​We have 11 types of batteries stored in our front hall closet for all their various uses. Along with sunscreen, flashlights and bug spray, the cardboard container overflows with items we seldom use, but want to have on hand for emergencies and special occasions. Despite having those 11 types of batteries, when you got to find the one you need, do you think it’s there?
 
No, of course not. The one you need is typically the one you can’t find.
 
This irritates me to no end. It probably affects you the same way.
 
When you have expectations (like, “There must be a total of 187 batteries in that box of all kinds and shapes. Which means the one I want has to be in there.”) then you are disappointed when you begin rummaging and rummaging and rummaging, and come up empty. “Where the heck are those Triple A batteries I saw in here last time I checked? I swear there was still an open package with 5-6 batteries in there.”
 
There isn’t though. Your memory is faulty. You “thought” you were right, but it’s just about hope, not reality.
 
Funny how that works. We assume things. We project. We desire something. Up against reality though, all of those emotions function erratically. The truth shoots holes in your assumptions.
 
It’s also funny how we keep hoping and assuming. In this battery example, I could accurately check the tally every time I go into the storage box to make sure what I might need down the road will be readily available in an on-demand situation, something that is likely to occur. You want batteries when something isn’t working, so you want them right away.
 
So, why don’t we (I) ensure what could become necessary (a power outage for example and making sure batteries in the flashlight work so you have light when the electricity doesn’t flow) is always on hand? There has to be some component of laziness involved, or plain assumptions that even if you do run out, you can conveniently head down to the store to get what you need.
 
This doesn’t answer the ancillary question of hoarding and over-supply. Why do we have so many batteries overall, WAY MORE than we can use at any time in the near future? Are those batteries more important? Do we tend to use them up more quickly? Do they wear out more quickly? I have no idea.
 
Maybe those other batteries have sex and multiply. They do it when no one is looking and four batteries become eight, and eight become 16. Before you know it, you overflow with Double A batteries and the Triple A’s are squeezed out. Kind of like weeds overwhelming the grass in your yard.
 
More likely it’s the laziness factor once again. “Hey, we might need some Double A’s. Let’s buy a few packets next time we’re shopping.” Then, you go shopping, and, “Wow, the Double A’s are on sale. Let’s get three packets.”
 
And, all the while, the Triple A’s are sitting off to the side, lonely, sniffling, wondering when someone is going to show them some love and buy that package of 36 so they can find a good home with a dark closet.

​Now that we are in another full swing of political advertising, it’s time to make a suggestion to eliminate many of the distortions, manipulations and downright lies spewed in ads across our television screens. Our democracy will be much better served if we implement this idea. Someone running for office, in fact, could likely run on this platform and get elected. So, here it is.
 
First, let’s get some anger out first. For anyone who is parked in front of the television set during any election cycle, you are assaulted by so many egregiously incorrect statements, distorted images, falsified information and outrageous claims made by one candidate against the other, that it’s difficult not to vomit. If you’re smart, you record every single show you watch and fast forward through all the ads.
 
Most people don’t do that, so the manipulation continues to assault their senses, raising cynicism, causing sarcasm (which makes sense) and ultimately raising angst and anger. We get hyped up. People think, “I can’t believe that guy would do something like that. What a jerk. I can never vote for him.”
 
Our default becomes, “I can’t vote for that candidate,” as opposed to, “I trust this person and believe that they will do what they say they will.” When you speak to people about who/what they support, they often respond with a statement about being tired of all the BS (read: misleading attack ads) and they just want someone who will work hard and be upfront with them.
 
Here’s the proposal (up for sale or theft): implement legislation that ONLY allows the candidate to speak on camera. It’s a simple piece of legislation. Someone could get elected on the premise, so I’m throwing it out there for all you candidates looking for a last ditch great idea to reform our election process and restore some faith in how we are represented.
 
The legislation would prevent/ban/disallow voice-overs, video, music, imaging, props, anything except the candidate. The candidates can still say whatever they want. They’ll have free speech. And, of course, they will still lie and manipulate data to try and convince you to vote for them.

But, they will have to be the one saying it. No soft voice-over with the wonderful soothing sound that makes you feel relaxed and better about someone you know is a liar and a thief. The words must come from the candidate’s mouth directly.


This serves several very important purposes. 1) You get to see and hear the person directly and form your opinion of the candidate in a direct way rather than by innuendo and third-party intervention as current political advertising allows.
 
2) You be the judge. You see the face of this candidate, and how that person speaks. They must be able to communicate effectively, explain things accurately, demonstrate to you what they are capable of to earn your vote.
 
3) Without music, images, video, you are left with solely the individual. Who is this person? They must speak “to” you. If there’s no connection, your attention span goes away. They must come at you from their heart, along with a passion about what’s important in the years ahead.
 
The snake oil salesmen will always be with us. Attempts are made on multiple fronts to distort an issue in one direction or another. This proposal ain’t gonna solve it all. But, it sure would go a long way to dialing back the anger and finger-pointing, and just maybe bring us a little closer together as a country, trying to reconcile how we want this complex, diverse, modern ship to sail.

​For the most part, I’m thankful for all that works effectively in our first world society. We’re so incredibly fortunate, and the phrase “first world problem” for when you complain about something is totally appropriate.
 
BUT…. The big “but.”
 
Here’s my rant. When a company or business decides to undertake repair work that affects your daily life, they should INFORM you. Let the customer know. Send an email. Give us a call. Text that message. It’s so easy.
 
Not being informed in this manner reminds me of the airlines and how many customer complaints they could avoid when a flight is delayed by just keeping the passengers informed. “We’re experiencing weather delays coming out of Charlotte for those of you waiting at Gate 32A. Currently we are 37 minutes behind schedule. We will keep you posted with regular updates.”
 
If you’re an airline, that’s the least you can do. You can’t change the weather. As a customer, how can you get upset?  There’s nothing you can do. Life moves on.

When you DON’T get informed on something simple though, then you have every right to get upset. Recently, for example, our phone/internet service went whacky. We’d been having trouble for months and finally one morning there was no connectivity at all.  No matter the fix you applied, we still came up “not connected.”

This precipitated a call to our cable provider, Spectrum. OMG, they were performing service and hadn’t let us know. And DOUBLE OMG, service was going to be out the entire day. But, wait, yes, “service will be back later this evening,” we were told.

Sigh of relief. “We can still connect with the world later today. Yippee.”
 
My wife and I both checked that evening with no success. Give them a call. “Oh, no, we expect service back in the morning.”
 
Check in the morning. No dice. Call again. “We expect service back later today.”
 
Yes, service did finally come back later that day. There was no happiness, only aggravation with the lack of communication.
 
Think if Spectrum had let us know of the upcoming service BEFORE it occurred. First of all, wow, would that be a first and awesome to have a company proactively keeping you posted on a major service update. Major brownie points in my book.
 
In addition to that, you can plan. Knowing service will be out, if there are any major work or personal projects that require connectivity and you need to send messages and information through the atmosphere on a deadline, then you’d know to get it done before the service interruption.

None of this is difficult to grasp on an intelligence or intuitive level: communicate with people; explain things; inform them to the best of your ability. At least the customer becomes aware of what’s next. Somehow that concept seems hard to grasp for some businesses.
 
We were thankful service got restored because a day later, Spectrum sent a service guy out without informing us to dig a line to lay cable through our side yard. Here we go again. They laid it, but who knows when they’re going to bury it? Maybe they’ll give us a call.