to have a single day be the only one for voting. There was an idea put out by a senator that election day should be a holiday so no one has to lose work or money while waiting in long lines. The simpler idea to stop long lines is to have the 2 weeks before the election, weekends included, be open for voting in all states, counties and cities. Early voting would then end on election day. It would give the voters time to get to the polls when they can and not worry about getting fired or being late to work.
There are long lines in Ohio and Florida right now where they are having early voting. There are lines that are 2 to 4 to 6 hours long while people are waiting to vote. They may give up and not vote. Which is a shame. Because in Ohio and Florida voting became harder. This was done by Republican state office holders and taken to the courts to block early voting, purge the voter rolls, and make voting in Democratic strongholds less than in Republican areas. If people get discouraged by how difficult it is to vote, Republicans may win.
What a shitty way for a political party to be. But it only reflects the way they have obstructed the current President. To get him out of office they did nothing to help the country. They think the office of the President is only theirs. Rich white guys. They don't realize that the angry white guys are now outnumbered by people of other colors.
Go vote. Don't let them discourage you from doing your civic duty.
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