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

Sticker shock

 I asked the guy to make me look like this.  When I left he was still laughing.

As I mentioned a few days ago I have several elderly relatives whose time on Earth appears to be limited, so I figured I'd better get ready.  For years my daily wardrobe has consisted of jeans or shorts and t-shirts or polo shirts.  I have some casual pants and nicer shirts that would pass for "business casual", a couple of sport coats, and one suit, my "marryin' and buryin'" suit.

I tried my dressy clothes on and no surprise, they didn't fit well.  The later stages of middle age plus a low thyroid that is jerking my metabolism around meant a trip to The Men's Wearhouse was in order.

I've always found The Men's Wearhouse had good clothes at reasonable prices.  I could go in and be greeted by a knowledgeable sales person who could direct me to a nice suit that made me look less dorky than I really am, without breaking the bank.

Over the weekend K invited (dragged) me to the MW so they could polish me up a bit.  I had decided a sport coat that I already had was sufficiently conservative, so all I needed was a nice pair of dress pants.

The guy took me to the pants dept and went right to a pair that matched well and felt like good quality.  Being a decisive person I said fine, mark 'em for the right length and let me outta here.

But wait, there's more!

Today only, buy one pair of pants, get another pair FREE!  I only needed one pair, but heck, if they're free....  :)  So I took two pair, one charcoal colored, one navy blue, back to the dressing room and tried them on.  

He marked the first pair, and as I was taking them off I noticed the price tag:  $190.  For ONE pair of pants?  (Well over $200 with alterations and tax.)  *choke*

Is that the going price these days for a pair of pants, or has The Men's Wearhouse gone all Neiman Marcus on me?  The other pair was less expensive, so I just bought those which were "value priced" and didn't qualify for the BOGO promotion.  Free?  Yeah, right. 

S

"Fun and frivolity in beautiful....

....Dallas"?  No, this isn't an April Fool's promotion.  April is no where near that foolish.  What brought this to mind was an ad I saw on TV this morning inviting people to vacation in Denver.

Denver?  My experience with Denver is it's where the plane lands and you pick up your rent-a-car before you head west to the mountains. Of course there are a few things of interest to see and some fine steakhouses there, but that would make for a mighty short vacation.  Am I missing something?

Dallas, on the other hand, is making a more believable pitch in their "Come to Dallas" TV spots.  Screw seeing the sights and having fun.  Leave your cameras and flip-flops at home.  Our C of C and their PR machine are inviting business people to visit Dallas and make money.  That's pretty much it.  Come here, wheel and deal, pack your suitcases with fresh Dallas cash, and go home.  

Sure, you can drop off the kids at Six Flags and some of your winnings at Needless Markup...er...Neiman Marcus, take a picture at the Kennedy assassination site and see The House In the Field from the opening scene of Dallas.  Oh, and drive by The House That Jerry Built (the "house" being Cowboy Stadium, and the "Jerry" being Jerry Jones.)  Just be advised to NOT mention his name in anything but a demeaning tone or you'll likely be pounded into the ground, Jerry being that unpopular here.

Nope, Dallas is where you make money.  That's what we do.  You wanna make a lot of money, you come to Dallas.  You wanna have fun, you fly into Denver, rent a car, and drive west.

Now, get to work.  Go smear black shoe polish all over the black toilet seats in the office rest room.  Have some fun...it's April Fools Day.  Just don't do that in Dallas.  We're too busy doin' deals.    ;)

S