Monday, February 6, 2017

Monday's Missives


  • A couple of times a week I see the same Corvette in traffic on my way to work. He drives like a maniac.
  • At work one of my nursing buddies and I hold hands sometimes as we chat or see each other walking in or out of the building. There is nothing to it- it is just nice.
  • Years ago there was  an elderly lady who burned herself with some McDonald's coffee. The resulting lawsuit and consequent multimillion dollar award was used to prove everything that was wrong with American society and how out of control and irresponsible we were. She shouldn't have put that cup between her legs to pop the lid off; doing so was the dumbest thing she did that day but there is more than meets the eye in that case. Did you know that first all she wanted was her medical bills to be paid and for McDonald's to turn the heat down just a tad or that she had second and third degree burns requiring skin grafts and that McDonald's was known for their coffee being hotter than national standards and averages? Of course you didn't know all that. You believe what you believe about that case because corporate giants want you to believe it (so you will be less likely to defend yourself and sue like the crazy lady with the burned cooter) and because we are in general terrible processors of information.
  • Addendum to the previous thought: I won't post them but there are images of that women's burns out there on the Internets free for the searching. Be forewarned though- they are ookie.
  • This morning (02/04/2016) as I watched a DVD of Flight of the Conchords the main character's friend Dave mentioned Escape From Alacatraz and on the way to work The Musers were talking about Alcatraz.
  • Random.

2 comments:

an Donalbane said...

"...buddies and I hold hands..."

Umm, Kev, is this what is meant by 'oversharing'? Being a laissez faire, sorta open minded dude, I say that if their boyfriends or husbands don't mind two guys holding hands, neither should I. ;-)

Actually, I kinda understand what you're saying - I think. Although I don't recall holding hands with any guys (other than a two-handed Church of Christ pastor 'so sorry for your loss, Mr. Witherspoon' kinda way), a side-hug is occasionally appropriate. Full frontal hugs with both arms I avoid, except with my Dad, and recently with a friend who had lost one of his adult sons. But those have to be leaned into - no pelvic contact allowed.

A couple of points on the hot coffee. I kinda support the brewing at higher temps, as in many cases people are picking up the java for others, who would appreciate it still being at coffee temperature when it arrives. I thought it was nice when as a result of the judgment, the Arches (at least some locations) offered to put the sugar/creamer in the cup before handing it to you at the drive-up. The second point is the object lesson of communicating: In many cases, properly communicating and empathizing can obviate the need for negotiation and litigation. I don't do it as often as I should, but many times a sincere "How can we make this right?" will result in less discord and rancor (and lawyers' fees, court costs, and outrageous judgments) than getting defensive.

No way I would Google to look at that woman's hoo-ha.

el chupacabra said...

Hey Don- Right and the point with the hand holding thing is/was it wouldn't be an arms swinging back and forth love-lock on each others hands- just briefly holding them.
Funny, there were no sexual connotations at all- but I would never hold hands with another dude.
Eeew.