If, by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead, and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas, without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties. Someone who believes that we can break through the stalemate and suspicioun that grips us. If that is what they mean by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 2007
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Ted
For good, and for bad, Edward M. Kennedy was an incredible Senator. I had the privilege of getting to watch him run a hearing on Superfund waste sites while I was an intern in DC during college. The room literally was charged with electricity as soon as he walked in, and it was fascinating to watch him question the witnesses, and banter with other senators.
And, exactly one year ago, he got up at the DNC convention in Denver and gave a speech in support of Barrack Obama. I went online and read the text of that speech, and while it wasn't a long or overly dramatic speech, the fact that he stood up in his diminished health and addressed that crowd was just amazing.
He certainly wasn't perfect as an individual -- far from it -- but the devotion with which he gave his life to public service, and to championing the causes of civil rights and health care made him a legend.
Go in peace.
And, exactly one year ago, he got up at the DNC convention in Denver and gave a speech in support of Barrack Obama. I went online and read the text of that speech, and while it wasn't a long or overly dramatic speech, the fact that he stood up in his diminished health and addressed that crowd was just amazing.
He certainly wasn't perfect as an individual -- far from it -- but the devotion with which he gave his life to public service, and to championing the causes of civil rights and health care made him a legend.
Go in peace.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
like I said
I'm adding an update to the last post. To be specific about what type of bed I was selling I included the brand name of the manufacturer of the bed...from a store that is still in business in this town. I just had a call from yet another illiterate person about my bed-for-sale. This time the caller asked if she had reached the store that I actually BOUGHT the bed from three years ago.
"No," I said, that is just the brand of bed it is, and oh yes, I sold the bed yesterday so it is no longer available."
"Oh," said the caller, "well do you have other beds?"
"No," I said.
"But aren't you a furniture store?"
"No," I said again.
"Well what is the phone number for the **** Furniture store?"
"I don't know." I informed her, beginning to lose patience.
"Are they still in business"
"Yes," I said..."and I was only selling that BRAND of bed...I'm not associated with that store."
Clearly confused about it all, she hung up. No doubt to start coloring her socialist protest signs for a healthcare town hall.
"No," I said, that is just the brand of bed it is, and oh yes, I sold the bed yesterday so it is no longer available."
"Oh," said the caller, "well do you have other beds?"
"No," I said.
"But aren't you a furniture store?"
"No," I said again.
"Well what is the phone number for the **** Furniture store?"
"I don't know." I informed her, beginning to lose patience.
"Are they still in business"
"Yes," I said..."and I was only selling that BRAND of bed...I'm not associated with that store."
Clearly confused about it all, she hung up. No doubt to start coloring her socialist protest signs for a healthcare town hall.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Rampant ignorance
If you ever want to find out how stupid the people are who live in your area, place a classified ad in the "for sale" section of your local paper.
I placed two different ads last week...one for a queen size bed we are selling, and one for our house. In our house I put information about our online listing in order to NOT pay for a lengthy classified. So far I got a call from a man wondering if it was a commercial property (no, I would have not listed it under "house for sale" if that were the case); and yesterday, one from a woman who after hearing the details of the house (price and size of the lot) proceeded to tell me how she was going to buy a house for her recently divorced daughter, and she couldn't spend more than roughly half what our house was listed for, and the lot was too big for her daughter to mow, and now she was also going to have to buy furniture for her daughter as well, but her daughter wouldn't accept USED furniture, it had to be new--at which point I was thinking "WHY am I listening to all this?" I wished her well in her house-hunting venture, and got off the phone muttering about the fact that maybe she had family issues to deal with before she started furniture shopping for this apparently ungrateful daughter.
The other ad has generated a lot more calls, and a LOT more stupidity and rudeness. Maybe I'm naive about this, and maybe it ain't how it's done 'round here, but when I say "bed" in an ad, it does NOT include a mattress! The bed is the headboard/footboard frame part. The mattress is the mattress. When is the last time you went to a furniture store to buy a bed (remember, the frame!) and they offered to throw in a mattress for free? All of the calls I have had have been either assuming that a mattress comes with the "bed" -- then hanging up on me when they find out it doesn't; or asking what additional furniture (nightstand? dresser?) comes with the bed. Huh? If I was offering a whole bedroom suite I would have put that in the ad. I had one call yesterday saying they were interested in the box spring and mattress I had for sale. I told them I DIDN'T have a box spring or mattress for sale. Oh, said the caller, clearly confused.
So my theory on all this is if the public can't read a simple classified ad and understand what it is offering how in heck is Obama going to get healthcare reform passed?
I placed two different ads last week...one for a queen size bed we are selling, and one for our house. In our house I put information about our online listing in order to NOT pay for a lengthy classified. So far I got a call from a man wondering if it was a commercial property (no, I would have not listed it under "house for sale" if that were the case); and yesterday, one from a woman who after hearing the details of the house (price and size of the lot) proceeded to tell me how she was going to buy a house for her recently divorced daughter, and she couldn't spend more than roughly half what our house was listed for, and the lot was too big for her daughter to mow, and now she was also going to have to buy furniture for her daughter as well, but her daughter wouldn't accept USED furniture, it had to be new--at which point I was thinking "WHY am I listening to all this?" I wished her well in her house-hunting venture, and got off the phone muttering about the fact that maybe she had family issues to deal with before she started furniture shopping for this apparently ungrateful daughter.
The other ad has generated a lot more calls, and a LOT more stupidity and rudeness. Maybe I'm naive about this, and maybe it ain't how it's done 'round here, but when I say "bed" in an ad, it does NOT include a mattress! The bed is the headboard/footboard frame part. The mattress is the mattress. When is the last time you went to a furniture store to buy a bed (remember, the frame!) and they offered to throw in a mattress for free? All of the calls I have had have been either assuming that a mattress comes with the "bed" -- then hanging up on me when they find out it doesn't; or asking what additional furniture (nightstand? dresser?) comes with the bed. Huh? If I was offering a whole bedroom suite I would have put that in the ad. I had one call yesterday saying they were interested in the box spring and mattress I had for sale. I told them I DIDN'T have a box spring or mattress for sale. Oh, said the caller, clearly confused.
So my theory on all this is if the public can't read a simple classified ad and understand what it is offering how in heck is Obama going to get healthcare reform passed?
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