Boooo. Thought I'd start Halloween early.
But first I believe I'll ask a generic question. I notice many of my blog friends do not have ads on their pages. Others do. Of those that have them, does anyone ever click on these ads? (I'm thinking about taking them off so my "deathless prose" fits better.)
There has been a well published incident where a sweet little old lady (also a tough old broad) had an issue with Comcast Cable and took action into her own hands. Her name is Mona Shaw and she had had enough of the inconsiderate crassness of Comcast Cable Company.
She and her husband had been sucked in by Comcast advertising promising her a telephone connection, high speed internet and cable TV (at a ridiculously high price, but then that's the power of advertising).
The cable company men did not show up for their appointment on the scheduled day. (Why they should need a day for this relatively simple hook up baffles me.) They did show up two full days
later and then did half the job and left. To add insult to injury Comcast cut off all her services two more days later.
Comcast is the company that a respected trade publication (Advertising Age) had already written an editorial about pointing out that Comcast should spend less on advertising and more on customer service.
Interestingly, a web site had sprung up some time before this incident, called ComcastMustDie.com and it's loaded with complaints from angry consumers.
So, Mona and hubby asked to speak to the manager at the Comcast office and are told to have a seat. They wait. And wait. TWO hours later, a receptionist pokes her head out and says the manager has gone home. They should come back another day.
I'm sure they were furious. So the two of them stewed over this exceptionally rude treatment for the weekend. (My guess is that the manager had a hot date and didn't want to have to deal with a couple of "Old Farts").
The following Monday, Mona gathered up her husband and a claw hammer and they descended on Comcast headquarters.
Hammer time: Shaw storms into the company's office. BAM! She whacks the keyboard of the customer service rep. BAM! Down goes the monitor. BAM! She totals the telephone. People scatter, scream, cops show up and what does she do? POW! A parting shot to the phone!
The cops handcuffed this 75 year old woman. Apparently, the brave police officers were afraid of this older, small woman.
She started hyperventilating and they called the EMTs for help. They put her on a gurney and got her to the lockup safely.
She got a three month suspended sentence for disorderly conduct and was ordered to repay $345 in damages to Comcast. Oh yeah, she has a year long restraining order barring her from the Comcast office.
Oh, and yes, Mona and Don have their telephone now. With Verizon.
The link to whole story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html
So what does this have to do with the header?
I see it as a symptom, not an isolated incident, of a debilitating change in the very spirit of America. A further widening of the gap between the different classes (and, yes, America has classes) A typical big business attitude has been both fostered and promulgated by various political stratagems and the greedy attitudes of a minority of Americans. The majority of Yanks do not like this country the way it is now. It is not the country they were taught to believe in. There are erudite articles pointing out that money equals power and that gathering power is all that will satisfy this minority. (The header will take you to such a well written article.)
We've had a bout of being lied to by our powerful politicians and presidents.
Memory recalls Richard Nixon lying about his knowledge of Watergate.
Bill Clinton lying about whether he had sex with a female, other than his wife, in the White House.
Dubya lying about WMDs.
Senators and Congress men lying about where their funds come from.
I am willing to vote for anyone, who is NOT an incumbent. They can't be anymore incometent and dishonest than what we have now.
I'm trying to figure out how to get the rest of America to try this.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
WHAT HAPPENED TO AMERICA?
Boooo. Thought I'd start Halloween early.
But first I believe I'll ask a generic question. I notice many of my blog friends do not have ads on their pages. Others do. Of those that have them, does anyone ever click on these ads? (I'm thinking about taking them off so my "deathless prose" fits better.)
There has been a well published incident where a sweet little old lady (also a tough old broad) had an issue with Comcast Cable and took action into her own hands. Her name is Mona Shaw and she had had enough of the inconsiderate crassness of Comcast Cable Company.
She and her husband had been sucked in by Comcast advertising promising her a telephone connection, high speed internet and cable TV (at a ridiculously high price, but then that's the power of advertising).
The cable company men did not show up for their appointment on the scheduled day. (Why they should need a day for this relatively simple hook up baffles me.) They did show up two full days
later and then did half the job and left. To add insult to injury Comcast cut off all her services two more days later.
Comcast is the company that a respected trade publication (Advertising Age) had already written an editorial about pointing out that Comcast should spend less on advertising and more on customer service.
Interestingly, a web site had sprung up some time before this incident, called ComcastMustDie.com and it's loaded with complaints from angry consumers.
So, Mona and hubby asked to speak to the manager at the Comcast office and are told to have a seat. They wait. And wait. TWO hours later, a receptionist pokes her head out and says the manager has gone home. They should come back another day.
I'm sure they were furious. So the two of them stewed over this exceptionally rude treatment for the weekend. (My guess is that the manager had a hot date and didn't want to have to deal with a couple of "Old Farts").
The following Monday, Mona gathered up her husband and a claw hammer and they descended on Comcast headquarters.
Hammer time: Shaw storms into the company's office. BAM! She whacks the keyboard of the customer service rep. BAM! Down goes the monitor. BAM! She totals the telephone. People scatter, scream, cops show up and what does she do? POW! A parting shot to the phone!
The cops handcuffed this 75 year old woman. Apparently, the brave police officers were afraid of this older, small woman.
She started hyperventilating and they called the EMTs for help. They put her on a gurney and got her to the lockup safely.
She got a three month suspended sentence for disorderly conduct and was ordered to repay $345 in damages to Comcast. Oh yeah, she has a year long restraining order barring her from the Comcast office.
Oh, and yes, Mona and Don have their telephone now. With Verizon.
The link to whole story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html
So what does this have to do with the header?
I see it as a symptom, not an isolated incident, of a debilitating change in the very spirit of America. A further widening of the gap between the different classes (and, yes, America has classes) A typical big business attitude has been both fostered and promulgated by various political stratagems and the greedy attitudes of a minority of Americans. The majority of Yanks do not like this country the way it is now. It is not the country they were taught to believe in. There are erudite articles pointing out that money equals power and that gathering power is all that will satisfy this minority. (The header will take you to such a well written article.)
We've had a bout of being lied to by our powerful politicians and presidents.
Memory recalls Richard Nixon lying about his knowledge of Watergate.
Bill Clinton lying about whether he had sex with a female, other than his wife, in the White House.
Dubya lying about WMDs.
Senators and Congress men lying about where their funds come from.
I am willing to vote for anyone, who is NOT an incumbent. They can't be anymore incometent and dishonest than what we have now.
I'm trying to figure out how to get the rest of America to try this.
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14 comments:
Good one, Cat. Perhaps we are just loosing the societal restraints on what has always been and will always be basic human nature (which I tend to regard as basically self-serving with the rare abnormal altruism in certain individuals).
But I am hardly a socialist either since I don't believe that this system understands the nature of the human animal either (or perhaps does all too well). I don't think we will find the perfect political system until it is designed around that nature which we try so hard to sweep under the carpet.
I never got any hits on the adverts.
Mr Google is the only person who makes a fortune, you're not going to.
However, I don't think the small adverts detract from the appearance of your blog.
Beautifully said. I notice the decline in civility constantly and am saddened by what it means to us individually and as a society.
Jeez, I had no idea my gran had flown to the U S of A, sorry for all of the hassle she's caused, I find it hard to keep track of her, she plumb runs me ragged..
I'm not jesting here, if you want to find a lady to be reckoned with, she's your gal. Good to know she's not alone.
Sounds like Mrs. Shaw was lucky not to be hit with a taser.
Cat: Some of the problems are related to Hollywood movies and Television. The anti-hero being the good guy, punk rappers carrying guns seen as role models, druggies not being held to account. Amd my personal favourite- the Hollywood actor who actually believes that what he(she) says is relevant to anything
I think it was worth $345 to beat the crap out of Comcast.
You may as well change your title to What Happened to North America". It's the same here.
I don't click on any ads. Is that how bloggers get paid? When someone clicks on them?
lin, I see so many things in our governmental system(s) that remind me of Niccolò Machiavelli that it's scary. Although I realize that what he wrote has been true for many centuries, it is a shock when his writing looms up in front of you.
Thank you, yes but. I may leave them on for at least while.
I appreciate you comment atavist. As a country we seem to be moving toward more and more rudeness as if it were a magic solution to all our frustrations.
I absolutely loved your gran's reactions to the monster Camcast.
She's one of my heroes now.
She deserves a high tea, too.
Cat, I initially signed up for Google Ads as a way of tracking visitors (BEFORE I discovered real facilities for that). I was actually embarrassed that a few people clicked on their inane content match-ups. And, before long, I had racked in $4 and something - I was aghast! Their fine print said that you wouldn't see any of it until it reached $100 though. THEN I got a notice that they wanted my tax ID, yada, yada immediately. Given that it would be the year 2012 before I reached my $100, I decided that they could stick my $4 something rather nicely up their wazoos.
lin, that'll teach me to read all that fine print. (I'd probably lose my way in it as the lawyers who wrote it intended.)
So, I take it your advice is to dump the ads. Thank you.
Wow. The essay you linked in the header has to be one of the most pessimistic pieces I've read in a long while, Catmoves. Or at least the pieces I did read. I confess I got about a quarter of the way into it and then quit. Or rather, I scanned the rest of it before going to the final paragraphs to see if the author would offer a solution(s) or suggestion(s) on how to minimize, mitigate, or eliminate the myriad "problems" we face. Surprise! No solution. Not even a suggestion.
We have our problems, true. But I wouldn't trade our problems for those faced by folks living in Darfur, or Sarajevo, or Tehran. Or Moscow. Or even London. It's all relative, I suppose. But sometimes I get tired of people complaining about the Golden Goose. And other times I tend to believe they want to kill it...the goose.
Buck, I think the author fancied himself a bit of a philosopher and merely wanted to put various points out for others to see.
If he had THE solution, he'd surely be world famous.
It does seem, as you point out, that there are people who seem to want to kill the goose.
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