These Stupid Little Things

A shallow-content culture? I can’t help it but think that most contents on social medias, like Twitter and Facebook, have been stripped of intelligent content, and are now focusing almost entirely on brief exchanges about nothing, or about asking to comment on the fact that I’m doing nothing now. OK, it may be taking an extreme position, but I simply want take these thoughts off my mind and go on: Social medias, in my humble opinion, are mostly for the purpose of exchange. And even though the stupidest little exchange becomes an exchange of information, it does not make it an intelligent piece of information. I guess it’s good for what it is, just don’t tell me it’s so clever etc. And please don’t tell me that I am doing something wrong because I don’t follow just anybody in my life especially on Twitter, and I don’t share with the world the fact that I am doing nothing at this moment. And I refuse to tweet, retweet and re-retweet about nothing.


Last week I read that Mulally, CEO of Ford, has streamlined his company's sprawling brand portfolio and created a new corporate culture that's helped Ford turn a profit even as other automakers have struggled. "It's back to Henry Ford's original vision," Mulally says. "It's all about producing products people want."

I want to scream: What a an insult to the average intelligent human. Should I assume that during the last decades Ford has been selling products that people don’t want? here is more:

Selling cars that people don’t want (or cars that people don’t need) is similar to selling cigarettes to consumers who shouldn’t be smoking. How about a class action lawsuit against the car industry for selling us cars we didn’t really need? Think: Does a yuppie-city-living person needs a AWD or 4x4 car, since the only off road experience he or she may go through would be when they overshoot the turn coming out of the golf course club house? OK, you may say, but, you’d add, they did leave some remarkable marks on the perfectly manicured grass?

Or, how about putting a warning sign on each car, as on cigarettes packs: WARNING: You are buying a car that you really don’t need. The manufacturer does not assume responsibility if you get only 12 miles per gallon, pollute the air or lose control on sharp sudden turns.


Colors my friend, colors…

Ever thought how you are accustomed to associate colors with actions, positive or negative? You’d probably associate Green with positive and Red or Yellow with Caution. On a recent trip to a gas station I pressed the “Cancel” button by mistake, simply because it was in Green color tab, when I should have pressed “Enter”, but did not, because it was in a Red color tab.


I was riding behind a Fast Response Security van painted with very precise, dramatic bright colors, which went quite well with the subject matter, and as I was taking a closer look on its side I noticed a sign written in big letters: “In God We Trust”. I guess you’d rely on God to get you as fast as he can when you’re in the business of responding to people in distress. If you don't make it on time, it won't be your responsibility. Blame God.


I was traveling across the southern parts of the country recently and since I couldn’t make myself listen to religious music stations which seem to take over most of the airwaves, I found other silly ways to make travel go fast, as I stared at license plates and thought to myself what precious real estate space were license plates when it comes to promote tourism through clever tag lines. My trip took me across four states, so here are my short silly thoughts:

“Discover Excellence” was Oklahoma’s official tagline. That’s fine though I wouldn’t be convinced spending a vacation in the state. Here’s why: Would I say that I had an “excellent” vacation in Oklahoma or, would I say I had a “great” vacation? You pick.


Texas, well, the lone star on plates may be meaningful to Texans, but not to me, so I kept driving into Louisiana: A Sportsman’s Paradise. Great tagline which wastes no words, high on my list. I was crossing into Mississippi. No tag lines there, just a very distinguished type treatment of the word Mississippi. Continuing on i10 into Stars Fell On Alabama. A bit mystical, a bit romantic. Reaching my final destination on a cloudy and humid day was Florida where the tagline read: The sunshine state. A quick search on my iPhone showed that there were 133 rainy days in Florida, in a year.


That’s all for this blog. More of these stupid (silly) little things, next month.