things i don't understand: part 7

this week's thing i don't understand will be short and sweet. i simply do not understand reality television. i mean, i watch it. but that doesn't mean i understand it. oh, and all of my new posts will display proper grammatical skills (i.e. capitalization of proper nouns and hopefully fewer comma splices). so there you have it. i do not understand reality t.v.

night riding

i have just returned from my first ever night ride. i must say, it was awesome. first off, riding at night in the summer time means cooler temperatures than riding in the day. it was around 76 degrees for the entire ride. compared to around 96 degrees when i normally ride during the daytime. second, traffic was pretty much a non-issue tonight. and what little traffic there was, almost every car gave me a wide berth, this i attribute to the brightness of three taillights in their eyes. third, there's something about riding around in an area that is normally filled with cars, people, and noise, and finding it devoid of all three. the stillness and quiet were amazing. the moon was also out in force tonight, aiding my visibility, and providing a never before seen view while riding. all in all, it was pretty incredible.

things i don't understand: part 6

this week's thing i don't understand is customer service. or, more accurately, the lack of customer service. i will offer a single example, but i feel it could easily be applied to most service-based industries. first, what is the definition of customer service? i mean, the actual definition, not how a company 'defines' it. according to wikipedia (yes, i know it's not exactly the best of sources, but it will have to do) customer service is "...a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service). so where is it? for instance, one of the last times i bought coffee i ordered a vanilla latte. well, after enduring one of the longest monologues known to man about how this store's coffee was far superior to that of any run-of-the-mill coffee shop, the barista told me he could put vanilla syrup in my coffe, but only i "wanted it to taste like s***." well, of course i don't want my coffee to taste terrible, but why offer the vanilla syrup at your shop if won't allow customers to consume it? not only that, but the last time i checked i was the customer and i placed the order, this wasn't a suggestion. now i understand that the barista was simply trying to provide what he thought was customer service by protecting me from what he felt was inferior means of consuming coffee. yet, he could have said that instead of his blasting a drink i thoroughly enjoy on occasion. he could have said, "dude, i totally understand that you may normally adore vanilla in your coffee, however i feel it my duty to inform you that our syrup is not up to my standards of syrups/our syrup is rancid/our coffee is best enjoyed devoid of syrups/etc. i will still serve you what you requested, but i felt i should make you aware of this before doing so." that would have been great. instead though, i was made to feel i was an idiot because i wanted to add vanilla to my coffee. i never want to feel as though i'm stupid for ordering something (even if i am--note my ordering of two number 10's from mcdonald's, both with diet cokes). i may be stupid and my order may be the most asinine of orders, but please spare me the condescending diatribe and just prepare my order, just as i ordered it. i have not returned to this particular coffee shop. i have, on the other hand, purchased and consumed many a vanilla latte from several other area coffee shops.

i could continue my rant with various other examples of how customer service seems to be deteriorating and morphing into customer annoyance, but i will refrain. i simply don't understand where customer service has gone. i sure wish it return and bring me a vanilla latte.

things i don't understand: part 5

this week's thing i don't understand is the media's use of the word "gate" at the end of anything remotely controversial or even interesting. it all started with watergate in the 70's in reference to an actual place that ended in "gate". yet for some reason adding "gate" to the end of a headline seems to have grown in popularity here recently. we have climategate, monicagate, oilgate, antennagate, and on and on. why? i mean, isn't a story interesting enough on its own merits without having to attach the word "gate" to the end of the headline? has the suffix come to define something having to do with something particularly controversial? possibly. language evolves. but i'm baffled at this evolution. to me it's just an opportunity for a reporter to cheaply add to a story. that's just my opinion. who knows. i'm probably missing something, which is why ignorancegate continues with this week's thing i don't understand.

things i don't understand: part 4

this week's thing i don't understand will be short and sweet. i've been doing a lot of cycling lately, and something that bugs me is when people fly past me at mere inches from me and my bike. i don't understand why people can't slow down at least. sure it could be said that they're just trying to get around me as fast as possible, but anyone who has had a truck whip past them that is going over 65 miles per hour would definitely argue that it's much safer when the truck slows down. i know i'm causing you much consternation by going 1/3 or less of the speed limit, but i have just as much right (in georgia at least) to be on the road as you do. pass me when it's safe to do so (i'm giving you as much room as i safely can. trust me, i don't want to get hit anymore than you want to be behind me). if you're in such a hurry to get somewhere, then why are you on a little ol' country road in the first place? get on the state highway. oh, and when the speed limit is posted as 35 miles per hour, and i'm going 35 miles per hour (thank you garmin gps), it's not cool to blow past me and immediately turn right. i wear a helmet to protect me if i crash, mainly because of some freak of nature, not you being a freak in nature. so please, just be a little more considerate. when i'm riding that's one less car on the road. i'm not competing with you, i merely want to ride my bike. i know i'm going slow and i would go faster if i were stronger and thinner. but, no matter how strong and thin i become, i will still go considerably slower than you. you gave the guy walking (illegally mind you) on the shoulder a 5 foot gap when you passed him. why not extend the same courtesy to me when i ride? it's really simple, i promise.

things i don't understand: part 3

this week's thing i don't understand could probably be the overall topic of the blog, but i will keep it contained to one post. something i don't understand is why it can be so difficult for us to do the things we want. is it because we want something that is really difficult to attain or achieve? is it because deep down we don't really want those things? is it because it's often easier to not do what we think we want? for instance, it's arguably easier to order a number 1 at a fast food restaurant than it is to cook a healthy meal (this isn't a perfect example, i know, but you understand my point) and try to lose some weight. it's easier to stay in bed rather than rise an hour or two earlier than normal to go out for a jog. it's seemingly easier to forgo studying in the name of entertainment. it's easier to go to bed or watch a tv program rather than to call your special someone every night. i've heard it argued that the reason we don't do what we "want" is because we don't want it bad enough. the difference, it has been taught for years, between those who succeed in life and those that don't is action. those who succeed act. i don't think people fail to do what they want simply because of convenience. i ride my bike a good deal every week and i often find that i don't want to ride it at times. but, i ride anyway because i want (or claim to want) to get in shape. it might be that i simply find a way to make sure that i do something if i want it bad enough. yet, while i'm out riding i'm neglecting other things that i claim to want. i cannot do anything else while i'm riding. doing so would be foolish, unsafe, and would ultimately jeopardize my goal of getting in shape. in sum, i don't understand why it's so hard for us to do many of things we really want to do. we make excuses, we schedule other things, we go out of our way to do other/easier things that we want. the difficult things often get sacrificed in the name of something quicker, easier, more accessible. i think that's a shame. it's not enough to simply want to do something. if it's a priority, we should strive to make it happen.