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“I’m Sorry” – The Two Most Misused Words in America
Posted by: | CommentsWhen I was growing up, my parents constantly reminded me of a few basic phrases. Please, Thank You, Excuse Me and I’m Sorry. Today I’m not really sure if the words please and thank you are even part of our countries everyday vocabulary. Think about it, how often in a day do you really hear those words used?
I was recently wandering the aisles of a local department store and I noticed a girl of about 9 or 10 years old who was riding in one of those huge shopping carts that kind of resembles a carnival ride. The cart was being pushed by a woman who was no doubt a Grandma and she was struggling. Just about the time we met each other going opposite directions; the young girl spotted something of interest and bolted from the cart, she ran into me, bounced off and continued on her way. Grandma admonished the girl to apologize and the young lady raised a hand, waved dismissively and without turning her head, said “Sorry”
Now, think about the phrase “I’m Sorry”, or just the word “Sorry”. Listen closely while you go through your day and see how often you here them spoken, and then ask yourself if you think they were spoken with any sincerity at all.
The words “I’m Sorry” are often muttered by someone who might bump into you in the grocery store, someone who is trying to walk and text at the same time, someone who just flat out is unaware of anyone in the world other than themselves. In today’s society, “Rude is the Rule”, it starts with adults and the example is picked up by children, and so it goes. The word “Sorry” is much easier to mutter, than the simple action of common courtesy is to execute, therefore “Sorry” is what is repeated all too often.
Don’t take my word for it, listen yourself, and I truly hope that someone can tell me I’m wrong.
What’s Wrong With Us?
Politicians Are a Lot Like Diapers
Posted by: | Comments“Politicians are a lot like diapers – they should be changed frequently and for the same reason”
Let’s look at a recent Cleveland Ohio event that had Governor Ted Strickland, US Senator Sherrod Brown and US Representative Dennis Kucinich all slapping each other on the back and lauding their victory in keeping jobs in Ohio and Cleveland.
What were the jobs? These were factory jobs at the only site in the US that produces suits for Hugo Boss. The suits sell for around $800 dollars each, and Hugo Boss wanted to move production out of the US where they could get cheaper labor, maybe Bangladesh where the average factory worker makes $43 a MONTH! In order to keep the jobs here in the US, the workers had to agree to cut their own wages from an average of $13 an hour to $10 an hour. Average salary after the jobs were saved is $20,800 per year. That’s only $1250 less than the 2009 federal poverty level for a family of 4, and for this we get State and Federal politicians congratulating each other.
Instead of slapping each other on the back, maybe these guys ought to get back to Washington and tell Hugo Boss that if they want to move production out of the US, that’s fine, but now if you want to sell suits in the US there will be a tariff of $250 per suit imported into our country.
We have to stop exporting everything we do to other countries and foreign companies that really don’t like us anyway!
What’s Wrong With Us?
Sound Bytes are Sensational, But are they Believable?
Posted by: | CommentsSound bytes are usually sensational, rarely believable, seldom news worthy, yet they seem to shape our daily world!
Let’s look at the recentforced resignation of Shirley Sherrod on July 19, 2010. This resignation came after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted video and sound bytes of Sherrod’s address at a March 2010 NAACP event on his website. Within 24 hours of this posting of out of context sound bytes, the NAACP had condemned Sherrod, the Obama White House had called for her resignation and our country was sent into another racially fueled controversy over nothing more than Sound Bytes!
Mr. Breitbart chose just the right bytes from Ms Sherrod’s speech to have the exact impact that he wanted them to have. He used sound bytes to create an air of sensationalism, he used sound bytes to promote himself and his website and he brought undeserved criticism to the conservative movement in this country.
What’s Wrong With Us?