I guess I have come to accept that people for the sake of convenience will use "netspeak" or "chatspeak" for all possible written correspondence, but with convenience we must not let the wolf of insincerity sneak into the livestock-tending field that is today's Internet. In my communique with co-workers using electronic means, I am often told that my colleague is "[laughing out loud]" at something that has been said or done. I am not offended that they choose to use a term populated by 12 year old girls. However, the very base of me is shaken by the silence accompanying the typed slang.
Do you think I can't hear that you're not laughing? Not laughing at all, not even a giggle. (Full disclosure: your blogmaster commonly types "haha" as if to express amusement electronically, since this is not a statement of what he is actually doing at that time.)
Does this disconnect signify something greater? Is society slowly losing its footing in a digital realm where accountability can always be avoided. Cases in point: People who make physical (!) threats to each other on the response boards appearing below YouTube videos; and anonymous bloggers.
It confounds me as to why this posturing is necessary, or perhaps more troubling, why something has come to be used for a purpose what is inherently the opposite of what is intended for. Laughing... Out Loud, it should be used as when one has been made to chuckle, not a simple robotic response to what is viewed as an attempt at humor. What if other facets of our society worked like this?
You walk into your favorite deli in March and buy some corned beef, and you put mustard on it and eat it. It is tremendous, even without a bun. It truly is worth the stains you carry with you back to your corner office. In June you go to the same place and make the same order, only to find that you have been served tofu made to taste like corned beef, and no amount of mustard and lack of bun is going to make you happy. This time the stains on your your pants might be blood stains -- unfortunately not cow blood. The butcher might say, "Well I originally used the 'corned beef sign' to sell what was actually salted cow flesh, but when I was shipped different products, I kept using the sign, because it was the only sign that went in that spot and it has always signified that the food behind it tasted like corned beef."
My colleagues who type "lol" when they are not truly laughing out loud, are these butchers, using the same answer to anything considered funny, no matter the actual substance behind it.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Strike One
Day One of the cab strike in opposition to the upcoming meter system seems to have been a success. In thirty minutes of walking from Foggy Bottom to Adams Morgan, I saw only one cab.
The next strike is set for next tuesday, then the following Wednesday and so on.
Around the city today areas that are normally overrun with cabs -- specifically hotels entrances -- were completely cab-free. We have now been shown that nearly all operators are against the meters, either because they have done the math themselves and decided it would hurt business, or because they have decided to stand by their compatriots, for whatever reason.
In addition to arguing that meters would take money out of their pockets, cabbies claim they are standing up for riders who do not want to get in a cab not knowing what the fare will be. This argument is bogus for many more reasons than I'd care to get into, but I first would argue the opposite point: that knowing a ride will be $10 is big deterent, while thinking a ride could be $5 or $6 would convince many walkers to ride, even though their final fare might be a few dollars more.
The rolling strikes are an effective display, but a display is all it can be, because it also shows the city that cabbies won't strikes consistently if they don't get their way.
Fenty knew this would be no easy battle, as the concept is a rare on in DC government affairs, and today's strike provides him with concrete evidence that the cabbies have effectively unified against the meters. Maybe they will be able to bring city back to the bargaining table, but that seems doubtful, as the law has been passed, and the only thing more cumbersome than rolling out the meter system would be to go back and try to amend the legislation
Meters will change the cab business in D.C., for better or for worse, and most cabbies, despite their participation in strikes, will be able to make a living with the meter system, perhaps even a better living given increased rider willingness to use their service on a cold morning or rainy night.
The next strike is set for next tuesday, then the following Wednesday and so on.
Around the city today areas that are normally overrun with cabs -- specifically hotels entrances -- were completely cab-free. We have now been shown that nearly all operators are against the meters, either because they have done the math themselves and decided it would hurt business, or because they have decided to stand by their compatriots, for whatever reason.
In addition to arguing that meters would take money out of their pockets, cabbies claim they are standing up for riders who do not want to get in a cab not knowing what the fare will be. This argument is bogus for many more reasons than I'd care to get into, but I first would argue the opposite point: that knowing a ride will be $10 is big deterent, while thinking a ride could be $5 or $6 would convince many walkers to ride, even though their final fare might be a few dollars more.
The rolling strikes are an effective display, but a display is all it can be, because it also shows the city that cabbies won't strikes consistently if they don't get their way.
Fenty knew this would be no easy battle, as the concept is a rare on in DC government affairs, and today's strike provides him with concrete evidence that the cabbies have effectively unified against the meters. Maybe they will be able to bring city back to the bargaining table, but that seems doubtful, as the law has been passed, and the only thing more cumbersome than rolling out the meter system would be to go back and try to amend the legislation
Meters will change the cab business in D.C., for better or for worse, and most cabbies, despite their participation in strikes, will be able to make a living with the meter system, perhaps even a better living given increased rider willingness to use their service on a cold morning or rainy night.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
... a Village of Camermen
Clinton's Wife Not PhotogenicHill, baby, what can we do to help? I know those cameramen all look like Rush Limbaugh in disguise, but you gotta stop making maniacal faces in front of them. Aside from introducing the use of one's spouse on a resume, you've given us front page photos that are harder to look at than those of the half-decomposed icemen scientists periodically dig up.
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