HR Follies, Part 3

For your reading pleasure, I have a few more crazy things I've seen on resumes or heard in interviews.  As always, all of these examples are 100% real.  As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.  If you like these, I recommend that you read my two earlier "HR Follies" blog posts.

What exactly are you trying to say?

In the education section of a resume, an applicant put this:

I'm not exactly sure what that means.  He went to high school but didn't take any Math or English classes?  He graduated from high school but his school didn't offer Math or English classes?  Most of the time, I can at least figure out what they mean or what they are trying to say.  But this one?  It has me completely baffled.

Was that really your greatest accomplishment?

An applicant for a construction job with our company had done work for a pipeline company from August 2014 to January 2015.  Below the responsibilities for the job, he listed his "accomplishments":

Really?  You worked for a pipeline company and your accomplishments have nothing to do with, you know, getting the job done on time or under budget or learning new skills?  No, instead you point to the fact that you survived working through winter in North Dakota?  That's like a teacher saying her greatest accomplishment was "making it through the school year" while neglecting to mention if she actually taught the students anything during said year.  Also....can I point out something else?  He says that he "worked through winter" but yet he quit/was fired in January, which is right in the middle of winter.  So, really he didn't work "through winter," which means the one accomplishment he listed on his resume is bogus.

Interviewing in the Dark?

As part of an interview for a field job, we have them some technical questions to try to gauge their mechanical aptitude.  One of the questions was an electrical question - basically, if you were needed to work on a light fixture and you turned off the light switch and the light went off, are you safe to work on the light fixture without getting shocked.  Typically, they say "yes" or "no" (which is the correct answer) and then explain why.  However, we had an exchange in one of the interviews once that went a little sideways.

Interviewer: "If you were to turn a light switch off to service a light fixture, could you be shocked while servicing the fixture?"
Applicant: "So, if I were turn off a light switch....and the light goes off?"
Interviewer: "Right, say you were to flick that light switch on the wall off (pointing to light switch on the wall as an example)..."
Applicant: Turns off the light switch, plunging the windowless interview room into darkness.  Five guys sitting in the dark.
Interviewer: "Uhh...no that was just an example.  Can you turn the light back on?"

What Kind of Question?

We were once again interviewing for a field job.  Following some normal behavioral interview questions, we then transition to technical questions.  However, the interviewer tripped over his words and mixed up "technical" and "test" and wound up saying "Now, we're going to move on and ask you some testicle questions."  To the interviewee's credit, he didn't laugh or make a face and just answered the next question.  The other folks on the interview panel, however?  It took everything they could to not burst out laughing following their colleague's faux pas.

So, what you're saying is you got fired?

I inquired about an applicant's reason for leaving a previous job and he said that he was "involuntarily separated."  I asked him to explain that in a little more detail- thinking maybe he got laid off or something like that - to which he responded that he took a day off on Friday and when he went back into work on the following Monday, they told him they didn't need him anymore.  In other words, he got fired.

Guess what?  His reason for leaving the job two jobs before that one?  Yep, he was "involuntarily separated" from that job, too.  So, apparently "involuntarily separated" is to "discharged" what "sanitation engineer" is to "trash man."  In case you're wondering, we decided not to hire him.

Most Awkward Interview Answer Ever

Here's one answer to an interview question that I'll never forget.

Me: "Tell me about a time when you took the time to gather all of the facts before reacting or making a decision."
Applicant: "Hmmm. Does this have to be work-related?"
Me: "Not necessarily."
Applicant:  "OK, well.....my wife told me she was pregnant but I didn't think it could be mine because I'd had a vasectomy.  Rather than getting upset with her or accusing her of sleeping around, I talked to my doctor.  As it turned out, the vasectomy didn't take, so I was, you know, still able to, you know...But, so it was good that I didn't jump to conclusions and got all the facts first."
Me: "OK, next question..."

So far, that's the first and only time I've been in a job interview and the word "vasectomy" has been uttered.  Hopefully, it never happens again because I can only imagine the look on my face after he said that word in his answer.

That's all for now, though I'm sure I'll have more stories to pass along in the future.  One thing you can always count on with a career in HR is for people to do and say weird things.

Thanks for reading!

More Things I Believe

• I believe that the St. Louis area is a great place to raise a family.
• I believe that Donald Trump will not make it through his four year term - for one reason or another.
• I believe that someone should save Donald Trump from himself and delete his Twitter account.
• I believe that there are more hypocrites per capita in politics than in any other "profession" in the U.S.
• I believe that learning to accept, be comfortable with and, yes, like who you are as a person - with all of your nuances, quirks, your personality - is one of the most important things you can ever do.
• I believe that it is also one of the most difficult things to do - I know it is for me.
• I believe that we are all unique and, yes, a little weird in our own way. 
• I believe those little nuances and eccentricities are to be embraced and celebrated, rather than covered up or hidden.
• I believe the Cardinals will miss the playoffs again in 2017.
• I believe the Cubs will not repeat as World Series champions.  It's really hard to do it in back-to-back years, as evidenced by the fact that no team has done it since 2000.
• I believe Calvin and Hobbes is the best comic strip of all time.
• I believe that, if he'd known that Donald Trump was going to be the next president, Jon Stewart would have never stepped down from him role as host of "The Daily Show".
• I believe that the Baylor men's basketball team will make it to the Sweet 16 this year.
• I believe that the Baylor women's basketball team will make it to the Final Four this year.
• I believe that Matt Rhule was a great hire for Baylor football.
• I believe that Baylor football will win at least 7 games next year.
• I believe that, contrary to popular opinion, people don't change.  Oh, they may change some ancillary habits (stop smoking or drinking, lose weight, etc.) but the core of who they are will never change.  The guy who was the egotistical jerk in high school will still be an egotistical jerk when he's 50.  The person who was a bully in school is still a bully when he/she is an adult, it's just that they are now bullying co-workers and employees instead of classmates.  The guy who was the immature man-child at 20 is still an immature man-child at 50.  The person who is a genuinely nice, caring person as a kid will still be a genuinely nice, caring person as an adult.  A person can change their habits or their look but they can never change their nature or how they are wired.
• I believe that some of you will vehemently agree with that last one and that's okay.
• I believe others of you will wholeheartedly agree with it and that's okay, too.
• I believe our elected officials should spend less time drafting and attempting to pass so called "bathroom bills" and more time actually trying to address the problems that impact this country.
• I believe that global warming is real.
• I believe that Dr Pepper is the most delicious soft drink ever invented - I don't need to use those newfangled drink dispensers to "improve" it by adding cherry or vanilla.
• I believe that some people should not be allowed to use said newfangled drink dispensers because it is apparently too advanced for them.
• I likewise believe that some people should not be allowed to use the self checkout kiosks at the grocery store and should instead just be checked out by a person.
• I believe that Rush Limbaugh is an inconsistent, egotistical blowhard and I can't fathom how people can listen to him day in and day out.  I've tried to do so and it's really just awful.
• I believe that terrestrial radio sucks and am forever grateful for the advent of satellite radio and MP3 players.
• I believe that people in large cities should strongly consider voting Republican or Libertarian Independent instead of Democratic.  Here's why: virtually all large cities in America have been consistently led by Democratic politicians for the past 50 years and how many of them are really better off than they were in the 1960s?  Few, if any.  If you keep doing something over and over again and it keeps leading to the same lousy results, shouldn't you try a different approach?  Really, what do you have to lose?
• I believe this is the warmest, least snowy winter I can ever remember.  Seriously, we've had basically zero snow and temperatures consistently well above average.  It's early March and the Bradford pears are in bloom, something that usually doesn't happen until late March or early April.

Thanks for reading!

Song Lyrics I Love

There was an internet meme – that I believe also became a t-shirt (or maybe vice versa) – that said “My brain is 80% song lyrics.”  I don’t know about you all, but that is certainly true for me.  It’s kind of bizarre, because I can go years without hearing a song, but then when it comes on, I can jump in a sing the lyrics like I just listened to it five minutes ago.

Longtime readers of this blog know that I love music.  I’ve had previous blog posts about my favorite albums of all time, my favorite Beatles songs, etc.  Now, I’d like to share some of my favorite song lyrics of all time.  These may not necessarily come from my favorite artists or songs; they may just be a phrase or a line of a song that has always stuck with me for whatever reason.

Here we go!

Artist:   Edwin McCain

Song: “Sorry to a Friend”
Lyric: “We had wonderful times but terrible timing”
Why I Love It: This entire song is one of my favorites, but it’s this line that always gets to me.  It’s incredibly sad and poignant and, as will soon become obvious, I have a soft spot for sad and poignant lyrics.  For those unfamiliar with the song, it is a story of two friends who drifted away over time only to run into each other again.  You get the impression that they may have been in love at some point in the past but had never actually been together due to other circumstances, hence the line in question.  I think many of us can relate to similar situations from our lives and to hear someone put that sentiment to music….well, it gives me chills sometimes.

Artist:   Howard Jones

Song: “No One is to Blame"
Lyric: “Aspirations in the clouds but your hopes go down the drain”
Why I Love It: This song is one of my favorites from the 1980s.  In a sense, there are some similarities in theme to the above song, in that it’s about people kept apart for whatever reason.  The lyrics for the entire song are terrific, but this line is my favorite.  Who can’t relate to a day or a week or a month where you are a shooting for the moon (or reaching for the stars, or whatever other cliché you want to pick) only to get shot down?  Maybe it was being rejected by someone you love.  Maybe it was not getting that job that you really wanted.  Maybe it was a project at work that you had high hopes for but that wound up being a disaster.  Regardless, I think everyone can relate to the emotion contained in that simple line.

Artist:   Soundgarden

Song:     “Outshined”
Lyric:     “I’m looking California and feeling Minnesota”
Why I Love It: I think we have all experienced what Chris Cornell is talking about in that line.  We’ve all had days where we look good outside but we’re a mess inside.  Someone gives you a compliment and you appreciate it, but you also don’t feel worthy of the praise you’re receiving due to other things with which you are dealing.  You dress up and put on a brave face, but inside all you really want to do is stay in bed and hide under the covers.

Artist:   Trisha Yearwood (written by Hugh Prestwood)

Song:     “The Song Remembers When”
Lyric:     “Still I guess some things we bury/Are just bound to rise again/For even if the whole world has forgotten/The song remembers when”
Why I Love It:  Music can be a very powerful thing.  Some songs can trigger memories and instantly transport you back to a particular place in time and that’s the theme of this song.  It could be 20 or 30 years later, but every time you hear that song, you immediately associate it with a person or a place or a particular time in your life.  Even if you had previously completely forgotten about that person or event, the music can trigger it.  It happens to me a lot and it’s one of the reasons why I love that song and that lyric.

Artist:   Better Than Ezra

Song:     “Cry in the Sun”
Lyric:     “For everyone/there’s a person, place or time/That brings you back and makes you feel alive/Before your reason clouds your eyes/You could rule the world if you wanted to”
Why I Love It:  I love to reminisce and think about how life was when I was younger.  Similar to the previous song, this lyric talks about that.  For everyone, there is a person or a place or a song that takes you back to when you were about 20 years old and were seemingly invincible – when the world was your oyster and there was no limit to what you could accomplish.  Perhaps it’s when you go back to visit where you went to college or perhaps it’s whenever you get together with old friends.  Whatever it is, I believe that this is another universal sentiment to which everyone can relate.

Artist:   Turnpike Troubadours

Song:     “7 & 7”
Lyric:     “Ain’t strange how well I knew you back when I was 17/Lovin’ you was easy, babe, but I was just a child/These days you ain’t nothing, just an interstate daydream/Folks were sleeping while we were running wild”
Why I Love It:  Yeah, I know, another sad, poignant lyric in which the singer is reminiscing of a relationship from long ago.  This is from my favorite song by the group that is currently my favorite.  The whole song is looking back to when the singer was younger and, later on, he encounters an old flame in the supermarket aisle and deals with that awkwardness.  But I think it’s the bit about the “interstate daydream” bit that really gets me.  Who hasn’t driven down the interstate at 75 miles per hour while your mind drifts off to some time or place when you were younger and your life was much simpler?

Artist:   Sarah McLachlan

Song:     “I Will Not Forget You”
Lyric:     “So I ran like the wind to the water, please don’t leave me again I cried/And I threw bitter tears at the ocean, but all that came back was the tide”
Why I Love It:  As I said, I have a soft spot for sad, poignant lyrics.  This one, to me, is very evocative.  I can totally picture her on the beach, crying and praying for the return of her loved one.  This is not one of McLachlan’s better known songs (it’s from her second record, before songs like “Possession” made her a big star), but this is still my favorite lyric of hers.

Artist:   Gin Blossoms

Song:     “Hold Me Down”
Lyric:     “When you’re in the company of strangers or just the strangers you call friends”
Why I Love It: This lyric comes from my favorite record of all time, though interestingly, it’s not one of my favorite songs on the record.  The late Doug Hopkins, the Gin Blossoms’ primary songwriter early on, had a knack for pairing depressing lyrics with upbeat, jangly pop-rock music.  This line is an example of that: a simple, seemingly throwaway line buried in the middle of the first verse.  However, when you think about it, it’s very profound, very dark and very true.  How well does anyone really know us?  Even our best friends and our spouses don’t necessarily know what we’re thinking or what internal struggles we may be going through.  To some extent, our friends are still just strangers that we know better than others, so this lyric resonates with me from that standpoint.

Artist:   Creedence Clearwater Revival

Song:     “Lodi”
Lyric:     “If I only had a dollar/For every song I’ve sung/Every time I had to play/While people sat there drunk/You know I’d catch the next train/Back to where I live”
Why I Love It: Popular music is littered with songs about life on the road.  Rock music, blues, country – virtually every genre of music – has songs about touring or playing in clubs, bars and honky tonks.  Of all of those songs, this one is probably my favorite and this lyric is a big reason why.  Again, it paints a visual image – you can picture a band on stage singing to a half-empty bar populated by people drinking and smoking.  If I were ever in a band playing a show, I would definitely cover this song.

Artist:   Keith Whitley/Alison Krauss (written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz)

Song:     “When You Say Nothing At All”
Lyric:     “Old Mister Webster could never define/What’s being said between your heart and mine”
Why I Love It:    This is a song that was a hit on the country charts two different times: for Keith Whitley in 1988 and for Alison Krauss in 1995.  I love both versions, both for the vocal performances (which couldn’t be more different – Whitley’s deep baritone vs. Krauss’s angelic soprano) and for the lyrics.  I like it so much that it’s the song my wife and I danced to at our wedding reception.  While the lyric I’ve selected above may sound corny, it’s perfect for someone who is deeply in love with someone, especially in the early stages of the relationship.  When the other person’s smile makes you weak in the knees, when you know that you have a special connection with that person.  It’s difficult to put into words and that’s what these lyrics convey.  Also, after listing a bunch of serious/depressing lyrics, I figured I should end on a lighter, more positive note.  J I’m a happy guy who has been immeasurably blessed, so I can’t say exactly why I gravitate toward depressing lyrics.  I just do!

There you have it – some song lyrics I love.  There are others out there, so I may do another volume of this in the future.  I’d be interested to hear from you – what are some of your favorite lyrics?  I’d love to know.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Current Events Rant

There is so much going on in the world these days, it can be a little hard to keep up.  Here are my thoughts on some of these current event topics.

·         Trump’s Executive Order banning immigrants/refugees from entry into the U.S. is certainly one of the most high profile topics over the past few weeks.  This is the case for a variety of reasons.  First, while it purports to protect America by trying to keep out those who might wish to do us harm, the logic seems to be specious at best.  While referencing 9/11, the ban doesn’t include Saudi Arabia, the country that produced the majority of the terrorists who participated in the 9/11 attacks.  Even far more curious, Saudi Arabia is a country where Trump’s company has significant business interests.  Can anyone say conflict of interest?  The decision to not include Egypt falls under the same logic apparently. 
·         Refugees are some of the most highly scrutinized and vetted individuals who ever gain admission to the U.S.  If a terrorist wanted to enter the U.S. to carry out an attack, doing so through the refugee program is about the last approach they’d take.  Past precedent indicates they are more likely to enter via a student visa or other visa and then overstay their welcome.
·         In attempting to justify the ban, Trump and his talking heads (Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway) have – when not making up attacks that never happened, like the Bowling Green Massacre – referenced Boston, Orlando and San Bernardino.  There are some issues with those references, however.  The two Boston Marathon bombers were from the Soviet Union/Kyrgyztan (not included in the ban) and one of them had been in the U.S. since he was 8 and was a U.S. citizen.  The Orlando nightclub attack was carried out by Omar Mateen, who was born in New York and raised in Florida.  One of the attackers in San Bernardino was born in Chicago and grew up in California; the other was from Pakistan, another country not included in the ban.  None of the attackers were recent refugees or recent immigrant entries into the United States.  This “ban” would not have prevented any of these attacks.  Looking back even further, the largest domestic terror attack prior to 9/11 was the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, which was carried out by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, two white nutjobs who grew up in the U.S.  Even the Olympic bombing and other attacks in Atlanta (which have been referenced by Spicer) were carried out by a white, crazy, right wing wacko from Florida.
·         While I certainly want our country to be safe, a selectively applied blanket decision banning entry to some immigrants is not the right way to go about it.  We need to consider the root of why some of these people hate us so much, something that I’ll have to get to in a future blog post.
·         Aside from signing executive orders about as often as some people use the bathroom, Trump has also seen all manner of chaos in the Cabinet and close advisors he has selected.  His nominee for Secretary of Education was a rich lady with no apparent relevant qualifications beyond the fact that she donated a lot of money to Trump’s campaign.  She will head up the department in charge of our nation’s public schools while having never attended a public school, sent her children to a public school or ever worked in a public school.  Now we can certainly argue whether or not the Department of Education should even exist (it didn’t before 1979 and it’s hard to argue that our nation’s schools are better off now than they were 40 years ago), but as long as you’re going to have that Cabinet department, shouldn’t the person in charge of it have some relevant experience?  The same goes for Ben Carson, who is the nominee for the HUD secretary.  Huh?  I could totally understand making him the Surgeon General or nominating him for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, given his background as a physician and surgeon.  But HUD?  That’s another one that seems to make no sense.  And then there’s his original Secretary of Labor nominee, another rich guy who apparently employed an undocumented immigrant as his housekeeper and didn’t pay taxes on her services.  It appears that the only qualification for any of these roles is that you are either obscenely wealthy or you have donated money or done favors for Trump in the past.  Whether you have any related experience in the area you will be in charge of matters little.
·         On the campaign trail, Trump constantly attacked Hillary Clinton as being “crooked” and pointing out conflicts of interest between The Clinton Foundation and some of the political things they did.  However, as we’ve already discussed, you can make the argument that Trump is allowing his business ties to dictate policy matters, in terms of his executive orders.  In addition, his nominee for National Security Advisor had to withdraw his nomination after he was found to but in cahoots with the Russians and then lied about it to the Vice President.  Pot, this is kettle.  You’re black.
·         Thank God for the separation of powers and checks and balances in our government.  The President may not like it – or even understand it – but I have a feeling those checks and balances are going to come in handy over the next several months.
·         I think it is ridiculous that companies like Nordstrom’s are dropping Ivanka Trump’s clothing lines.  What does her clothing line have to do with the fact that he father may be a little cuckoo?  How many people in this world would be screwed if they were punished for the missteps of their parents or other relatives?  At the same time, I think it’s ridiculous for the President to rant and rave about boycotting those companies because of what they’ve done.  The companies are wrong but the President using his position as a bully pulpit to try to bash private companies is wrong, too.
·         On a more local level, Missouri recently became the 28^th “right-to-work” state, accomplishing a long time goal of Missouri Republicans who had to wait until they won the governor’s office before they could get it enacted.  Intelligent people can honestly disagree as to the importance and effectiveness of unions and whether or not people should be forced to join one.  I’m in the middle and can see the points from both sides.  I’m not going to argue for either side right now, because that could go on forever.  However, I’m still a little puzzled as to why that was one of the Missouri GOP’s top priorities.  They claim that it will make Missouri for attractive to employers because they won’t have to fear dealing with unions.  They claim it will lead to job creation.  However, if you look at the top 10 states in terms of job growth (according to Kiplinger and the Christian Science Monitor), 4 of the top 10 states are NOT right-to-work states (Oregon, Washington, Colorado and California) while 6 are (Idaho, Arizona, Utah, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee).  So, is right-to-work really a factor?  Or does it have more to do with the fact that all 10 of those states have either beaches or mountains or a warm climate?  The right-to-work proponents point to states like the aforementioned six while conveniently ignoring that all of the poorest and worst states for job growth are also right-to-work states (Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.). 
·         Meanwhile, the General Assembly is cutting funding to schools and universities.  I’m all for being fiscally prudent, but there are some things where we simply cannot afford to skimp and education is #1, followed closely by the state’s infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.).
·         From where I sit, employers probably care less about whether or not there are unions and more about how educated the workforce is and how strong the state’s infrastructure is.  Who cares about the union status if all of the citizens of the state are uneducated morons and the roads and bridges are falling apart?  For my money, the General Assembly’s focus should be on investing in education and infrastructure rather than trying to bleed unions dry.  Besides, the infrastructure piece creates….wait for it…GOOD PAYING JOBS! If we have awesome schools and good infrastructure – that is what is going to make Missouri attractive to businesses.  Unfortunately, Missouri is on its way to becoming Mississippi and that’s NOT a good thing.
·         Has there ever been a bigger cluster than NFL relocation?  A year ago, they had three teams (Rams, Chargers and Raiders) who were all vying to relocate to Los Angeles.  Only one of those teams’ cities (St. Louis) had put forth a viable stadium plan, while the other two had nothing despite trying for years.  So what do the NFL owners do?  They allow the former team – the only team in a city who was actually trying to keep their team – to move!  Then, they give permission for the Chargers to move to LA a year later if they still don’t have a stadium deal in San Diego.  Fast forward a year, the Rams continue to stink while playing in front of a half-empty stadium (that honeymoon didn’t last long) while NFL owners are mad at the Chargers for moving to LA even though they gave them permission to do so a year ago!  The Chargers will play in a 30,000 soccer stadium at which they will gouge fans for tickets, which will likely be purchased by visiting fans since everyone in San Diego now hates the owner.  Meanwhile, the Raiders had a deal to relocate to Las Vegas, only to see it fall apart when their financial partners got cold feet.  So now, the league has pissed off three fan bases while having three teams either in limbo or playing in temporary stadiums.  I used to think that NHL commissioner was the biggest buffoon among the 4 major sports commissioners, but he has clearly handed that title over to Roger Goodell.
·         On a lighter note, we have recently signed my son up for high school classes and my daughter turns 10 next week!  Where does the time go and when did I become an old fart?  Time needs to slow down…..except during the week at work.  Those days can fly by. J
 

Thanks for reading!

Alternative Facts, Fake News, Protests and Fascism

Over the past week or so, there has been no shortage of interesting developments across our nation and, more locally, in Missouri.  Now that I've had some time to digest these things in further detail, I thought I'd share some of my views on these issues.

• First, we had the bizarre spectacle in the days after the inauguration, in which the newly sworn-in President and his sycophants spent press conferences and interviews disputing the number of people who attended the inauguration.  This was quickly followed by the President yelling at media in a press conference and calling them "fake news" and his Chief of Staff telling the media to shut up.  The last time I checked, the First Amendment protected the freedom of the press and it's a startling development when the President and his Chief of Staff seem to basically be disregarding it.  Then, we had Kellyanne Conway justifying Trump's press secretary's claims as being "alternative facts," which may be one of the most ridiculous - not to mention dangerous - things I've ever heard.  Alternative facts?  No, there are facts and there are fiction.  Something is either true or it isn't.  This isn't "Back to the Future Part II," where there was a real 1985 and an alternate 1985.  It's an undisputed FACT that more people attended Obama's inauguration in 2009 and attended Trump's inauguration. 
• Next, who cares?  What difference does it make if there were 50,000 people or 250,000 people or a million people.  Does it really matter?  Hitler and the Nazis drew huge crowds to some of their rallies in Germany in the 1930s - that doesn't mean a huge crowd necessarily equates to anything good. 
• When you think about it, it makes perfect sense that Obama's crowds would have been larger.  First, his 2009 inauguration was an undoubtedly historic event - the first minority president in U.S. history, which is naturally going to ramp up attendance and excitement.  Also, consider the source of support for the respective presidents.  Much of Obama's support came from large cities and much of the Northeast, which is much more accessible to Washington, DC.  Trump's support came largely from the South and the middle of the country, as well as from more rural areas, folks for whom a trip to Washington, DC is more difficult.  Rather than offering up some of these things as reasons for a smaller turnout or, even better, just disregarding the issue altogether, Trump's crew instead argued about "fake news", "alternative facts" and media bias.
• The whole "fake news" accusation seems ironic as well.  Do I think the so-called "mainstream media" may have a more liberal bias?  Sure.  However, I always find it interesting when people who blast the mainstream media for hiding or not telling the truth are themselves under the spell of "fake" news media that unequivocally peddle untrue bullshit on a regular basis.  Some of these people are so blinded by their mistrust of the media that they will believe any crackpot website that spews inaccuracies that dovetail with their world view without ever doing any research to see where the truth may lie.  The fact that so many people - from both ends of the political spectrum - spend their lives in an echo chamber that only serves to reinforce their views and beliefs is a frightening thing.
• The day after the inauguration, we witnessed something unlike anything most of us have ever seen - simultaneous protests in cities from coast to coast and around the world.  And they were peaceful protests to boot!  I personally didn't participate, though I witnessed first hand how many people marched in St. Louis, as we were downtown for something else that morning. 
• I support the marchers for exercising their First Amendment rights, even if I'm still a little fuzzy on what the purpose of the protests were supposed to accomplish.  Protests themselves will accomplish little.  But if those protests subsequently spur people to get involved with running for office or reaching out to their government representatives to influence the direction of the country, then they will have achieved some long lasting impact. 
• Those marches cannot be the end all, be all of their efforts.  If people truly want to affect change, it has to be more than a few marches or protests.  The protests in Ferguson in 2014 accomplished very little.  But some of those protesters have subsequently been elected to public office where they can attempt to affect some of the changes they desire to see.  Time will tell the ultimate impact of the marches.
• Over the course of Trump's first week in office, he has shown that Trump the President will not be any different than Trump the Candidate.  Anyone hoping that the incredible responsibility of being the so called "Leader of the Free World" might temper his behavior has to, so far, be extremely disappointed.  He's continued saying and doing what he wants with little regard for the downstream impact of his actions.  Obviously, we're only a little more than a week into a four year term, so a lot of things can happen, but so far anyone hoping that Trump would govern differently than he campaigned has to be disappointed.
• Those who know me know that I'm not one to throw out labels or call people names.  However, there was a trending internet topic recently about whether or not Trump is a fascist.  While it may seem like hyperbole for someone to ask that question, there is actually some merit to it.  If you research the "14 signs of fascism", Trump and his Chief of Staff Bannon actually check several of the boxes:
• Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
• Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
• Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
• Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives.  (Think of Bannon basically telling the media that they need to shut up and Trump threatening to block some media outlets. Also, basically telling EPA and National Park Service employees that they can't speak.)
• Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
• There are a few others that might not exactly fit but certainly don't see outside the realm of possibility.  I'm not necessarily calling Trump a fascist, but there he and his cronies do seem to have some tendencies that lean in that direction.  It's just something for his unabashed followers to consider.
• I want America to be as successful as it can be and, from that perspective, I want Trump's presidency to be a success.  I didn't vote for him, but he's my president just as much as Obama, Bush or Clinton were before him.  I just disagree that the way to get there is to indiscriminately ban Muslims (albeit not from Saudia Arabia, the country that produced the majority of the 9/11 terrorists) or build walls or drum up tariffs in an effort to punish other countries or to nominate an Education Secretary who is unquestionably hostile to public education.  I don't think you "Make America Great Again" by tamping down dissent, picking fights with other world leaders or muzzling government employees.  But that's just my proverbial two cents.

Thanks for reading!

Corporate Welfare and Unbridled Greed

For the second time in just over a year, an NFL team is ditching its hometown for the glitz and, more importantly, dollars of Los Angeles.  Last year, it was St. Louis; this year, it's San Diego.  Some of the circumstances are a little different.  St. Louis and Missouri did everything it could to try to get the Rams a new stadium, but their owner had no interest in staying in the Gateway City.  The Chargers, on the other hand, wanted to stay in San Diego but that city had no interest in ponying up the money to pay for a new stadium.  (To which, I say "Kudos" to San Diego for standing up to the billionaire bully and not caving.  We need more cities and states to follow their lead!)  Regardless of the different circumstances, the end result is the same.  A billionaire owner turns it back on its fans in an effort to get even richer than he already is.

This continues a disturbing trend in professional sports: a billionaire goes up to the Average Joe on the street with his hand out asking for money to build a new stadium whose only benefit is to enrich the already wealthy owner.  It's a nice gig: get the working stiff making $15 an hour to pay for and assume all of the risk for a building that will produce minimal (if any) benefit for him while giving you untold wealth.  As an example, Dean Spanos (owner of the Chargers) claimed that he needed San Diego tax payers to pick up the tab for a new stadium because he couldn't afford to do so.  However, the other NFL owners had already agreed to give him $300 million dollars toward a new stadium.  Also, in order to move the team, Spanos will have to pay a $550 million relocation fee and another $12 million to buy out the remaining lease at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.  Now, I'm lousy at math, but according to my calculations, $300 million + $550 million + $12 million = $862 million.  You can't build a football stadium for $862 million?  You need the tax payers to help you?  It's absurd.

And it's not just the teams relocating.  For years now, team owners have being crying poor and bilking states and municipalities into paying for new stadiums.  Often, the stadium the owners want to replace isn't even old enough to drink if it were a person.  Atlanta is the perfect example.  The Georgia Dome (home of the Falcons) opened in September 1992, so it's not even 25 years old.  Turner Field (home of the Braves) was built for the 1996 Olympics, so it's not even 21 years old yet.  However, Atlanta tax payers are paying millions of dollars to build new stadiums for both teams.  When the Rams left St. Louis, the Dome at America's Center was only 20 years old. 

Whatever happened to teams that played in the same building for decades and decades?  Think about all of the historic old arenas: Boston Garden, Chicago Stadium, St. Louis Arena, Montreal Forum, Maple Leaf Gardens.  Part of the appeal and fame of those buildings was that the hometown teams had played in those buildings for generations, something that none of these new buildings will ever achieve.  Now, buildings are supposedly antiquated and outdated after 15 or 20 years.  But it's not because they are really outdated.  It's because these wealthy owners are always looking for a shiny new thing that will help make them even more ridiculously wealthy than they already are.  It's not enough for them to have more money than they and their kids could ever spend.  Their insatiable greed causes them to ask for even more.  Also, it's not enough to have a new stadium.  It has to be bigger and fancier than the other guy's stadium.  It has to have more luxury suites, a bigger scoreboard, more box seats.  At the end of the day, none of those things are really for the fans; they only exist as an excuse to make that obscenely wealthy owner even wealthier.

Missouri's new governor recently referred to public financing of sports stadiums as "corporate welfare" and, whatever your political leanings, that is a very apt description.  Traditional welfare is public money that goes to people who cannot or choose not to work.  It's public dollars given out to someone for, in essence, doing nothing.  Is that really any different than public dollars given out to the owner of a sports team for not doing much of anything either?

However, it's not only wealthy sports owners who are recipients of this corporate welfare.  It happens all the time in the regular business world, too.  Far too often, we see businesses angling for state or local tax breaks to build a new building or a new factory in one state or city rather than another.  Companies play cities and states against one another looking for the best deal.  In these instances, "best deal" generally means whatever is going to cost the company the least.  While that may, on its face, that may seem like good business, what happens to that tax money that those companies don't pay?  It means less money for schools, roads, police and other infrastructure.  It also creates unfair competition, where one company is being subsidized by the government while the other is not.  I bear business owners and the wealthy no ill will (don't most of us dream of being a wealthy, successful business owner at some point?), but businesses and business owners should be successful on their own merits, not because government has its thumb on the scales on their behalf. 

Once upon a time, successful business owners were successful because of risk-taking and ingenuity.  The general public admired them and was not particularly bothered by their wealth because they understood that they had substantial skin in the game and they had stuck their necks out to be successful.  Oftentimes now, "successful" business owners are "successful" because they have managed to get the taxpayers to assume the risk on their behalf.  They reap the rewards without having to assume hardly any of the risk.  Again, it is corporate welfare but they can get away with it because there is always some other schmuck (in the form of a state, city or county) who will be willing to bend over for the rich guy and give him what you may not be willing to give him.

The irony of the whole situation is that many of these millionaires and billionaires rail about traditional welfare (They're lazy! They're druggies! They need to get a job!) but they have no issues holding their hand out and asking for free money from the public to help them reap untold riches while having to assume none of the risk.

The only way to end this corporate welfare cycle is for states, counties and municipalities from coast to coast to all say "enough is enough" and force the wealthy sports owners and business owners to assume the risk and sink or swim on their own merits.  As long as one state or city is willing to cave to the demands of billionaire sports owners (or, to a lesser extent, businesses), this cycle of corporate welfare will continue on in perpetuity.

Things That Baffle Me

We all have things in life that baffle us, things that make no sense at all to us no matter how much we think about them.  They may be pet peeves or just things we can't quite fathom.  Here are some of those things for me.

(DISCLAIMER: It's entirely possible that some of these may apply to you.  If so, I hope you will not take offense, because no offense is intended.  Maybe you can enlighten me.)

• People who don't wear seatbelts.  I realize that many of us may have never worn seat belts growing up, but in this day in age, it makes NO sense to EVER be in a car without wearing a seatbelt.  How many times have you seen a story on the news where someone was killed in an accident because they were ejected from the car?  Often, there will be someone else who was in the vehicle and WAS wearing a seatbelt and they survive the crash with only minor injuries.  It's something so simple and so easy that can save your life, so I just can't fathom why people would ever skip buckling up.
• The obsession with all things Apple.  Shopping malls may be on life support, but you can bet that the one store that is undoubtedly always busy is the Apple store.  I just don't get it.  I have two phones - a work phone that is an iPhone and a personal phone that is an Android phone, so I have had experience using both.  I just don't see why Apple people are so obsessed with iPhones or iPads.  The battery life on the iPhone is better, but that's about it.  The fact that you can't even download an app without logging into the Apple Store is annoying!  And these people who camp out to be the first person to get the new version of the iPhone?  Really?  What's the difference between those folks and the guy who gets the phone, say, 3 months later.  They both have the same phone, but the second guy got his for $100 less.  If you're an Apple devotee, that's your prerogative and I bear you no ill will.  I just don't get it.
• Pimped out cars.  This is especially true of the people who buy a fairly inexpensive car (think a Chevy Cruze or a Honda Civic) and then spend thousands of dollars to pimp it out with spoilers and shiny hubcabs, a huge stereo (that only makes the car vibrate and rattle when the bass kicks in), mufflers that make the car louder and ground effects.  The latter is the most baffling......why would you care to highlight the ground under your car?  Who are these people trying to impress? 
• The obsession with Disney World. Like most American kids, my parents took me to Disney twice when I was a kid.  I, however, haven't taken my kids there and I'm guessing (hoping?) that they are too old to want to go now.  We haven't gone for a couple of reasons.  First, the kids never really asked to go, so it never really came up.  Second, it's friggin' expensive!  We have family season passes to Six Flags and I have two partial Blues season tickets all for less than it would cost my family of four to go to Disney FOR THREE DAYS!  And that's just the theme park tickets!  That doesn't include lodging, meals, transportation, etc.  I just don't see it.  Spending that much money to wait in line all day - without even any good roller coasters - it just doesn't make sense to me.  And some folks go there year after year.  I could see going once, just to say you did it, but I can't see spending that much money to do the same thing year after year.  I know that many of you swear by Disney and think it's the most magical place on earth.  Good for you and I'll take your word for it.  I'll also choose to instead go to various Six Flags parks (with good roller coasters) numerous times and go to 12 Blues games a year while also saving several hundred dollars.  To each their own, I suppose.
• Earrings on guys.  Why?
• The Kardashians.  Why does anyone care ANYTHING about these people?  They have no talent or, really, any redeemable characteristics.  Yet people watch their shows and buy their products, which just feeds the animal and keeps it going.  I don't get it.
• Soccer.  Hear me out.  I don't have a problem with soccer players, aside from the diving and fake injuries.  Seriously, if you touch some of these guys at all, they go down like they were hit by sniper fire!  But it's not the players who baffle me.  It's some of the rules. Like the clock, for instance.  Why does it count up instead of down?  And why the heck don't they stop it during injuries or after goals rather than adding injury time to the end of each half?  Is it really that hard to stop the clock?  It just makes the end of the game somewhat anticlimactic because no one really knows when the game is going to end.  Also, the scoring.  In 11-on-11 play, nobody ever scores.  In a shootout, everybody scores.  Can't there be some sort of happy medium?  I mean, Seattle won the MLS Cup without even having a single shot on goal through 90 minutes of regulation PLUS injury time PLUS an extra 30 minutes.  That should NEVER happen.  They basically played not to lose and then figured they'd take their chances in the penalty kicks...and it wound up working.  At least move the penalty kicks back a bit to make it tougher on the shooters.  I hope St. Louis gets an MLS team and, if we do, I will support them and go to games, but some of these odd nuances of the sport just don't make sense to me.
• People who rip on baseball as being too boring but who absolutely love football.  Don't get me wrong, I like both sports and enjoy watching and breaking down the strategy of each.  But saying baseball has less action that football?  No way.  Football is 5 seconds of action followed by 40 seconds of everyone standing around, frequently interrupted by commercial breaks.  It's especially bad when you're at a game that is televised.  3 1/2 to 4 hours to play a game - yikes.
• Suburban white kids who listen exclusively to rap and hip hop.  Whatever happened to jamming out to some good old rock-n-roll?  I'm all for diversity in musical tastes (I can go from listening to Metallica to Turnpike Troubadours to Sarah McLachlan in consecutive songs), but I miss the days of the burnout with the mullet and jean jacket driving a Trans Am and rocking out to AC/DC.  (OK, maybe not the part about the mullet....or the jean jacket.....or the Trans Am.)
• Reality shows.  They're not real, okay people?  They're scripted just like other programs.
• People who make knee jerk assumptions about people or stereotype them without ever making an effort to get to know them.  This has gotten much, much worse in recent years, thanks to social media.  Not all young black males are criminals.  Not all wealthy white folks are racists.  Not all Muslims are terrorists.  Not all Southerners are ignorant backwards yokels and not all Northerners are elitist snobs.  Instead of just assuming you know someone because of the color of their skin or where they grew up or where they go to church or who they voted for, take the time to actually get to know that person.  I guarantee you they are more unique than you could ever imagine.

I'm also baffled that you have taken the time to read this list of things that baffle me!  As always, thanks for reading!