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Back in the spring, WifeWahoo and I were discussing the upcoming Philly Science Fair. I asked her if the topics will be as interesting as the descriptions, or if they are only interesting to people with science backgrounds. She said the interest should match the descriptions even if you don’t have a science degree. For contrast, I mentioned how an educational conference might be interesting, but that there would be a ceiling to her interest if she attended since she won’t be able to directly relate to classroom management challenges or other aspects of the job.

Then, I started thinking about the kinds of exhibits and activities an educational conference would have, especially if the conference were aimed at non-educators. My favorite idea was  the Classroom Management Simulator. Participants can step in so that kids yell and throw things at them. You would have to process paperwork in the Bureaucratic Reenactment. Try to teach and deal with biohazards while being ignored by maintenance/facilities. Experience the joys of arriving on a Monday to find that the trash has still not emptied. Fight in the Parking Lot Wars, where you try to obtain the optimal parking space that lets you arrive late and leave early. Fighting with colleagues. Not knowing itinerant schedules. Etc.

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I know I should be posting my He Said / She Said about why it is better to have a summer birthday, but I had an encounter this morning that I wanted to share.

I dropped my wife off at work this morning and then headed to the neighborhood Wawa for a coffee during the busy morning rush hour.  I was about three people deep in the cashier line when a very confused-looking man walked in.  He removed his  old fashioned sunglasses from a head covered with a full-blown mullet, and revealed an expression suggesting that whatever was on his mind was the most important thing in the world.  It wasn’t so much a panicked look as it was a “caught up in his own situation” look.

The cashier was in the process of accepting payment from a customer when Very Confused Looking Man glanced at a paper in his hand, looked in her direction, and blurted out, “Can you tell me where the nearest payphone is?”  My initial reaction was, “Huh? Did he just interrupt her to ask for a payphone?” I first obtained a cell phone for work purposes in 1998 and, without finding any definitive data online, recall them exploding in popularity about 2-3 years after that.  I also recall reading and hearing news stories at that time that more and more companies were removing pay phones from public facilities since they were no longer producing enough income to justify the hassle of maintaining them.

The cashier, who appeared just old enough to legally work, had a blank look on her face as she handed change to the customer in line. Her quiet reply to Very Confused Looking Man was, “Honestly, I have no idea where that would be.” Since the cashier is young enough to have never even manually rolled up a car window, she could have just as easily said, “Honestly, I have no idea what a payphone is.”  Very Confused Looking Man looked very disappointed and resumed a hurried pace through the store.

I was not the only person in disbelief of Very Confused Looking Man’s question.  The customer who had just received his change was an elderly man, old enough to still have a ‘new’ rotary phone, but even he looked at the cashier and asked, “Did he just ask for a payphone?”  The elderly man asked this in a hushed tone, careful to preserve Very Confused Looking Man’s dignity after asking such a ridiculous question.  The cashier nodded and then let out a nervous laugh, which made me smile.  We were all temporarily lost in our own thoughts when Very Confused Looking Man asked the question, but now realized that we had shared this moment of anachronistic realization together. Today, in this age of cell phones, someone asked for the location of the nearest payphone and none of us could provide an answer. 10 years ago, my answer would have been, “Gee, did you look right outside Wawa?” but obviously not anymore.

It wasn’t until I got home that I properly processed the details of the situation and realized the truth. Think about it: a preoccupied outsider, the old fashioned sunglasses, the full-blown mullet, the bizarre request for a payphone. This man was clearly a time traveler from the past! And we had all laughed at him, instead of recognizing the awesomeness of the experience!

I leave you with two very important questions:

  1. Why is Very Confused Looking Man here in the future?
  2. Do you know where you can find a pay phone?

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The global economy is receiving a lot of attention these days.  Something must be going on…

In addition to the articles and news story about the stimulus package and other more technical parts of the economy, there are articles and news stories focusing on the quirky personal stories, experiences, and trends in the economy.  For example, this week I saw a story that being frugal has actually become the trendy new thing to do.  In fact, some shoppers at the mall in King of Prussia are going so far as asking stores to place their goods in unmarked bags to conceal their luxurious spending.  Apparently, being comfortable during these dire financial times is turning into something to be ashamed of (I can’t find the link to that specific article, but I did find a similar article exploring the idea that frugal is cool).

With that in mind, here are a news stories I think we’ll soon be seeing with regards to the economic crisis:

1. Frugality will become more popular at weddings and bar mitzvahs. I used to cater and run a novelty photography business, so I am very familiar with the business of Bar Mitzvahs.  I also got married in August 2008 and have several friends who either recently were married or are about to get married, so I have had many discussions about the wedding planning and the costs.  These two industries are served by countless service providers and vendors with one primary focus: to convince you to spend as much money as possible for their service or product.  It isn’t too hard, either, since many parents and engaged couples view their event as the most significant day of their lives (or their child’s life) and therefore feel there is no price tag too big when it comes to planning their event

I can tell you from being on both sides of the event process (as a vendor and as a groom planning his wedding) that it is not necessary to overspend in order to plan a classy, memorable event.  For example, a recently married friend shared that his bride’s wedding gown cost more than my entire wedding did, and the reason they spent this much money on a gown was because it was their special day. While his bride looked beautiful, she did not look any more beautiful than my bride did in a more reasonably-priced dress, nor was their wedding any more fun than ours because of the loftier price tag.  Similary, another friend spent a lot of money on a DJ and said, “At that price, they must be fun!”   I can tell you from seeing many DJs at many parties that a DJ is not necessarily good or fun just because he charges a lot of money, just as a cheap price does not mean a DJ is boring or inferior.  In fact, It Takes 2 is a company that I have seen at many events (camp events, bar mitzvahs, and weddings).  Their prices are very affordable, and their events are some of the most fun that I have ever attended — either as a guest or as a vendor.

Since luxury is becoming loathsome and practical is becoming popular, it seems natural that this change in mentality will affect the wedding and bar mitzvah industries.  But, I don’t think we’ll see the economy’s impact on weddings and bar mitzvahs until the 2010 or 2011 season, since most of this year’s events were planned as long ago as 2006 and the economy was in better shape at that time.  Looking forward, will wedding and bar mitzvah planning become more practical because parents and engaged couples cut back on their spending, or will service providers and vendors lower their prices in an effort to still make the day special without being excessive?

2. How will the economy affect our commutes to and from work? I live in Philadelphia but work about 20 minutes outside of the city, and my commute to and from work requires about 10 miles spent on I-76 and I-476 each way.  Fortunately, I drive against the majority of traffic during both rush hours but my commute still has moments of a slow crawl, and these make the trip take twice as long as it does during non-peak hours.  Traffic in the other direction, however, is usually at a standstill during both the morning and evening rush hours.  That’s what happens when a lot of people are presumably heading to their 9 to 5 jobs in the big city.

One morning, however, I heard that almost 600,00 people lost their jobs in January 2009.  That’s a lot of people who are no longer commuting to work every day, and I am afraid to say that the number will probably be higher in February.  I wonder when a local news guy, looking for “The Lighter Side of the Economy” story, like Bruce in Bruce Almighty, will decide to report on this ‘advantage’ of our current economic crisis.  You know, kinda like how some media outlets were reporting that an advantage of the economic crisis is that fuel costs were dropping back to somewhat acceptable levels?  On one hand, I will enjoy a shorter commute to work every day and we won’t have to endure any more movies starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. On the other hand, it is terrifying to comprehend what empty roads during rush hour means.  Not to mention I will have less time to listen to Preston & Steve in the morning.  I kid, but the thought is really scary.

3. How will textbooks used in economics classes be rewritten? I have only taken ECON 101: Introduction to MacroEconomics (summary: Everything is dictated by Supply and Demand, just like the Wendy’s commercials ‘teach’ us), so I am not familiar with the curriculum employed by professors of economics.  At the same time, a big part of me truly hopes that the curriculum for every student majoring in economics since the 1930s includes a detailed, in-depth study of The Great Depression (TGD) (and yes, I am aware that TGD started in 1929 and did not end until the 1940s, but I hope our best minds were studying this event even before it was resolved).  Not just one week or one section, but one or several classes dedicated to studying the factors leading up to TGD, the pivotal cause of it, initial responses (or lacks thereof) and failures, and, finally, the responses and actions that worked.  Again, I don’t know if this is the case, but I hope it is considering how disastrous TGD was.  Looking forward, I wonder how our current economic crisis will be reviewed, analyzed, reported, and studied to educate future generations of economists, all of whom should help to prevent or respond to another economic crisis.

There are my three pressing questions about the economy.  What about you? What questions or observations do you have when it comes to the topic dominating our headlines?  What answers or responses can you provide to my questions?

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Four questions regarding yesterday’s inaugural hoopla.  One is serious, and other three are a little lighter.

1. Much has been made of the idea that Obama is our “first African-American President,” and that America is finally not judging a leader by the color of his skin.  Isn’t calling Barack Obama “African-American” an act of clearly judging him based on the color of his skin?  I ask that question not because it uses the term “African-American;” instead, I ask it because he is not African-American.  Shouldn’t we be saying “Obama is our first Black President?”  And before anyone protests my use of the word “Black,” let me preemptively say that Black is the politically correct term for this particular race (the US Census Burea via the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designate the official ‘politically correct’ terminology at any given time).

“African-American” is a term used to designate a citizen of the United States who has ancestral origins in Africa, most likely because those ancestors were brought here for slavery.  Much attention has been give to the fact that Obama’s mother is white and his father is Kenyan, which means he was not brought to America for slavery.  Black people in Kenya, and almost every other country in the world, are refered to as “Black” because that is their skin color; they are not called “African-American.”  In fact, the US Census, which as I pointed about above, recognizes that your race can be “Black” or “African-American.”

Obama has a Caucasian mother and a Black father.  He is an American with an African father, but he is not African-American.  He is just as much Caucasian as he is Black, so calling him “African-American” means he is being judged entirely on the color of his skin.  That, my friends, is a true examply of irony!

2. Obama was attending inaugural balls and celebrating until 3am last night.  He then woke up early today to begin his first full day as President. He has a full schedule of meeting with aides, dignitaries, and visitors (citizens who won a contest through his website), signing proclamations and decrees, and doing the other things a president does on day 1.  As a result,  several news outlets made a big deal about the President starting Day One very early after a late night.

My question is this: how does the President wake up in the morning?  Does he use his own alarm clock that he bought for $20 at Target because it provides the option of waking up to buzzer, radio, or mp3?  Or does he have the world’s greatest alarm clock, engineered just for him by top scientists, and capable of triggering the exact right brain waves to wake him?  Or does an intern have the job of coming in each morning and gently nudging his presidential foot until he wakes up?

3. Finally, Barack and Michelle were out last night.  So who looked after daughters Malia and Sasha?  Did the Obamas look through Craigslist for an available babysitter?  Did some unlucky Secret Service agent get stuck playing tea party and watching High School Musical 3 with the girls?  Did the First Mother-in-Law spend the night in the Lincoln Bedroom?  Did they ask George W. Bush if he had any recommendations?

[Update: I have since been informed that Mrs. Robinson, the First Mother-in-Law, lives in the White House and babysat Malia and Sasha on Tuesday night.  They did, in fact, watch “High School Musical 3” — which I suggested in jest!]

4. What do you think W did last night?  I bet he did the same thing I did: he turned on ABC at 9pm to watch Scrubs, only to find out it wasn’t on because ABC was broadcasting the Inaugural Ball all night.  I bet he screamed and cursed just as loud as me, too.  As The Todd would say: “Ex-President Five!”

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Thanks to sources like CNN we all know that Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, received almost 64.3 million popular votes (and counting) and 349 electoral votes (and counting).  And we know that he defeated John McCain, the Republican candidate, who received “only” 56.7 million popular votes (and counting) and 153 electoral votes (and counting).  As a result of these statistics, McCain delivered a concession speech on Tuesday night and Obama’s prefix is now “President-elect.”

If you check out the CNN site, though, you will notice that Obama received 53% of the vote, and that McCain received 46% of the vote.  This adds up to only 99% of the popular vote.  So what happened to the other 1% of the tabulated vote?  Fortunately, CNN also provides the full results of the Presidential election (well, “full” considering three states have not yet announced their vote tallies.  Here is the top tier of the results:

from http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/president/allcandidates/

from http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/president/allcandidates/

It now becomes obvious that, besides Obama and McCain, other candidates received votes.  Most notable is 3rd place candidate Ralph Nader, who received over 660,000 votes!  For the record, this would make the fictional Nader Nation the 48th most populous state, between Alaska (population: 683,000) and North Dakota (population: 639,000).

After Nader, though, the obscurity level increases.  I find it amazing that someone like Moore receives 6,547 votes from across the country.  Chances are that Moore was on the ballot of one or several states.  If not, that means 6,547 people wrote Moore in — and I’m assuming that nobody has that many friends or family members willing to write their name on a presidential ballot!  On the bright side, Moore did finish with 296 more votes than “None of these candidates,” the last of the candidates to beat the candidate with such a cumbersome last name =)

Even more impressive is the entity that received 509 votes:

from: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/president/allcandidates/

from: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/president/allcandidates/

It would be great if “Phillies” was the result of write-in votes from 509 citizens of Philadelphia, where we are still in a daze from last week’s World Series victory, which ended a 25-year championship drought (perhaps you heard something about this?).  But, alas, there is actually a candidate named George Phillies, who was running in New Hampshire on the Libertarian ticket.

Perhaps Mr. Phillies would have had more luck if he had registered for the Pennsylvania ballot; no doubt more than a few Philadelphians would have been so excited that they would have voted for Phillies out of sheer passion!  I think I have my running mate for my campaign in 2020; hopefully the Phillies’ dynasty is fresh off of winning its 13th straight World Series!

In other news, I am still waiting to see CNN’s coverage of the concession speech by Bradford Lyttle of the United States Pacifist Party, the 25th highest vote getter (103 votes).

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“Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign”
–Signs, by Five Man Electrical Band

Signs are everywhere, with production values ranging from professional to amateur. While my wife and I appreciate old fashioned communication, we also observe and take delight in the many signs and notices bursting with poor grammar.  Some of the grammar is so poor that your guess is as good as ours in determining the meaning of the sign.  We have decided that we cannot keep this joy to ourselves and will be sharing pictures of signs that contain poor grammar on this blog.

Almost everybody is guilty of an occasional grammatical error (and I imagine I am making a few in this post), so nitpicking a decent effort to communicate is not the purpose of the Signs of Poor Grammar feature of this blog.  Instead, this feature will highlight the absolutely atrocious errors, the ones that hurt your eyes and insult your intelligence when you read them.

Without further adieu, here is Signs of Poor Grammar #1, spotted outside of The Franklin Institute:

Phillies Champs next Obama

Phillies Champs next Obama

Hmm…perhaps this author meant, “Phillies: Champs. Obama’s next!”  Ok, so this one isn’t too terrible, but we have to start somewhere.

Feel free to share your own observations of signs with poor grammar (grammar AT rubywahoo.com)
PS “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” is deactivated for this portion of the blog =)

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I just left the poll, having cast my votes for the various officials hoping to be elected today.  I feel that I was well-informed regarding the different candidates for whom I could vote: President, state treasurer, attorney general, representative, etc.

I am quite bothered, however, by the referendums/items that appear on the ballot.  There were four in my district — one about the commonwealth borrowing $400 million for utilities, one about combining the Fairmount Park Commission and Department of Recreation, one about the city incurring a debt of $53 million for capital improvements, and one about giving preferential treatment for civil service jobs to people who have lived in Philly for at least one year prior to their civil service examination.

What bothers me is that the only item I had even heard of prior to just now is the item proposing the formation of a new Department of Parks and Recreation.  I am a pretty plugged in person who reads the newspaper every day and otherwise is able to get information promptly and accurately.  If I know nothing about these items, then I am going to assume that neither do the majority of voters in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania — and I’m sure there are similar items on the ballot today in cities and states throughout the US.

My decisions and vote about each item were based on reading the difficult language on the ballot and trying to figure out the Pros and Cons of each, doing so uninformed and while under pressure to expedite my turn in the voting booth.  Since I assume most of Philly and Pennsylvania is in a similar situation in terms of familiarity with these items, this means that $453 million dollars, employment decisions, and management of the largest park system in the world (as well as recreation sites) are being decided based on…nothing!

Individual candidates spend a lot of money on advertisements to make sure their messages are heard and their faces are seen.  It is understandable that a ballot item cannot raise money, but there has to be some other way to make sure voters are aware of the items and their issues.  I saw only the aforementioned Parks and Recreation item even mentioned in The Philadelphia Inquirer, but no information about other than “Mayor Nutter says we should vote ‘yes’ on this question.”

Does this bother anyone else?

[Update]
I finally found a resource with more information for those in Philly.  The Committee of Seventy, which describes itself as “Political watchdog group and nonpartisan research and election information source for the Philadelphia metropolitan area,” offers a resource on the different Philadelphia ballot questions.
[/Update]