Pragmatism

My mother asked my five year old nephew today if he wanted to go to Jack-in-the-Box for lunch. He said that he would rather have candy. His grandmother pointed out that candy contains sugar. My nephew was not impressed. After all, we have dentists to deal with that problem!

Toilet seat covers

Many of you may already know this, but those of you who do not may find the following information helpful in avoiding the tremendous burden that I just went through in returning a non-fitting toilet seat cover to the retailer. Apparently, there are both round and elongated toilet seats. It looks like the "elongated" version--the one that I needed--is something like two inches longer than the "round" one.

Although I would probably still classify myself as a novice in this area, I am by no means inexperienced in shopping for toilet seat covers. I have lost count--perhaps because I never thought to make one--of how many times I have bought this product before. This, however, was the first time I ended up with a misfit.

"You're a good flamingo!"

A woman in Trader Joe's gave her son standing on one leg this unusual compliment after he let me pass by.

New advertising encroachment

There is tremendous competition for the consumer's attention these days. Any opportunity to grab his or her awareness--even for a moment--is precious. The other day, I noticed that advertising has now crept onto the fold-down trays on U.S. Airlines' seats. On busy flights, the crew will sometimes ask passengers to have their trays opened before the beverage station reaches the the passenger, prolonging the exposure to the advertising message. Hopefully, with clear plastic glasses, the beverage will not cover the advertising message.

This is one of the more devious tactics I have seen recently. It will be interesting to see if passengers--used to nice, neat, clean trays--will object to what may seem like aesthetic revulsion.

Wasted

The GREEN Channel features an intriguing new series entitled Wasted. Two very zealous hosts expose and attempt to convert serious "eco-criminals" whose lifestyles are hard on the environment. In one recent episode, a family was receiving some 1,400 pounds of catalogs in the mail every year along with stuff ordered online packaged with 800 pounds of material. One member was spending some $90 per week in gasoline. The household also discarded a large number of cigarette buds every day.

The family got a stern lecture but got the message and reduced its "carbon footprint" by 39%.