Random Thoughts

The media has a new bad guy for this week. They have decided to focus our attention on the “demons” at Southwest Airlines. Sure, this new policy is controvercial, but is it really as bad as the journalists want us to believe? No. Basically, Southwest is requiring people who take up two seats to pay for the space they require if the flight is sold out. Why shouldn’t they? If I pay for a ticket and I get bumped because there is no room for me on the plane, and someone is taking up two seats (one of which I paid for); it is logical to me they be required to purchase that space. In fact, I would demand it! Even if I don’t get bumped, I don’t want to spend the entire flight squished against the window because there is someone taking up half of the seat I purchased.

The last time I flew Southwest, I was stuck next to a “chatty cathy” who had crusty feet which she continued to stick in my space; I even had to look at them when I was eating! Yes, she was a butterball, no she did not qualify for this new rule, but I wish she had of. She was plump and extremely annoying, and her nasty foot kept touching me. Luckily, my flight was only an hour long; I might have screamed if it was one second longer. I realize one day I might be subject to this policy myself, and I would purchase the other seat. While Southwest is at it, I hope they will require people travelling with small children to purchase a seat for them as well and maybe they could require people who carry on everything but the kitchen sink to pay for their extra space as well.

Southwest is the people’s airline. It is the only major airline that did not lose money following September 11th, but it has always been a different way to fly, from the cattle calls to the open seating, they are definitely unlike any other airline. They make the rules, and they make flying cheaper and in most cases friendlier, but I know people who won’t fly with them because they don’t want to put up with getting to the airport early and fighting for a general admission seat. That’s okay by me, it leaves me more room to stretch out. Southwest will weather this new storm because people love a bargain and they will keep flying Southwest. Bottom line, in most cases, it is cheaper to buy two tickets on Southwest than one ticket on other airlines especially when they run the “friends fly free” promotion. The plane’s might be older, but the seats are bigger, the staff is nicer, and the price is right!

Oberlin is a small college town here in Ohio; it is so small in fact, the town’s population has only changed by 4 people in the past ten years. In this small town brews the latest “news tragedy“. There is a retirement community (basically an apartment building for seniors and a people with various debilitating diseases who are still well enough to live on their own) operating at approximately 1/3 of its capacity. The owners contend not only is the property running at a loss, but it will soon force them into bankruptcy, so they made a deal to sell the complex to Oberlin College to operate as a dormitory. Here comes the public outrage. There are a little over 2 dozen tenants in the building now and they don’t have anyplace to go. I don’t think this is an outrage; I am sorry, but it is a fact of life. A property owner does have a right to sell when he is being drained by owning it. It is not as if he wants them to leave by week’s end; they have until March of 2003 to relocate. Originally the owners had planned to rebuild a smaller building for the current tenants on a wooded site nearby, but the cost of the land coupled with the cost to clear it and rebuild was just too high. I think these owners are getting a bad wrap. I don’t want any homeless old or sick people either, but if the owner can’t keep the building open long term, what happens to the tenants when the owners go bankrupt? You guessed it, eviction notices, and those won’t give you 9 months to find suitable arrangements; they will be government enforced. I hope this situation can be resolved in a way that will benefit all of those involved. One of the tenants even offered to live in the dorm with the students; I don’t know if that will work, but I do know the media is orchestrating a witch-hunt. The owners aren’t bad people; they are just trying to save themselves and their investment. Wouldn’t you? The tenants are not unreasonable either; they are just shocked by the prospect of having to move out of a place they call home. Wouldn’t you be? Maybe all of this tv coverage will help find them new homes, or a construction company that can help build a smaller place, but what it all comes down to is, two owners have been made into devils when they didn’t do anything wrong. It’s a shame, but it’s not a crime.

Tomorrow’s the big day. Line up and get ’em while they’re hot. The brand new $.37 stamps go on sale tomorrow, and I know you can’t wait to get your hot little hands on them. The post office expects us to believe this new rate hike has something to do with increased equipment costs due to the Anthrax scare last fall, but they were planning this hike long before that. You already know how fond I am of the USPS given my earlier posts, but I had to add a little more because it is really starting to irk me. Why are they still creating new $.34 stamp designs? They just came out with the 50 state collection to capitalize on the Statehood Quarters craze, yet they knew the rates were about to change. Isn’t this misuse a more likely culprit for the price hike? Printing up all those stamps no one can use after July 1st? They think the more designs offered, the more likely we are to mail things. Duh. No one mails anything worthwhile anymore; it all gets lost. I can type one post here; and theoretically the whole world could read it in an instant and the Post Office doesn’t get a dime. Why would I bother to write it down and mail it to you? It would take a week or more for you to receive it, by then it’s old news. I don’t even chance paying my bills through the mail anymore; I pay them all online. The only thing the mailman brings me is direct marketing crap, a few bills and some stuff from eBay. That is where the money is. My advice: Give up on letters, work on delivery, specifically, ON TIME PACKAGE DELIVERY. You get Priority Mail working reliably and you’ll keep the Post Office afloat. Keep losing people’s stuff and delivering 2-3 day packages 2 weeks late and the ship is gonna sink, my friends. “Brown” will crush you and your flying eagle (even if their new ad campaign sucks). Think about it.

It is no wonder our kids have gone crazy; this world is insane. A seventh grader at a school in Euclid, OH was sent to the principal’s office and ordered to spend several hours in detention for inhaling helium from a balloon. I wouldn’t be writing here if I thought he was just being punished for misbehaving (seventh-grade boys usually are), but the principal of his school actually went on television and compared the incident to drug abuse at school because he was “introducing a foreign substance into his body, and the school has a zero tolerance policy against this”. Newsflash: every kid at your school introduces a foreign substance into their body everyday; it’s called cafeteria food.

The principal maintains her punishment is justified because this boy set a dangerous precedent and was a bad example for the younger students, so he had to be punished to the full extent as an example to the rest of the school. Lady, it was helium not crack, give the kid a break, and thank your lucky stars you don’t work for the public school system. I hardly see a helium prank turning into a life long addiction. He’s probably just acting out for attention, guess that worked out for him, huh?

His parents have decided the crime didn’t justify the time and have withdrawn their son from the school. Wave bye-bye to that tuition money. There is a lesson to be learned here, but it is one I am sure no one at St. Robert’s will learn. Boys will be boys, and sometimes you just have to let them because our kids have so little childhood left these days. I’m not saying let them run over your school. Sure, he should have gotten in a little trouble for the prank, but did he actually hurt himself or anyone else? No. He got rewarded with a news story and a new school. What do you think he learned from this little incident? I’m guessing it wasn’t behavior modification.

I don’t usually post other people’s gripes, I make them comment on mine, but I happen to really like the person who sent this to me and I agree with her. Plus, I have my own issues with her story…

“I have a rant of my own. (We) went to McDonald’s yesterday, and ordered, you know, a meal for each of us. It cost, like, $11.00 or something and we asked for hot mustard b/c (we) ALWAYS get it for our fries. Anyway, the bitch proceeds to ask us if we ordered nuggets, then tells us since we did not, it will cost 16 cents a piece for hot mustard. I said f*** that, and had to go without it. My question is, What gives McDonald’s the right to dictate what I put hot mustard sauce on? Hello, what if I do eat nuggets, but I don’t like any of the sauces or I only eat ketchup on them or if I eat them plain? I spent $11.00 on food, they can give me 16 f***ing cents worth of sauce. Give me a break! I was so pissed, I came home and got on the McDonald’s page, but I couldn’t find any place for comments. Not to mention, I know they would only tell me it depends upon the franchise owners and how they choose to do it. Either way, if I want to eat hot mustard sauce on my burger, or on my fries, or whatever, I should be able to! This world has gone crazy!!!
(signed) C “ (edited slightly for content and specific names)

Well, not bad for her first “printed” rant, huh. Anyway, she’s right. I went to McDonald’s today and they refused to honor the $.99 Big N Tasty or the $2.99 combo meal specials they have been advertising in a national commercial. The woman behind the counter said to me, “this is a mall, we don’t have to honor commercials, other stores need the help to get people in, you’re already here”. Yes, but I was only there because of the advertised special otherwise, I don’t eat at McDonalds. Here, they also charge for more than 2 ketchup, salt, pepper, sugar, or cream packets in addition to the charge for nugget sauce (and it makes no difference whether you order nuggets or not, you still have to pay for more than one packet). It’s madness, truly it is! Even Arby’s is in on the game. They charge for water, even if you order a drink and a meal and you just want water with it, too. I can see charging me if all I wanted was water, but when I order 8 bucks worth of crappy food, they should be able to spot me some poison Lake Erie water to wash it down with. To retaliate, I just take extra salt, so I don’t have to pay McDonalds for it! Why do we put up with this crap for bad food and bad service? Is it because we are all overweight and jonesing for some grease? Apparently. Here’s hoping the corporate fat cats are too, at least we would have the satisfaction of knowing they slum with the rest of us long enough to get screwed at their own restaurants.

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week. I had a house full of guests, so I didn’t get around to writing here. It is amazing how four kids can break your concentration. Allow me a brief moment to congratulate my brother (and a frequent reader here), Vince, on his wedding today. I am so happy for both you and Donna. Sorry I couldn’t be there to share in your joy, but may you remain as happy as you are today through all of your life.

Now on to business, did anyone see the story about the old woman in Ohio who received the Mother’s Day card from her son late? Not a few weeks late, years late. 41 years and 3 weeks late to be exact. And it came postage due!! Our postal service sickens me. They are 41 years late delivering a card and they want her to pay the increase in postage. What? Thank goodness this poor woman’s son is still alive. He mailed it when he was stationed in Germany in 1961, where it has been since is anyone’s guess. I shudder to think of receiving a card from a loved one who died while in service to his country, or for that matter in a car crash years later. A lot of things can happen to a person in 41 years. I guess late is better than never, but postage due after 41 years? Perhaps our postal service should consider damage control and more reliable service before they put that upcoming rate hike into effect. I, for one, will seek a more timely service to deliver my packages.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office is reportedly fuming over Winona Ryder‘s recent attempts to make light of her arrest for shoplifting and possession of Oxycodone. They assert the charges against her are very serious and she doesn’t appear to understand the magnitude of the situation. She recently appeared on the cover of W magazine wearing one of the now famous “Free Winona” t-shirts and during the season finale of SNL last weekend she poked fun at her “sticky fingers” arrest. Exactly what else is she supposed to do? Granted, she probably should have avoided the arrest in the first place, but at this point what choice does she have? It is awkward for anyone faced with this type of charge, but she is in the public eye with a movie to promote. She can’t hide. Making light of the situation is her only defense (in the media anyway). The rest is up to her lawyers.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office can’t even convict celebrity MURDERERS and they expect us to care about a trumped up shoplifting charge against a woman who could easily pay for the items. So what? She made fun of the situation. Guess what, it IS funny-whether they like it or not. If they want to be mad at someone for making light of a situation, they should talk to that gravy-trainer Marcia Clark. She is an embarrassment to the entire office and they don’t bother to object to her going on tv to make light of Robert Blake‘s “situation”. Face the facts, everyone in America has made fun of your office at one point or another, so don’t sweat it. Just try focusing on winning a case for once. Why do you care if Winona makes fun of her arrest? If she is guilty, prove it, and if you actually manage to; then I guarantee you she will realize the magnitude of the charges against her. But until you actually win a case, your attempt at celebrity trials will remain a laughable mockery of justice that no amount of whining will ever solve.

Ohio’s current Attorney General. See today’s corresponding rant for more details.

Sorry, but I have to go back to local politics for a few minutes. The State of Ohio’s Attorney General, Betty Montgomery, unveiled her “New Hope Initiative” yesterday. Cleveland has been selected as the pilot site for this program. Basically, the State of Ohio got a $2.2 million grant from the Justice Department to create a statewide DNA database. They hope to link up this database with other states eventually, so we can share information about suspected criminals. What is wrong with that you say? Nothing, unless you read further.

The City of Cleveland has over 3,000 untested rape kits from unsolved cases. The Attorney General’s initiative will give $100 for every DNA sample submitted from cold cases. The city plans to submit approximately 15 a week for testing. I don’t know if any of you have ever had a rape kit done before, but the experience is incredibly invasive and grueling. They take samples from every imaginable part of your body and then some, looking for evidence. It takes hours. We submit because we think it will help find the criminal who did this to us, and you mean to tell me over 3,000 of these tests were never even sent to the lab? And now your laziness and incompetence is being rewarded with $100 for each one. My tax dollars are paying you for what you should have done in the first place? Why make someone go through an additional ordeal if you aren’t even going to test the samples collected?

Their excuse is, the victims of these rapes didn’t know who the assailant was, so there was no one to test the sample against. Hello, that is where police work and investigation come into play. If you test my sample and you can’t find a match, what about the next victim? If our samples match each other, watch the evidence add up. I can’t believe it took a Federal Grant and prize money to figure this out. If anyone should get $100, it should be the victims whose kits have remained untested all this time. I hope Betty Montgomery has her checkbook handy; she’s got a lot of explaining to do.

I’m sure you have all seen it by now, so I won’t bore you with my review, but I can’t help but pass on a few quick quips I overheard Saturday night.

As you have probably noticed, companies have begun airing commercials along with previews before your favorite movies. I personally despise the practice, but the guy behind me had me in stitches. He was heckling the advertisements. In our theater, they showed a PSA about the rewards of having/being a friend, “Friendship, pass it on”. He responded, “How bad has our country gotten that we have to advertise friendship? You need a commercial to tell you to make friends?”. Then, my favorite stupid new slogan, “An Army of One” shows up. The spot features a drill sergeant telling his “men” they are only as strong as their weakest member. The guy behind me throws out, “But Sarg, I thought you said we were an Army of one”.

The last one actually happened after the movie, and I only include it because my husband thought this girl was funny. She runs up to her parental units (they chose to sit farther away from the screen) and tells them she liked the part where Yoda was fighting Count Dooku except she was disappointed because she thought Yoda was going to use his light saber to cut him off at the knees. It was funny, but I think you had to be there for that one.