Sometimes I catch myself thinking.

I probably isn’t a bad thing, but I’m sure it can be dangerous.

But, sometimes, I wonder…

For instance, I wonder who does Flo’s hair on those GEICO  Progressive commercials, and if they get paid.  Because they shouldn’t, you know.

I wonder why I like many of Meryl Streep’s movies, but I can’t stand Meryl?

Why Stanley Tucci doesn’t get more awards?  He’s in everything, can play anything, and works all the time, and he really, really good!

Why anyone would use Hamburger Helper.  And why there are over 60 kinds of it, I mean, what’s wrong with hamburger?

Why one of the side effects of every heart medicine I take is “possible heart attack!”

Why minute rice takes 90 seconds in the microwave.

How Brooke Burke got a TV show.

Who taught the dog to talk on the Advantix commercial.

If Justin Case is really that guy’s name or if he changed it for the commercial.  I mean really, did they look all over for a guy named Justin Case?

If a Twinkie really would survive a nuclear holocaust.

Why Project Runway is still on.

Who is Marcus Bachman kidding?

When the US press decided to turn on the President?

Why the pioneer wives didn’t look at the men and say,”It’s too damn cold here in the NorthWest Territory, take a left at Indianapolis!”

Why some people don’t think the rules apply to them.

I mean, I just wonder.

I read an article this week about the products that are still made in America.

I was shocked.  Having spent my life in non-manufacturing jobs, education, and the car business, I really paid little attention to where things are made.  With of course, the exception of the “made in China” label, which I do my best not to buy.

Now, don’t go thinking I’m anti-Chinese.  Because I’m not.  I’m anti-slavery, and most people who make things in China don’t have a choice of jobs, they go where they are told.  That’s my big beef about China. 

But, that’s not what this is about.

The items listed were:  bowling balls, sparklers, compact discs, pianos, socks, ironing boards, pencils, electric relays, chopsticks, and sneakers.

Yes, chopsticks.  IRONY!

My fist thought was, “That’s it?”

And apparently, it is.

There is only one bowling ball company, Ebonite, left.  It’s in Kentucky, the rest of them have fled the shores to cheaper work forces, and since bowling has declined, (down from 7,000 bowling centers to 5,800 in the past decade) ball sales are down.  But the Kentucky gang keeps rolling along.  And, I’m so proud, after a quick ball check, both of mine are Ebonites!

As to sparklers, who doesn’t love them?  Birthday cakes and the 4th of July just wouldn’t be the same.  But really very few sparklers are made in the US.  Youngstown, Ohio has a company which is barely holding on, and then only because of tariffs.

1312 people in Terre Haute, Indiana have jobs because we buy CDs.  So, keep downloading stuff, keep America, or at least Terre Haute working.

There’s one piano company left in the US.  Steinway, and frankly, there’s no comparison when it comes to sound, quality, and production.  It’s the gold standard of pianos, and other products love to refer themselves as the “Steinway of this or that”.  Of course it takes a year and 450 people to make one,  and, raise your hand if you have a Steinway.  Mine’s not UP!  They’re a tad pricey.

Socks are still made in Ft. Payne, Alabama, but probably not for much longer.  And if it wasn’t for the 157% tariff on ironing boards, yours would most definitley be made in China.  The 53% tariff on pencils keeps the Chinese from flooding the US market, and the relay company in South Carolina makes specialized relays. 

Georgia Chopsticks in Americus, GA, owned by Korean born Jae Lee took advantage of the Chinese building boom that is deforesting that nation, and the ample supply of good but messy Georgia pines (and BTW Jae, I have several you can come and get) and started a company that is actually exporting chopsticks to China that say “Made in the USA”!

As to sneakers, as we called them, New Balance is it for American athletic shoes, they are made in Maine.  Yep, your Air Jordans, Nike, Adidas, et. al. come from elsewhere.  And New Balance is hanging on by a shoestring.  The ENTIRE US shoe industry employs 12,000 people.  That’s it, and that’s a 50% drop in 10 years. 

The second shoe could drop if the Free Trade agreement with Viet Nam is approved.  The tariff on imported shoes is about 20%, and Reebok and Nike, who make their shoes overseas, don’t think it’s right that the American public should have to pay a “shoe tax” to buy their product. 

At this point, I’d like to say many things, but I’ll just add that it distresses me not a little that we are looking into free trade with a nation that killed 58,000 of our soldiers.  And, please do not say, “What about Japan.”  I’m not over that yet either. 

But I will say, I have an embarrassing number of pairs of “sneakers”, and all of them are New Balance!  There’s a reason for that.

* New Balance has not compensated me for this post, has not provided product, and I seriously doubt they know about Redneck Latte Ravings, which is a cryin’ shame, and I’m quite sure they never will, since they don’t know about me, and no-one sends me swag!  But, just in case, 8 medium here!

With all the Standard and Poor’s hoopla, I keep asking myself, “Who are they, and why do we care?

Oh, I”m sure there are thousands of legitimate reasons, and I know the Congress gave away its right to establish a stable economy to a private bank years ago,  but I just wonder what would happen if we told all those people to just simply, to quote Della Reese in Harlem Nights: “Kiss my entire ass!”

Afterall, Standard and Poor’s is a division of McGraw-Hill, you know the people who’ve been screwing over charging you for text books for the last umpty-ump years.  And they only get to ’say so’ because the US Securities and Exchange Commission and because the Federal Reserve, which is about as Federal as Federal Express, wants them to, says they can, and it’s nothing more than a federal watch dog made UP of six people appointed by the President and approved by the Senate.  All of whom are…what’s the word…fallible!

So, should we care?

I hate to be all Ross Perot and ask the question and not have an answer, but I’m there.  Seriously, I’m there.

I don’t know.

But, I’m all ears!

AND,  it poses more questions.

Like who says what’s good literature.

I happen to like Harold Robbins.  Granted, he’s not going to be taught in school, even though all this books are filled with all the literary terms that English teachers love to push on us.

And granted, in my opinion, To Kill A Mockingbird, has all of them without the smut, and is easier to teach, but who decided that TKAM is literature and Harold isn’t.

His books have sold 750,000,000 copies.

And, why is Moby Dick considered “the greatest American novel ever written”, when it sucks?

Eight chapters on whales!  Big, ugly, scary, scaly, smelly.  Who cares?

Yes, the story of the crazy sea captain chasing the great white whale is a great plot, story line, and has theme, etc, but it was a better movie;  and the book is almost always better than the movie, with the exception of  The Pelican Brief and Sleeping With The Enemy, and that just may be because Julia Roberts was in both of them.

And what about Tom Sawyer?  Did Mark Twain ever say the Mississippi River is the symbol of life?  No, he did not. He’s dead, and not around for us to ask now.  And guess what;  sometimes, a river is just a damn river.

And all the color symbolism in The Lord of The Flies?  Really, who came UP with that?  Just a bunch of crazy rich bullies trapped on an island if you ask me!

Look at any fashion magazine and tell me that some of that crap is good taste!  It isn’t, but someone, somewhere said it is, and therefore it is.  What about those fugly hats by Philip Treacy?

Bull!

Bette Midler, that sage of song and film, said it best when she said, “Modern art is supposed to be the panacea for the ills of all mankind, but we still by the painting that matches the couch.”

Because WE like it.

Not because someone else likes it.

If want to mix my Chinese water colors with my knock off K-Mart quality French Impressionists prints, and it makes me happy to sit in that room, well, guess what, Della Reese says I can.

And don’t get me started on movies.  Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director…who says so?  The members of the Academy, people, just like me and you. 

So, read, enjoy, reflect, and even invest, but do it your way.

After all, who says so?

I’m a friendly guy.

Seriously, I try to be nice to everyone I meet.  And I speak to people I pass everyday.

It’s a part of me, and it’s a part of our culture at “the place where I work”.  We kinda have a five foot rule.  If you come within five feet of someone, then you speak, say hello, and ask if they need help.

I’ve had that as a part of my persona all my life.

I was brought UP in a friendly household, and my dad never met a stranger.

Neither have I.

So, when I’m walking, because, as you know, I’m a Mall Walker, I nod and speak to most every one that passes me. 

Don’t get all twitchy, I walk early in the AM before the mall stores are open, so it’s not like I’m running from shopper to shopper and saying hello.  And quite frankly, I’m not looking to start UP a conversation, I’m just acknowledging their presence.

Because it’s polite.

It’s the civil thing to do.

But, alas, many of them I find are DNA people.

DNA – do not acknowledge.

Seriously, they’ll look right at you and Walk On By.

Not say a word.

Not a smile.

Not a grut.

Nothin’!!

Of course, when the don’t respond, I cuss a little under my breath!

And, it’s not just the mall.

It’s every where.  I’ve noticed that older people are more likely to speak.  Women who are walking alone are hit or miss, about 50/50.  Some do, some don’t.  And maybe I can’t fault them…it’s a crazy world. 

But, I’m not.

Kids, unless they know me from school, rarely say a word.

It makes me wonder, “Do I look that creepy?” 

Back when I was at Brookwood, one of my “fellow educators” and I would discuss this issue.  We found it mostly among the younger teachers.  One in particular…ok B-Wood folks, don’t try to figure it out, ’cause he isn’t there any longer.  Every day, I’d arrive about the same time – you may remember I’m a creature of habit – he must have been as well, because we passed each other everyday, really, everyday. 

I’d speak, he’d Walk On By.

One day after having had enough, I stopped and said, “You could at least grunt!”.

And he did.

Maybe in some cases, it’s better to Walk On By!

But, I hope not.  I’d rather live in a civil society where people acknowledge one another’s presence, speak, act friendly, you know, be polite.

So, don’t put me on your DNA list, at least smile.  Don’t just Walk On By!

Ok, so I love stealing song titles.  Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Dionne Warwick…great song.