January 2008

I was going to meet some friends for a meeting/dinner at a mex place in lexington. Being anal, I was 45 min early, which in this case was a good thing. parking completely full. Well, almost. The lot was long an narrow, and only opened to the street, so one way in and out. As I pulled in, I noticed a hugh suburban attempting to parallel park in a space that barely could fit my small truck. I know this because, as they finally gave up, and people began lining up behind me waiting to enter the lot, I pulled up and took that space. It was a very tight fit, but I made it.So now I have an excellent view of what is to happen in this long, narrow, full lot. As more and more people started entering the lot, and taking turns turning around and driving back, the suburban had no idea what to do. So they did the only thing they could think of; They drove forward for about 30 feet, then back that 30 feet. And again. And again. Each time, not staying to either side, but weaving back and forth. I still dont know if they were weaving on purpose, but it was quite effective non-the-less.As this continued, 75 different cars entered, turned and exited.

So my wife had ordered a new purse for a trip she was going to take. After much logistics, she was able to confirm the delivery of the purse the day before she was to leave. Great.As I checked the delivered mail on Friday (she is leaving on Saturday), they had “attempted” to deliver the package but since no one was home, they left a notice card that would allow us to pick up the package at the post office.

I should now mention that great care was given to have the delivery of the said package on friday, before the trip. This included no signature conformation, only insurance and special request to the seller that they write a request to leave at the door if no one was home during the delivery time.Needless to say, the package wasnt on the plane with to California as expected. Wife not amused. The pink delivery slip was not a replacement for a new purse.

So, since Monday was MLK day, the post was closed and the purse would have to wait until at least Tuesday. The wife was going to be home at 09:00 Wed morning, so I decided to be nice and pick up the package at the post in leu of signing the pink slip and putting it in the mailbox for a second delivery on Wed. My thinking was that if I signed the slip, and the mailman picked up the slip, there was a chance that the purse would make it to the house on Wed, sometime after 3pm. But there was a better chance that something else would go wrong in the transaction, and the wife would not have a new purse when she walked in the door, after nearly 9 hrs in the air on a RedEye flight.

So as I pulled into the parking lot of the postoffice, I couldnt help to notice that not only were there no parking spots open, but people were parking on the street! Perfect. Lunch break at the post office.

So I get in line, which of course was wrapped all the way into the room with the mailboxes, maybe 60 people. I also noticed that I wasnt the only one with a pink slip. Ah ha. Something has gone terribly wrong I thought.

So here is where the rant starts.

Why do people scream while their on their cellphone? I have several thoughts on the subject, none of which matter or should change you daily life.

1. With the advancement of technology and the ability to make phones smaller and smaller, we think that we have to scream to have the microphone pick up our voice since it is so far from our mouth. As we evolve, I assume our mouth will become closer to our ears simply due to phone getting smaller and smaller. Of course this is until we have them installed directly into our brain. Then we can just think about screaming……Which is what I was thinking about while in line at the postoffice.
2. People are completely egotistical and oblivious with themselves and their voices. Since what they are saying is important to them, it must be important to everyone. Duh.
3. People are idiots.

My vote is number 3