I Think, Therefore I Rant!

Actually my secret is gift giving in general for my wife of over 2 decades.

While I love her dearly, the sad fact is that after this much time and gravity (and her birthing 3 wonderful kids), neither of us can fit into the clothes that we wore on the big day in 1985.

I also suck at picking out clothes for her as gifts!

So what am i to do?  Simple, I have never stopped buying my bride of many years the same sizes that she wore on our first honeymoon.  That way, even though I know she hates the color and style of the blouse that I just bought her, she has a great reason to return it.  She also thinks that I compliment her on her size.  When she says “You know I can’t wear that size anymore”, I simply reply “But you have been working out and dieting. It looked like you were back to your old size again!”  

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I have had enough with being politically correct!  I just don’t get it.  When 96 percent of African-Americans obviously chose to vote for a man because of his color, the rest of the world has the right to comment on his color.  I do not begrudge the man appealing to the minority group that he belongs to.  That is exactly what happens in a representative government.  It is why in some voting districts a person that was a Jew or a Catholic or woman cannot win.  Frankly, it is why in some districts a Republican or a Democrat can’t win.

Stories that Walgreens is putting the spike on “Chia Obama” get my gander up.  After all, a chia pet is almost always a gag gift.  Why can’t it be a gag gift about a particular person?  

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My 3 teenagers have all purchased the iPod Touch from BestBuy.  Actually, the youngest one just received his as a birthday gift and that is what is prompting this rant.

There are a variety of gadget sites that talk about the deals available at BestBuy (see here and here). The forums are split as to buying the warranty (here and here) but Apple doesn’t have a great track record on iPods and the BestBuy warranty has replaced 3 separate iPods for my family over the years so we think it is a good deal.

So when my youngest son wanted a new iPod Touch to replace his nano, it was natural for us to go to BestBuy. He was ecstatic when he opened the gift and it was plugged into the family computer within minutes.  Imagine his disappointment when his brand new Touch had pre-2.0 software on it and iTunes wanted him to upgrade for only $9.95!  This OS upgrade was announced almost a year ago.  

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A lot of us use instant messaging (IM) in our private and professional lives. It is a convenient and quick way to talk to others without the formality and delay of email. A new jargon has been created to talk in this medium and emoticons are often used to express feelings and emphasis.

You can tell a lot about someone by reading their instant messages. The biggest thing you can tell to see if someone is just plain clueless is if they send you messages like this:

IDontKnowHowToIM: Did you watch the game
IDontKnowHowToIM: this weekend? I thought
IDontKnowHowToIM: it was great and I was
IDontKnowHowToIM: amazed at how well Tom
IDontKnowHowToIM: Brady played he must be
IDontKnowHowToIM: the best player in NFL

What IDontKnowHowToIM meant to type was this:

IDontKnowHowToIM: Did you watch the game this weekend? I thought it was great and I was amazed at how well Tom Brady played he must be the best player in NFL  

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Some of you are not going to get this post. I live in the Midwest, not in Boston or New York. There are different rules of etiquette in driving in those two cities but everywhere else is pretty much like the Midwest (or should be).

When I was a kid (as my children say – back when TV was black and white, the radios only played AM, and a CD was bought by rich people at the bank), we always let others in when driving and were stopped at a stoplight. You know the situation, you are the 5th car from the light, some poor soul just spent half of his savings at the gas station on the corner, and now he needs to enter the traffic stream. Back in the dark ages, that driver would give you a wave of thanks and usually even mouth a “Thank you” in your direction.  

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I am a very polite person (okay stop laughing). I was taught by my dear mother to always be polite to others, especially strangers.

So why is it so hard to say “I’m Sorry” (my apologies to the great Elton John and his songwriter Bernie Taupin for stealing this line – couldn’t resist).

It is one thing to be bumped in a crowd. Everyone understands that you are going to bumped, fondled, and stepped on in a crowd of noisy and obnoxious people. But if I am standing in a spot with plenty of room around me for even the biggest and fattest person to crawl through, I expect you to not step on my toes.

If you do step on me, hit me with your 20 pound purse or sneeze on me, would it kill ya to say “Sorry Dude” after I get back up from the floor where you knocked me?  

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