Observations In Life

Today while walking to work I saw a homeless person on the street asking for money. A woman bent down and put a dollar in the cup he had out and shaking the change inside. No sooner did the woman turn around and did he take the dollar out of his cup and shove it into his pants pocket. It was fun to observe as I walked by him and peered into his cup which was nearly empty.

How could someone begging for money all day have nothing to show for it? and yet who would give anyone begging for money a cent if money was overflowing out of the cup and you could not “feel” or “see” this unfortunate person’s hardship? I found this paradox quite interesting and yet immediately obvious. He had learned through experience and conditioning what the “right” amount of money to have in the cup was. Too little and people might wonder why out of all of the homeless people on the street, this person had nothing to show for their time. We all tend to validate our actions by what other people have done before us. Too much and he would appear not to be a person in need.

Life is the best teacher. Human nature avoids pain and seeks pleasure. These are simple truths about life and govern how we deal with the world. People are by far the most things in life to observe.

Is it just me or just a guy thing that when a really bad movie is on TV you just can’t stop watching it? I like to pride myself on my film tastes but sometimes I get sucked in by a movie that is worthless. You know the one I am talking about right? Bad actors, no plot, bad camera angles and dialog. I guess it’s just human nature, we like to know how things end. We don’t like the unknown.

I’m just thinking about the countless hours I’ve spent of my life watching bad movies and can only hope that the saying “You have to know bad to recognize the good” is true.

So I have been doing some unpaid editing/writing for an internet radio/podcasting station monthly newsletter. I’ve been doing this for about 6 months, and I guess I decided to do it because it was at least some kind of outlet for my media-related editorials. I sorta got into this because I’d applied for 1 job (forgot what it was for now) and I wasn’t shortlisted (though I’m sure that was unpaid, too). A few months later I was asked if I wanted to do this. I figured, what the hell.

Over the weekend I went to a ‘trade show’ of sorts – ok, it was a comic book convention, and this is a podcasting website/station dedicated to that sort of media. As we are internet-based, we haven’t been able to all get into one place at the same time to meet, until then. I was handing out my card, asking folks for audio interviews. One ‘employee’ who does the interviews turned out to be a 19-year old girl and neglected to 1) apparently take a shower 2) change her clothes (her tanktop was promoting a brand she is associated with). Bad enough, but worse yet, she doesn’t shave her underarms. This resulted in the most disgusting and embarassing B.O. I have encountered in a long time. Despite her enthusiasm, I was absolutely determined not to take her along to meet any important people. I was also incredibly disheartened that she is, in fact, where the stereotype of ‘Comic Book Guy’ (or girl) of The Simpsons comes from.

The managing director has had a falling out with one of his best presenters last year, who left the company. The MD claims he was only out for himself and ‘not a team player.’ Trouble is, the presenters that are left are just a little bit crap. The lady has B.O., the M.D. has a stupid character whom he ‘talks to’ on his shows (a la ‘Camp David’ on I’m Alan Partridge – don’t worry if you don’t know this reference). The web design of the site is terrible, and the email hosting of the site has had numerous problems. I’ve googled the MD a few times and what I’m reading doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.

This has got me to thinking – I know none of us are getting paid, and it’s a start-up venture, so it takes a lot of work. I think it really could be a success. But how long does one have to put up with total mediocrity before one can feel proud of the work one has done, and who you’re doing it with? Some people will never get the chance to do great things at all, and I’m desperate to be a part of something I’d want to tell new acquaintances about at social gatherings. This is not something I want to admit I’m a part of yet, because it’s just so damned mediocre.

Will it get any better? Do I have a cut-off date by which if it isn’t any better, I bail out? I don’t know.

I could get into how my brother in college doesn’t understand that one can’t do great things immediately, and may never get to do so (most especially, in media). But, arguably, that’s what I’m learning right now, so eventually, he’ll get it.

I was at my parents’ house yesterday visiting them and my sister for the day for a change of pace. In the refrigerator they had milk from Hood in a white “light block” container. I have seen it before but never really thought about it. I might have even purchased it in the past but that isn’t the point.

Why the light block container? The milk leaves the bottling facility which is dark, is put into refrigerated trucks which are dark, it is loaded into the supermarket cooler which is away from the sun, and then is placed into your refridgerator which is dark when you close the door. What light is the container really blocking?

Marketing people think of all sorts of gimmicks to sell products and we are willing to pay for them. It’s interesting. Do other countries have similar “technology”?