Conversation Monopolists

Why is it so hard for some people to have a normal conversation?

The art of conversation seems to be lost. A good conversation will have some give and take, where all parties to the conversation have an opportunity to contribute. There should be natural pauses to allow input, and the occasional "What do you think?" or "How are things going with you?"

When it's a little kid, it's understandable. But when adults are involved, there ought to be a level of emotional intelligence. Of course, that requires all the parties to have an interest in the other people. When you get a narcissist involved, all bets are off. Especially if they are a bigger and better person ("Oh yeah, well you should hear what happened to me.") 

So, how was your Christmas?

Fast Food Prices Are Higher... Duh.

[Rant ahead. You are warned.]

I love all the articles recently about how expensive fast food is getting. (Here's one example.)

What did people expect? People complained that the minimum wage was too low. "You can't raise a family on $8 an hour!" (In the first place, what are you doing trying to raise a family while working at McBurger Whatever? Maybe you should shoot higher than an entry-level position. But that's another rant for another time.) 

So wages have continually increased, doubling or more over the past few years. Did people think that this wasn't going to translate into higher prices? That's why you're paying $7+ for a decent fast food hamburger now or for a premium coffee drink. Add in higher food costs, fuel costs to deliver the food, inflation, etc. and of course it's going to get passed on to the consumer. 

It's almost like people don't understand basic economic principles. 

Oh, wait...

Political Ad Blocking Service Needs to be a Thing

It's only a little over a week until the midterm elections and I don't know about you, but I'm really sick of seeing all the political ads on TV. Especially the morning news, which seems to be where the majority of them are. (To be fair, there's probably a lot in the evening, but I don't watch evening news and the TV shows we watch, we fast forward through the ads.)

You know how they have services like VidAngel where you can set it to bleep out bad language and violence from movies and TV shows? What if someone invented that for political commercials? I'd pay for a service like that!

Seriously, do the political ads really change anyone's mind about anything, or do they just reinforce the beliefs you already have? Or maybe they keep people from wanting to vote at all because they're just so sick and tired of all the negative campaigning. 

I definitely think you should vote, but you should only do it by being informed. But don't rely on political advertising to inform you. Do your own research. Pray about it. And then cast an informed vote.

In the meantime, just record all the shows you want to watch on your DVR and then you can fast forward through all the political junk. We do that regularly with morning news programs. Turns out you can get caught up on an hour's worth of news in about 20 minutes. 

The Ad Man Cometh

I've always been fascinated by marketing and the advertising industry. I don't begrudge advertising as it provides several useful benefits. For one, it can make you aware of new products. And it helps pay for things that we can receive free or very inexpensively. Newspapers, for example, for decades have survived on advertising. Classified ads were vital and the advent of the internet and services like Craigslist hurt newspaper revenue immensely.

Television programming, as well, was made available at no cost, other than your time that you were obligated to sit through a commercial. This model, of course, is being upended by streaming services which require payment to minimize or eliminate advertising.

Again, I have no problem with any of this. This is a part of the free market economy that provides goods and services.

But there are times when I think that producers of a product misuse advertising. For example, I have a particular Android app that I have been enjoying for years that has recently begun including ads. I have no problem with that, as they want to monetize their product to continue to develop it. But the way it has been implemented is in a very intrusive way, and your encouraged each time to pay for the product to get rid of the advertising. 

In this case, I think they are being extremely unfair to the advertiser. After all, who wants their advertising to be considered an intrusive nuisance that is holding the user hostage but which can be eliminated if you pay the ransom demand? I wouldn't want to be one of their advertisers.

Why not rather help the advertisers by presenting them as a service ("here's something you might not be aware of that will help you!")? Of course that would require some curating of the advertisers and intentionality on the part of the app developers. Much easier to simply put some code in there and nag your users until they pay up.

Text Me Maybe

I remember when I first read about text messaging. There was an article which said that SMS (short message service) was really catching on among young people in England and parts of Europe and they were anticipating that it would shortly become a big trend in the US. I thought, "Why would anyone want to send a short message to someone, especially one that was limited to 160 characters? No way would that ever catch on."

Turns out I was wrong.

Which is surprising. Not just the fact that I was wrong, but that I was wrong about people looking for a way to communicate that didn't involve talking on the phone.

I hate to talk on the phone. I don't mind phone calls if there is some information that I need to convey or receive, but I'm not one to spend time just "catching up" on the phone. I hate to call someone just to chat. I'd much rather get together with them in person. And I'm always afraid of interrupting someone. It seems like a phone call is much more intrusive than a text message, which you can read at your convenience. Plus I never seem to know what to say. Something about the phone call is more awkward for me. I don't have that same problem in person, but if you call to chat, you won't have to worry about me keeping you on the line too long.

I wonder if there's something genetic about these kinds of preferences. I don't think it's generational, because a lot of people in my generation prefer phone calls to texting. And occasionally... rarely... I will encounter a teen who actually uses their phone to make phone calls.

Maybe it's a personality trait. Who knows.

In any event, if you want to get in touch, give me a text! Or email. Facebook message. Instragram message. Snapchat me.

Or... if you must... go ahead and call.

(and don't even get me started on voicemail!)

 

No. Just no.

Every once in a while a certain phrase enters into common conversation in the public realm it gets repeated ad nauseam. It's kind of obnoxious, especially because it doesn't really mean anything significant. These trendy phrases may not bother anyone else, but they annoy the heck out of you. I'm sure you've had that happen to you.

For me right now it's the phrase "living your best life." I actually heard someone (a well-known Hollywood celebrity) use the phrase "I'm living my best life" the other day in a very serious, non-ironic way. 

It's so trendy right now and it just bugs me. I don't know why. But I'm guessing it's a fad phrase that won't be around in a few years.

At least I hope so. 

I guess we'll see.

Thus endeth my rant for the day. 

(I can already imagine the responses: "Okay, boomer! You're awfully salty today. This sounds like a 'you problem'.")

See You At the Movies

I enjoy seeing movies and I enjoy going with other people to see movies, but it's important to choose the correct movie watching companion, as theater etiquette is critical to the movie experience. 

Talking is never appropriate, other than perhaps a whispered sentence to catch your companion up after a quick trip to the restroom. Same with exclamatory remarks. There are certain people that you just can't watch a movie with because they are constitutionally incapable of silence for that period of time. I'm happy to hang out with them elsewhere, but not at the movies. Don't even get me started on phones in the theater. These people should be ejected immediately.

And my movie companion(s) should want to sit through the end credits (unless the movie is a complete dud). I've been a end-credit person even before they began putting mid and post-credit scenes in movies. Not only are they interesting, but they give you an opportunity to listen to the music or soundtrack of the film. Plus they allow you to decompress from the intensity of the movie and the credits allow time for you to begin to process the movie before the after-movie discussion on the ride home. The exception to this rule is if one needs to run to the bathroom, but then they can return for the remainder of the credits.

I was going to comment on people wanting to sit in the back of the theater - I mean, what's that about? But I'll save that for another time. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the show (quietly!)

Too Scary for Kids

I got a chance to see the new Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness movie over the weekend with my younger son, Jonah. I actually enjoyed the movie quite a bit. It took some interesting and unpredictable turns and was a nice addition to the MCU universe (although I thought the final fate of the antagonist was unfortunate... but I don't want to spoil anything, so that's a conversation for another time). 

What dismayed me was the number of younger children whom parents brought to watch the movie. There were kids that looked to be around 4 or 5-years-old there! It is rated PG-13 and while it didn't have any nudity, profanity, or gore, it was very intense and oftentimes dark and quite scary (for a kid, anyway). 

I remember seeing a little bit of an old mummy movie from the 50s or 60s back when I was a little kid and I had nightmares about that. I can't imagine being that age and seeing the much more realistic-looking monsters in this movie. What is wrong with their parents? I'm feel bad for these poor kids because they are going to have nightmares for a long time and I just hope they wake their irresponsible parents up every single time. 

Seriously, parents, look at the rating or read about the movie - or, best of all, watch it yourself first before deciding if your kids is old enough for a movie with that kind of rating. I personally wouldn't take anyone less than 12 to see this one. For adults it's fine, for kids it's just too intense, especially in a theater.