Rude, Ruder and Rudest

Two Thoughts for Tuesday

Last week the list of the rudest cities in America was a hot topic on all the morning news programs.  Just in case you missed it (if you weren't paying attention or you live under a rock...or perhaps you just don't give a crap...oh is that rude???) here is how it stacked up.

The Rudest Cities in America:

No. 1: New York City
No. 2: Miami
No. 3: Washington, D.C.

No. 4: Los Angeles

No. 5: Boston
No. 6: Dallas/Fort Worth
No. 7: Atlanta
No. 8: Phoenix/Scottsdale
No. 9: Baltimore
No. 10: Orlando

Actually, when they had the teaser at the intro of the program saying "What are the rudest cities in America?" my mind filled with possibilities.  For my regular bloggees, you know I have lived in  39 cities with 20 or so of those since being married.  I might have to dismiss my picks based on my level of objectivity for the cities that I lived in as a kid because I was too busy being a kid and probably wouldn't of noticed rude people. BUT as an adult, I clearly notice pushy, obnoxious, aggressive behavior when it is smacking me in the face. 

I must say, that this list had a few surprised for me.  The poll was taken by Travel + Leisure and I have my doubts that this is the "absolute, without a doubt, 100 percent accurate" calculation of the cities that contain the bulk of America's  a-holes.  I am in fact "shocked" to see Dallas and Atlanta on there.  Their inhabitants just seem so darn friendly to me.

According to Travel and Leisure's  methodology for gleaning these rudest cities, they comprised a list of 35 cities to evaluate.  Poll participants could go onto the Travel + Leisure website and evaluate all manner of things on a scale from 1-5.  This, in-it-self begs me to ask the question "What if you are the rudest SOB on the planet and you live in St. Louis or Des Moines"? Well, you just get a pass from being recognized and rewarded for being rude.  No high fives for you.


Just in case you are wondering what Travel + Leisure methodology was...and I am sure you were on the edge of your seat in query, here it is.

Methodology

An online survey, developed by the editors of Travel + Leisure, appeared on travelandleisure.com from May 16, 2011, to August 15, 2011. Respondents were asked to rate their choice of 35 cities (Anchorage; Atlanta; Austin; Baltimore; Boston; Charleston; Chicago; Dallas/Fort Worth; Denver; Honolulu; Houston; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; Memphis; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Nashville; New Orleans; New York; Orlando; Philadelphia; Phoenix/Scottsdale; Portland. Maine; Portland, Oregon; Providence; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; San Diego; San Francisco; San Juan; Santa Fe; Savannah; Seattle; and Washington, D.C.) in a selection of subject categories (People, Type of Trip, Nightlife, Culture, Shopping, Food/Drink/Restaurants, Quality of Life/Visitor Experience, and Best Times to Visit). All subject categories and all cities were available for rating at all times. The subject categories were served in random order to respondents. Respondents were asked to identify whether they live in or had visited the cities they rated. The survey results appearing in the print magazine are from respondents who identified themselves as non-residents. Rankings are based on averages of responses from visitors concerning applicable characteristics. Respondents were asked to rate a city for each applicable characteristic, using a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score. Responses were collected and tabulated by travelandleisure.com. Final scores were rounded to the nearest hundredth. When two or more cities have the same score but different ranks, their rankings were ordered by their unrounded score.


Thought #1


As I have been in all these cities, I am not entirely comfortable saying all New Yorkers are ruder than the people I encountered at the Walmart in Kansas City yesterday. The fact that NYC has so many people to pick from makes it easier to find jerks when and if you are looking for them.  Clearly with that many bodies bustling through the relatively small geographical area that is NYC,  there is going to be some general pissiness, some major finger flipping and some extremely rude behavior.  (New York City metro covers 6720 square miles and has 18.9 million people and Montana (the whole state of Montana) has 974,989 people and they cover 147,042 square miles) You will note that not one Montana city was named on the list. 

Still as I am convinced that ALL American cities, have some rude people within their midst...oh come on now...you know they do...I think you would be hard pressed to actually know where the obnoxious little clusters of jerks are hanging out.  I do think that "territorial issues" have a hand in the level of rudeness.

People turn into butt heads when their space is invaded.  Whether it is a neighbor infringing on your yard, a jerk cutting you off in traffic, or the chick on a cell phone blocking the baking supplies isle at the Safeway, we are all subject to INCONSIDERATE  people. 

Thought #2

Some people have no excuse for being the bitch or douche canoe that they are.  They are just nasty.  The guy that slams a door in the face of the old lady behind him or the person that cuts to the front of the line because their time is WAYYY more important than the rest of the shmucks that are willing to wait their turn, these people are just RUDE.  The creep that cuts someone off in traffic causing or nearly causing an accident and doesn't give a apologetic wave is PAST RUDE. The cell phone user that is oblivious to everything and everyone around them and cuts you off in traffic, they are WAY PAST RUDE and just need to go to hell...oops, am I being rude, again?

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Two Thoughts for Tuesday

After my extended absence, I am back with a thought or two on Tuesday. 

Prior to my 2 month break from blogging, I had mentioned that I needed to replace my old 3G Iphone with a newer model.  The fact was that it was sooooooooooooo slooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww  was making me nuts.  (for those of you that rolled their eyes while reading the word "making", I am chossing to ignore you) I know there are a number of phones that are available and I didn't have to have the brand Apple IPhone but as I am used to that particular phone and it works so well with my IPad, I went to talk to the Apple Geniuses to find out the pros and cons of upgrading to the 4S.  The minute the genius told me that it was fast, fast, fast....I said sold, sold, sold.

Just to be clear, I have NOTHING against the other phones.  I am not a hater of your Droids, Evos, Galaxys or any other phone.  SOOO for you that last time referred to me as a I-hole.  Save your breath. (I am still preferring to think that you meant that in the nicest possible way).  I will have my phone and you can have yours.  

The real genius of Apples marketing plan is they released a lot of new features on the new model and made the older 3G phones incapable of downloading future  updates.  So if we wanted the 200+ new features, a much faster running phone and a personal virtual assistant I was inspired  to run out and get the new phone. Of course, I also realize that in about a minute from now they will release the IPhone 5 and all of the 4S buyers are going to be kicking themselves. 



Thought #1

The new IPhone has a feature that includes a voice activated  virtual "assistant" called Siri.  Siri lets you talk to her and she will schedule appointments, make calls, tell you where your are and how to get to where you want to be,  and any number of "must know now" inquiries.   Well that is what she is supposed to do.  This of course leads to everyone asking all manner of questions to see what she might say.  Leave it to the masses to find another way to fritter away time.  Here is an example of some question asking.  Keep in mind that the girl asking the questions has such an annoying giggle, you will want to punch her but the video shows some of the questions being asked of Siri. I am sure you will all be in favor of Siri telling this chick to shut up. Siri must have a certain amount of self restraint. (yes, I understand that at least on some level these answers are "Easter eggs in the software...so don't email me)  Still some of these are pretty funny.






Thought #2


Never let anything go without some controversy. (I mean other than the usual...my phone is better than your phone type of stuff.)

Charlie Le Quesne, a 12 year old boy that was looking at phones on display at a store,  asked an Iphone 4S "How many people are there in the world was shocked to hear the reply "Shut the F*** Up You Ugly T***.  The boys mother was quoted as saying perhaps Siri was tired of stupid questions.  The store manager, however surmised that someone tricked the phone into thinking that the owners name was "Shut the F*** Up... and Siri often answers questions incorporating the owners name.( You can read more about that story in a Huffington Post Tech  article.)

  For the most part Siri keeps things pretty clean.  When asked to talk dirty, she responded with the answer "Humus,Compost. Pumice. Silt. Gravel".  See she does have a sense of humor.

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What Were They Thinking?

In the past I have done articles on Friday about the less-than-mainstream news. My theory that people slack off a bit on Friday at work and need some fluff to talk about while waiting for the clock to give them  permission to get the weekend started.  Frankly now that we have our IPads loaded with Words With Friends and Angry Birds, we have our Facebook and Twitter accounts to stay on top of and can watch our favorite TV shows on our smart phones, I am not sure that anyone would actually need some time wasters. Truly the Internet is the SUPREME time suck if ever there was one.  Every day is loaded with time wasters.   No one will ever convince me that all this technology was created to make us MORE productive.  (Sorry, I had to stop for a second and look at Facebook...oh yeah, I am in the thick of wasting time along with the rest of the masses)


So, today, I was cruising around on the information highway (remember when it was called that?? If you are too young to recall that, just go with the fact that I am old) and came across a few items that had me wondering:


                      What the Hell, were they thinking?????


First out of the box is the story out of Atlanta about the school that had "questionable" questions on a THIRD GRADE math test.  Beaver Ridge Elementary School in Gwinnett County put word problems in a test such as these:

Seems the math test has taken word problems to a level that are less than politically correct, to say the least.  School official said the questions were meant to mix social studies with mathematics.  (REALLY??? Are you even trying to defend this?)

After outraged parents weighed in, the one teacher resigned and three others are under investigation.


The next story that hit me as a WTHWYT was the new advertisement out of North Dakota to promote tourism.  

North Dakota is trying to encourage people to visit their state so they have Odney Advertising doing some ads promoting reasons to come visit their state.   There are certainly reasons to visit North Dakota.  They have beautiful parks and topography.  Maybe they should capitalize on Yellowstone National Park. Just a thought.

And if that isn't pretty enough to entice you, you could go see the largest historical quilt in the nation, the longest straight highway, or see W'eel the huge turtle made out of hubcaps. All kinds of attractions are worth the trip for sure.   (check it out on  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/location/nd)

Still with all of that going for them this is the ad they think is what is going to have you driving to ND.

 

Well, well, LEAVE A LEGEND???? Really, aren't we full of ourselves?  These guys/gals don't look like they will be legends.  A hook up is a hook up.  I think there are 49 other states that you can accomplish this.  Why drive to ND?

Pat Finken, president of Odney Advertising that did the ad, was surprised at some negative responses to the ad.  It was supposed to be "a little fun and a little flirty" according to Pat.

North Dakota's director of ND tourism division, Sara Otte Coleman said they were surprised by the negative reaction to the ad as well.  Sara went on to say she didn't think the ad was in any way in poor taste.  Still the ad was yanked.


This last one is also, a WTHWTT but in a less sleazy and more comical way. 

In Cleveland a high profile court case concerning corruption is unfolding but the local courts are not allowing cameras into the courtroom.  So not wanting to leave the public uninformed (god forbid) station WOIO is broadcasting nightly a puppet show with a reenactment of the days trial events.   Yes, you read that correctly...puppets.   





There are just no upper limits to quality news programming?

Some Days You Just Need to Stay in Bed

As I am a glutton for punishment, I start my day each day at around 5:15 getting ready to walk with my Texas pal via our cell phones and Bluetooths.  I pull on my walking clothes and switch on the news to find out what temperatures await me.   In theory, this gives me time to add multiple layers as needed.  Today we have a balmy 27 degrees so just a coat, gloves, and ski band were in order. 

Some days the news gives me "talk" fodder for Texas pal.  Kansas City just seems to have interesting news for some reason.   I won't  go so far as to say we have more "less than brilliant" people that reside here or maybe we have the most unlucky lot of folks on the planet or perhaps a combination of the two....not sure but today among the BREAKING NEWS, we have on tap today, are two stories related to vehicles.  (By the way...a lot of our BREAKING NEWS can be such topics as "cold front moving in"....we set our bar really low as to what news is breaking.)


First Breaking News Item for the Day


Yesterday, there was a car jacking in Olathe, KS.  That in itself might be rare but never say never.  The thing about this carjacking was that it started in Olathe, went north through a lot of other municipalities that took up the police chase.  That is big news here!  So these carjackers (there were 3 of them in the vehicle) went on a police chase having first Olathe police on their tail, then Lenexa police, then Shawnee, then (according to the news) Fairway and Mission, KS police followed.  Now here is where it gets interesting.   When our brainiac carjackers get into Kansas City, Missouri the KC police decide NOT to continue the pursuit.  The news didn't say why.  Perhaps they were otherwise engaged.  Not sure.  Never the less the police chase ended and the carjackers were free to go about their business of thievery, I guess.

BUT WAIT FOR IT....

They are driving around and crash into a KC Water company truck.  No one is chasing them...they are just crappy drivers it seems.  One guy died and another is critical...no report on the third guy. 





this is quite a long distance as police chases go...on a normal morning in traffic this
would take 45 minutes.



Story No. 2

Yesterday, the Kansas City Fire Department was called out to a BP gas station as someone who was putting gas in their pick up truck said when he pulled out the nozzle his truck blew up.  YIKES...That really is not a good way to start your day. 

Now there is some breaking news.

No, I Am Not Dead Yet, really, I'm Not

Oh, my dear blogees, I humbly apologize for the extended absence.   My intent was to take a couple of weeks off and get the holidays under control but alas....I discovered a few things about myself. Well, to be perfectly honest, these weren't necessarily NEW discoveries.

A.  I can piss away a day like no one else, dinking around on a computer.  TRUE, totally true.  It doesn't help that reading 50 or so great blogs takes up an entire morning.  This is especially true of the blogs written by Meleah, Nicky, Jewell, Bodacious Boomer, Jayne, Bud, Kimberly, Madge, JuneBug and Anne,,,,and the list goes on.  See what I mean.  It would take me an hour to tell you about all the blogs I like, so you can imagine how long it takes me to read them all.

B. One of my blogging friends, mentioned that when she initially told her husband that she was going to write a blog, he said "why? So you can vent to the world about things?"   It does seem that whatever bitching that needs to be done on any given morning, becomes the topic of the day for me.  So here is the thing.   I was feeling bad about how negative, I seem to be getting.   Is this age related?  Is the world getting crazier?   Am I just a freakin' bitch?   Maybe all three of these things play into it.  But here is the upshot.  I am going to start up my blog now that I have made my way through the 2 month long Christmas season and the first two weeks of January organizational marathon.  (more about that in a minute) AND if I feel the need to bitch to the world...and you can be sure that I will... I guess you will be forewarned that I am not getting any less cynical as I am aging.  (none too gracefully, I might add)

C.  The other reason for the extended break, is that once I discovered that I can focus on other things besides sitting at my computer, I came up with the idea that perhaps, I should try finding a little balance in my life.   Bizarre, idea, I know.  Perhaps, I should read more actual books, more actual magazines, spend more time with family and friends....WELL, What do you know?  It was so nice to do those things that my two week break became my  2+ month hiatus.

D. Lastly, it didn't help to hear on the local Kansas City News that a 1970 class reunion committee was in the news because they got stiffed from the photographer that was hired to take their pictures.  The spokeswoman for the group mentioned that this was especially sad because her and her classmates would  probably be dying off before the next reunion in five years.  Seems, I now realize that my days are limited so I had better get my ass in gear and accomplish a few more things.


So here I am at the beginning of a new year ready to blog, balance, prepare for my impending demise (according to class reunion chick, anyway) and I am setting forth with some plans.  I realize that most people hate the words NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS.  I, on the other hand, love, love, love setting an unobtainable goal for me to try to achieve.   Gives me something to shoot for...over and over again.   A contest of sorts with me being the only player.  At what other sport can you be the only winner and the only loser.


So, I have already started the first of my resolutions.   (start is the operative word here...you didn't see the word "accomplished" did you?)  I have sorted out a couple of closets and sorta-kind-of gotten my house in shape for the new year.  The glory of my resolutions are there is a lot of wiggle room.

One of my other resolutions is to blog without making it the main focus of my day.  I will try to blog regularly and TRY not to be bitching all the time.  Just part of the time.  In that vein, you might notice that I am adding a new page for my unsolicited advice of running a household.  As my day job of being a realtor is still in the toilet I have a lot of time to clean, organize and be a super-duper unpaid maid.  Daily, I come across "wonder products" that I use to keep up our house and think that I need to share these glorious products with everyone I know.  Hence the new page....Sass and Trash.   (some of my readers will think my suggestions worthy of the trash bin)  But still for the person that pointed out that people that just love housework, cooking and such... have sick minds, let me go on record as sicknesses goes, this one is fairly painless and doesn't cost anything in medical expenses.

So, I am back and will be blogging my little thoughts down from time to time and look forward to catching up with all of you.  Hope you are having a great start to 2012.


PS  To all the people that dropped me notes expressing their concern over my possible demise.  I love you guys.