Label snobs

We are obsessed with labels.  Sometimes labels can serve a very useful purpose, but at other times they just get in the way.  How...why have we become like this?

When I was a kid in the last century I remember there were Ford guys and there were Chevy guys, and the two would never mix.  Each felt they were always right, and the other side was always wrong.  Fast forward and today we have rock-solid Lexus guys and Mercedes guys.

Wine:  Aristocrats (wannabe or actual) always chose French wines.  California wines were unthinkable.  Labels rule!

Style:  Neiman Marcus vs Saks Fifth Avenue has now deteriorated to Walmart vs Target.  Labels rule!

And of course, philosophy.  We Americans seem hopelessly wed to our labels of either Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, capitalist or socialist.  Labels rule!

Today there are a few new caveats, however.  A new subset of voters is based on race or gender or sexual preference.  A female candidate will pull in many more than the usual number of female voters.  A black candidate will get the black vote.  An LGBT candidate will likely get the LGBT vote.  Labels rule!

As President Nixon was boarding his helicopter to leave Washington back in 1974, there were still 24% of the American people (mostly hard-core Republicans) who supported him.  Labels rule!

Currently a vast majority of Republicans (but only 35% +/- of the population) feels President Trump is doing a great job.  Labels rule!

Listen up knuckleheads:  LABELS ARE STUPID!  We're being played.  It's a public relations game.  The PR guys can regurgitate on demand all the "facts" that support their point of view, and just conveniently omit those pesky facts that don't.  And if they don't have any facts to support their position, they just make some up.  Why do you think Snopes exists?

Democrats need to understand that Republicans CAN have some good ideas, and vice versa.  Capitalism is great, except when it's hijacked by greed.  Socialism is IMO generally flawed, but can also give us some incredibly useful programs, like public financing of schools, and (some would argue) Social Security and Medicare.

Learn to think for yourself, because if you let someone else think for you, they will own you.  And there's a label for that, too.

S

Let's talk "thongs"

Yeah, I thought that would get your attention.  Sorry to disappoint, but I was thinking more of thong sandals.

I'm pretty sure "thong" is an old Indian word that means "stuck between two body parts that you really don't want something stuck between".  (That's why, except for that one tribe in northern California, old Indians didn't wear lointhongs.)

One thing I must admit I do look forward to every summer are all the ladies putting on their thong sandals.  They look much cooler than shoes and, quite frankly, are super sexy.

Whether dressed up....

....or dressed down, IMO women generally look nice in sandals.  Some men *ahem* even have a near-fetish about them.

Men also wear sandals in the summer to stay a little cooler, but they usually don't pull off the look as well.  Let's be honest, unlike women's feet, men's feet just aren't that sexy.

Men don't like dirt in their shoes, or their sandals.  It drives us nuts!  If there's a bunch of loose dirt or gravel or mud around, chances are good a man will find it and step in it.  Women on the other hand rarely if ever find loose gravel or mud while trooping around inside Sak's 5th Avenue or Target.

Every few years I get it in my head that a pair of sandals would be my footwear of choice for the summer, so I buy some.  A week later they're usually in the back of my closet.  For one thing, I don't like all those straps criss-crossing my feet.  They chafe.  And they look dorky.

But back to the theme of this post....

....thongs.  

How does anyone put up with that little strap of leather or plastic stuck between their toes?  It drives me absolutely nucking futs!  It's like having something sticky on my hands or a rogue moustache hair that does a 180 and tries to climb up my nose. 

Well, this is one of those "every few years", so I recently bought me some cheapo sandals....

So far they're tolerable.  Comfortable, actually.  I'll take that as a sign that maybe I've mellowed a bit in my old age.  But they're still not thong sandals.  I doubt I'll ever mellow that much.  :)

S

It's "Small Business Saturday"

I don't know where the idea came from, but I like it.  

Today we're encouraged to make a special effort to do business with the mom-and-pop small merchants instead of the giant national big-box retailers in our area.  The trick is to find one.  I don't know how things are in smaller towns or rural areas, but here in the Big City they're becoming as rare as hen's teeth.

Back in the late 1950's-early '60's when I was in my "yout" that's pretty much all we had.  Mom bought her dresses at Stern's, while I was outfitted by Ken's Mans Shop and The Varsity Shop.  Dad shopped at Jas K. Wilson.

The toy store was M. E. Moses.  Hardware was available from Plaza Hardware.  (I worked there as a kid assembling and repairing Schwinn bikes and Lawn Boy and Toro lawnmowers.  I learned about tools there, too.)  The pharmacy was Payne's Drug Store.  If you wanted a casual meal out you went to Harris Restaurant or to the Plaza Cafeteria and saw Mr. & Mrs. Padgett.  Want a hamburger?  Try Lindy's drive-in.  Need a new car?  Go see Ken Pruitt (Buick) or Mr. Jackson (Chevy).

Mr. Tedford owned the Enco station (now Exxon) and would always wash your windshield and check your oil while filling your tank.  We got our furniture and appliances from Hollingshead's, and our tires from Shugart's.  That's just the way things were back then.  You bought from your neighbors.  They knew you and went out of their way to make you happy. It was called "customer service".

Today we have Walmart and Target, Macy's and Toys R Us, Home Depot and Walgreen's, Chili's and the Sonic Auto Group.  Need gas?  Just swipe your card at the pump.  (A complete stop is still required.)  The "owner" is usually in a far-away city somewhere looking at a spreadsheet, and the "manager" was a senior in high school last month.  Neither knows your name.  Or cares.

I understand "economies of scale".  I know we have many, many more choices at much lower prices today than we had back in those days, but something deep inside me says we've lost a whole lot, too.  If you can still find a small local business where you live, go buy something from them today. (Maybe again tomorrrow, too?)  Spend an extra buck or two.  It won't hurt you, and it will mean a lot to them.

S