Use the back door! Revisited

Yesterday I had the opportunity to ride on a newer bus. It was not much different from the older busses, though a little less worn and used looking. One major difference though was that each time someone signaled they wanted to get off the bus in addition to the bell that sounds, there was also a recorded voiceover that announced “Please exit through the rear door”. How clever, thought I upon first hearing the announcement. How annoying for the driver, thought I after the third, and fourth, and fifth announcement. But what was really interesting was the impact the announcement to “Please exit through the rear door” had on the behaviors of passengers. Do you think that unlike other busses, the majority of passengers on this bus with the prominent reminder of expected behavior actually exited through the rear door? Of course not! The majority of the passengers exited through the front doors, just as if it were all business as usual. Do they just not care? Is it a learned behavior that I do not understand because I did not grow up using busses? Is it some sort of odd status system? What am I missing?

YOU DO THE MATH

What makes 100%?
What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%.
How about achieving 103%?
What makes up 100% in life?

Here is a mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:
IF:A,B,C,D,E,F, G,H,I,J,K, L,M,N,O,P, Q,R,S,T,U, V,W,X,Y,Z
IS REPRESENTED:1,2,3,4,5,6, 7,8,9,10, 11,12,13, 14,15,16, 17,18,19, 20,21,22, 23,24,25, 26

THEN:
H-A-R-D-W-O- R-K=8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11 = 98%
AND
K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E=11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%
BUT,
A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E=1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5= 100%
AND,
B-U-L-L-S-H- I-T=2+21+12+12+19+ 8+9+20= 103%
AND
A-S-S-K-I-S- S-I-N-G=1+19+19+11+9+ 19+19+9+14+ 7= 118%

So one can conclude with mathematical certainly, that while HARD WORK and KNOWLEDGE will get you close, and ATTITUDE will get you there, it's the BULLSHIT and ASSKISSING that will put you over the top.

(Thank you for the chuckle to the anonymous teachers and the people who passed this around the web.)

Always good advice, no matter what system of belief you subscribe to.

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money! twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.

'And why's everyone so quiet,
So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in shock.
No one thought they'd be seeing you.'

JUDGE NOT.

Every saint has a PAST...
Every sinner has a FUTURE!

I actually arrived home last night before sunset and was so pleased to see my neighborhood in bloom that I had to take a few pictures.

15 PEOPLE GOT $50 MILLON!!!!!

Regardless of the current state of the economy overall, when there are people in your society who are starving and homeless, or working 2 and 3 jobs, but still barely can feed their children how do you justify ANYONE getting a bonus of over a million dollars? And why did it take our economy coming to a standstill for us to realize Hey, maybe there IS something wrong here???

I have taken until now to write this because I simply had to calm down. For the past few days I have been able to do little more than scream into the wind (or at my TV) 15 PEOPLE GOT $50 MILLON!!!!!

It is especially galling as the MTA passes huge fare hikes (my monthly pass is going to increase by $23) and some people are honestly not sure how they are going to get to work. Yet... 15 PEOPLE GOT $50 MILLON!!!!! I cannot help but let out a loud grrrolp!

I am not going to get into whether AIG did the right or wrong thing in honoring the contracts they had. My issue is the fact these contracts, allowing these kinds of oversized funds to go to individuals EXHISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!

I am going to stop writing now, as I am getting worked up again.

How many people does it take to move in Manhattan???

The answer, I discovered this weekend, is at least 3 (2 if you do not have any furniture). Why these numbers you might ask? Well this would be because when using a moving vehicle (truck/van whatever) you cannot leave it unattended, ever. This is for two very logical reasons.

1. There is no parking in most of Manhattan so you either have to double park or park in front of a fire hydrant and therefore have someone available to move the vehicle on a moment’s notice to avoid getting a ticket or someone ramming their vehicle into your (rented) vehicle as they try to get out of a spot.

2. If you leave it unattended your stuff WILL be gone when you return.

When I moved I was fortunate that I did not have to deal with these problems. While I did have to park in front of a hydrant, I was moving to a residential street in a residential neighborhood in Queens where things are quieter and simpler. No one cared that I was parked in front of the hydrant and my windows looked out onto the street and I could see and immediately respond if anyone needed me to move. This weekend however, I helped move my friend who lives on the upper west side of Manhattan and it was most definitely a different experience.

What was most interesting to me was the number of people who approached us with offers of help. Some made it clear that they were looking for work, others were willing to ‘help out’ but made it clear in their manner they would expect some sort of compensation including two kids around 10-12 years old. It is clear that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well.

Funnily, the moving part was the least difficult aspect of our day, she did not have much furniture and she was moving from the 1st floor to an elevator building. What was the worst was trying to go buy some appliances and other items for the new apartment. Because, again, THERE IS NO PARKING in Manhattan and the few parking garages that were near where we were trying to go had ceiling heights that were too small for the moving truck. So… we ended up driving out to Queens by me and going to the stores that I knew had parking lots. This was Saturday evening, and Manhattan is an island, the only way in/out is through a tunnel or over a bridge and EVERYONE else was trying to get in/out as well, add the ever present construction and you have a very interesting ride. Fortunately most of it was comical, no true tragedy ensued, except that the Landlord did not communicate with the super about when she would be moving in and the apartment was not ready and she may not have any heat or hot water for the rest of the week, but other than that all is well;-)

Shame on you, for not spending money on things you don't need.

I am intrigued and a little irritated by news reports about companies going out of business, not because the company was overextended or because they have not been able to get loans or are suffering from many of the other ills we have been inundated with recently, but because people have "stopped buying things they don't need." The report itself is not what bothers me, we have many non-essential industries that are being hit hard by the current recesion. What bothers me is the accusatory tone of some of the reports towards people who have cut back their spending on non-essential items.
What does it say about how we have been running our economy when the fact that people don't buy things they do not need is looked on as being a BAD thing? And, people who do not buy things they do not need are looked on as unpatriotic. This perspective is an example of how skewed our perspective has become regarding how our economy should function, and how ferverently some choose to ignore the fact that we have created an economy that revolves around rampant consumerism that is not sustainable.
I cannot help but wonder how different our situation would be now if, after 9/11, Bush would have led a nation wide reflection instead of encouraging spending as a form of showing our patriotism. Of course do we really want to reflect on what he wants to reflect on?