while it may look like PV is just a perpetual election loser [like HS], he came thisclose to beating Blago in the Dem primary [2002], from which Blago won his 1st term as Guv. and it was only Blago's egregious lying - he even admitted he'd lie to get elected - that prevented PV from winning, getting elected Guv, and steering the state of IL clear of the fiscal morass it now faces.
none of which disproves your comparison of PV to HS.
Conventional wisdom also has it that Vallas' fear of flying kept him from effectively campaigning downstate. For reference Blago won 36.5% Vallas won 34.5% and the egregious Roland Burris took 29%.
Your comments on forever stamps in ‘91... too cynically keen on economics to be labeled a democrat but not sleazy enough to be in camp with current republicans. What gives???
And why is your deep & wide offering 20x longer than Kasso’s yet the same price?
Can it really be that the bicycle salesperson thought that the (no longer a store patron, presumably) bicycle buyer was gendering the bicycle, rather than describing a bicycle more likely to be bought by a female? I've been aware of the "step through" descriptor for a while, and understand its genesis, but the salesperson was being ridiculous. (Many male cyclists are older, and have a more difficult time swinging their legs over a "boy's bike" crossbar, and the industry wanted a term for a "girl's bike" that would harm their fragile male egos . . . .)
In the Hamline story you wrote that "this off-with-their-heads attitude toward missteps is unbecoming." And then in the bicycle story you wrote that a worker who issued a tongue-lashing "should be fired." I assume the first judgment was serious and the second was a bit of humorous self-referential overstatement. Nice writing!
If I owned a business with salespeople, I think I would fire any salesperson that berated or belittled a customer. Their job is to sell products and try to make the customer happy to have purchased from my shop. I would probably have advised them to not offer their gentle guidance either. The point is to help the customer find what they want and then close the sale.
I do wonder what that "tongue lashing" was really like. One often hears people miuse the word "yell," at "my boss yelled at me" or "my spouse yelled at me" when voices were barely raised if at all.
Without having the employee/management roster from 2016, or even now, the Tribs flip flop isn't all that big a deal. New people, new thoughts. That's not surprising at all.
That understandable change undermines the idea that there is some magisterial "voice of the paper" and exposes that delusion, doesn't it? I agree with Mr Zorn that it is an outmoded conceit.
Why is flip-flopping bad? Couldn’t it be a case of becoming more enlightened? I’ve changed my opinion on major issues as I’ve become older and, hopefully, wiser. “Given that, I now think this” is, to me, perfectly reasonable.
Changing your mind is great, when based on ongoing evaluation. Flip-flopping is switching back and forth based on the prevailing winds or political pressures.
I buy stamps by the book (20) and don't think of the individual price. However, I remember when the price of a book of stamps exceeded $10.00, realizing the cost was now more than 50 cents per stamp.
I'm thankful that most of my correspondance and bill paying is now online, so I don't need many stamps.
I'm actually using more stamps now, because I'm writing checks on my IRA for charitable contributions that have to be mailed. Fortunately, the USPS is coming up with a lot of good looking and interesting stamps. My dad was an ardent stamp collector, but for actual use of the mails, he relied on the old blue Jefferson 3-cent stamps. Now THAT was a bargain.
Scott Reeder wasn't "ascribing a gender to an inanimate object." A "girl's bike" describes the person riding the bike, not the bike itself. The salesperson was an idiot as well as a jerk.
Step through and step over bikes are suitable for anyone / everyone. I never really understood why 'boys' bikes were designed to inflict the greatest pain (and possible injury) to their riders in cases of accidents and the like.
Two guesses on the design: The additional bar provided extra strength to the frame. Manufacturers assumed that boys would be harder on their bikes, so they needed bikes with stronger frames.
Or, maybe designating some bikes for boys and some for girls enlarged the market: As a kid, I would never have ridden the perfectly good bike that my older sister had outgrown, so my parents purchased a new bike for me.
Or, it could be that it was not "ladylike" for a female to throw her leg over the crossbar (or it was difficult for a lady wearing a skirt to do so), thus the "step-through" style bicycle was born.
I thought the design of the "girls" bike was to accommodate girls and women who wore skirts back when women rarely wore slacks. I don't think it was appropriate for women to "step over" wearing a dress in those days.
One does not often get to use the term "slacks" which in itself is probably gender incorrect since Wendy ascribed it to women. Wow is this ever tiring.
At a recent wedding my husband and I marveled at how many songs the bride and groom ( people in their 20’s’ ) chose to play were from the 1960’ or 1970’s. THIRTY to FORTY years before these kids were born! As I pointed out we had ZERO songs at our wedding from the 1920’s or 1930’s…which would have been the equivalent time span. And their friends who were contemporaries enthusiastically sang along, knowing every word, to the now stadium participatory Sweet Caroline ( so did the old folks). Though the old folks were a bit perplexed by the participatory nature of Mr Brightside ( unless they are fans of UMICH football).
My point being old music seems to be more in the contemporary mind than before. Though I think you basically encouraged people not to pick the very funny Santos tweet. Though this was a very good set of tweets generally.
I think a big part of this is also the ghastly, indescribably horrible, unendurably awful state of most contemporary pop music. I refuse to patronize stores and restaurants that assault my senses with such detritus, especially when they switched to it from a format that passed for tasteful (why Weber Grill in Lombard hasn’t seen me since 2018, and never will again). The generational angle that you address here is also accurate. My son is 13 years old and his favorite bands are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Nirvana, all artists whose artistic zeniths were decades before he was born.
The Ticketmaster issue is not the real problem. I5 is a symptom. The real problem is the absurd, and growing, disparity of wealth in the US. That is what Congress should be fixated on.
Although the pictures of a fetus may not change the anti abortion crowd, it does provide some solace to the pro choice people, and Estero those on the fence.
Hamline University: from "Is Hamline University a place where meatpackers are trained?" to "national disgrace" in a month.
Paul Vallas is Chicago's Harold Stassen (ask your granddad).
while it may look like PV is just a perpetual election loser [like HS], he came thisclose to beating Blago in the Dem primary [2002], from which Blago won his 1st term as Guv. and it was only Blago's egregious lying - he even admitted he'd lie to get elected - that prevented PV from winning, getting elected Guv, and steering the state of IL clear of the fiscal morass it now faces.
none of which disproves your comparison of PV to HS.
Conventional wisdom also has it that Vallas' fear of flying kept him from effectively campaigning downstate. For reference Blago won 36.5% Vallas won 34.5% and the egregious Roland Burris took 29%.
good point.
Your comments on forever stamps in ‘91... too cynically keen on economics to be labeled a democrat but not sleazy enough to be in camp with current republicans. What gives???
And why is your deep & wide offering 20x longer than Kasso’s yet the same price?
"If you ever want to avoid seeing me, just stand on the sidewalk and hold a clipboard. "
That person has had a lot of encounters with Pat Quinn.
i had that encounter with pat quinn!
Can it really be that the bicycle salesperson thought that the (no longer a store patron, presumably) bicycle buyer was gendering the bicycle, rather than describing a bicycle more likely to be bought by a female? I've been aware of the "step through" descriptor for a while, and understand its genesis, but the salesperson was being ridiculous. (Many male cyclists are older, and have a more difficult time swinging their legs over a "boy's bike" crossbar, and the industry wanted a term for a "girl's bike" that would harm their fragile male egos . . . .)
Liked this crop of (non-dad) Tweets of the Week.
right on, JayG - first time i ever voted for all 10 jokes/tweets in a PS issue
In the Hamline story you wrote that "this off-with-their-heads attitude toward missteps is unbecoming." And then in the bicycle story you wrote that a worker who issued a tongue-lashing "should be fired." I assume the first judgment was serious and the second was a bit of humorous self-referential overstatement. Nice writing!
If I owned a business with salespeople, I think I would fire any salesperson that berated or belittled a customer. Their job is to sell products and try to make the customer happy to have purchased from my shop. I would probably have advised them to not offer their gentle guidance either. The point is to help the customer find what they want and then close the sale.
I do wonder what that "tongue lashing" was really like. One often hears people miuse the word "yell," at "my boss yelled at me" or "my spouse yelled at me" when voices were barely raised if at all.
No, not exactly front page news, I agree, but cringeworthy?? Why?
Without having the employee/management roster from 2016, or even now, the Tribs flip flop isn't all that big a deal. New people, new thoughts. That's not surprising at all.
That understandable change undermines the idea that there is some magisterial "voice of the paper" and exposes that delusion, doesn't it? I agree with Mr Zorn that it is an outmoded conceit.
Why is flip-flopping bad? Couldn’t it be a case of becoming more enlightened? I’ve changed my opinion on major issues as I’ve become older and, hopefully, wiser. “Given that, I now think this” is, to me, perfectly reasonable.
Changing your mind is great, when based on ongoing evaluation. Flip-flopping is switching back and forth based on the prevailing winds or political pressures.
That's a good response, Rick. I liked it better when "flip flopping" referred to footwear.
I buy stamps by the book (20) and don't think of the individual price. However, I remember when the price of a book of stamps exceeded $10.00, realizing the cost was now more than 50 cents per stamp.
I'm thankful that most of my correspondance and bill paying is now online, so I don't need many stamps.
I'm actually using more stamps now, because I'm writing checks on my IRA for charitable contributions that have to be mailed. Fortunately, the USPS is coming up with a lot of good looking and interesting stamps. My dad was an ardent stamp collector, but for actual use of the mails, he relied on the old blue Jefferson 3-cent stamps. Now THAT was a bargain.
I got the Santos one, but I think the Mountain Dew one is the clear champ this week.
Thanks, EZ, for inventing forever stamps!
The Mountain Dew joke appears to be a recycled version of the Milk joke, of which multiple instances can be found, like this one: https://mobile.twitter.com/NotTheRealMango/status/1135364190661726213
Well, that's disappointing I guess, but I laughed out loud!
amen on the Mtn Dew joke - s/b top of the chart
I vote for Mary Schmich to be our Poet Laureate.
Scott Reeder wasn't "ascribing a gender to an inanimate object." A "girl's bike" describes the person riding the bike, not the bike itself. The salesperson was an idiot as well as a jerk.
Step through and step over bikes are suitable for anyone / everyone. I never really understood why 'boys' bikes were designed to inflict the greatest pain (and possible injury) to their riders in cases of accidents and the like.
Me neither! I don't understand that design at all.
"Boy's bikes" are structurally more sound than step-through bikes (generally).
Two guesses on the design: The additional bar provided extra strength to the frame. Manufacturers assumed that boys would be harder on their bikes, so they needed bikes with stronger frames.
Or, maybe designating some bikes for boys and some for girls enlarged the market: As a kid, I would never have ridden the perfectly good bike that my older sister had outgrown, so my parents purchased a new bike for me.
Or, it could be that it was not "ladylike" for a female to throw her leg over the crossbar (or it was difficult for a lady wearing a skirt to do so), thus the "step-through" style bicycle was born.
That makes sense. Thanks for your input, Jay and Jim!
I thought the design of the "girls" bike was to accommodate girls and women who wore skirts back when women rarely wore slacks. I don't think it was appropriate for women to "step over" wearing a dress in those days.
That makes more sense than the two guesses I posted. I bet you are correct.
One does not often get to use the term "slacks" which in itself is probably gender incorrect since Wendy ascribed it to women. Wow is this ever tiring.
At a recent wedding my husband and I marveled at how many songs the bride and groom ( people in their 20’s’ ) chose to play were from the 1960’ or 1970’s. THIRTY to FORTY years before these kids were born! As I pointed out we had ZERO songs at our wedding from the 1920’s or 1930’s…which would have been the equivalent time span. And their friends who were contemporaries enthusiastically sang along, knowing every word, to the now stadium participatory Sweet Caroline ( so did the old folks). Though the old folks were a bit perplexed by the participatory nature of Mr Brightside ( unless they are fans of UMICH football).
My point being old music seems to be more in the contemporary mind than before. Though I think you basically encouraged people not to pick the very funny Santos tweet. Though this was a very good set of tweets generally.
I think a big part of this is also the ghastly, indescribably horrible, unendurably awful state of most contemporary pop music. I refuse to patronize stores and restaurants that assault my senses with such detritus, especially when they switched to it from a format that passed for tasteful (why Weber Grill in Lombard hasn’t seen me since 2018, and never will again). The generational angle that you address here is also accurate. My son is 13 years old and his favorite bands are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Nirvana, all artists whose artistic zeniths were decades before he was born.
Some of Gershwin's tunes were pretty darn popular: "Love Walked In", "Our Love is Here to Stay", etc.
The Ticketmaster issue is not the real problem. I5 is a symptom. The real problem is the absurd, and growing, disparity of wealth in the US. That is what Congress should be fixated on.
Although the pictures of a fetus may not change the anti abortion crowd, it does provide some solace to the pro choice people, and Estero those on the fence.
I meant “especially “ those on the fence. Damned autocorrect
My sister in law lives in Estero!
iPhone?
I thought Estero was more interesting, actually.