The Soapbox Archives:
The details are not important; it's just a long period of waiting, but for once I had my laptop with me so I had something to do. There was plenty of time to think about "stuff".
When certain kinds of tasks need to be done, there's a choice between "doing a good job" and "doing a good enough job". For instance, you need to shovel out the sidwalk in front of your house after a snowstorm. You can shovel out a path that's exactly the width of your shovel. Or you can shovel out the width of your sidewalk so people can walk by each other without knocking the other person into the snowbank, not to mention making it easier to shovel out the next snowfall.
So....I was just thinking....
If you're the person restocking supplies in an hospital facility and you drop supplies on the floor AND there's someone watching, then perhaps it might be a good idea to NOT put those supplies on the shelves. Sure the items are in plastic bags, but they'll be touching the other clean supplies on the shelf and contaminating everything else. Sure, the actual supplies are in plastic bags but the patient shouldn't need to worry about the hospital's policies on maintaining a sanitary environment.
If you're a hospital aide and you are assigned to wheel the patient back to the bed and the patient's family asks if you're going to reconnect the patient back up to the bedside monitor, "Someone will do it but not me" doesn't sound anywhere near as comforting as "I'll go ask someone to take care of it".
If a toilet seat in the restroom is not of one uniform color (for example, it has numerous discolored splotches), then perhaps the hospital should replace that toilet seat. Public toilets gross people out already, but they shouldn't *look* gross, especially in a hospital.
Being Chinese, I was lucky that the typical stereotype of Chinese people was that they were smart, hard-working, and well-behaved. Whenever there was a problem, I always got the benefit of doubt and it helped me in my life when interacting with other people; in the second grade, I escaped trouble when I got into a fight with a kid who made fun of me for being Chinese (I was the only Chinese boy in a town of 2500). While there are more Oriental-types around these days, I still do my part to encourage people to continue to think of Chinese people as someone reliable and honorable.
Likewise with Canadians. I'm originally from Canada and I proudly wear symbols from my country of origin, though I am a US citizen now. (Who knew I'd have so much in common with Ted Cruz?). After the great "Canadian Caper" in 1980, Canadians were held in high-regard, even if they had been living in the US for a long time; it's amazing how many people thanked *me* as if I had anything to do with it. I think I have a responsibility to encourage the belief that Canadians are some of the nicest people in the wold.
So, some of us are in one "minority" group or another. Our actions stand out in the minds of the people with whom we interact and we do have a responsibility to protect and/or improve the image of that segment of society.
On that note....
The other day, I was trying to back up into a space at the Allston Starmarket. While I was looking the other way, some guy *zoomed* by the front of my car as soon as there was barely enough space to fit his car. He slammed his brakes to stop in the handicap spot nearest the store. Yes, he had a handicapped tag, but he walked so fast that he beat me into the store. He grabbed a shopping cart and made a quick run through the store. We managed to get out of the store as he was leaving. Of course, he left his shopping cart by his car and missed hitting my car by about 6 inches as he floored his gas and zoomed out of the parking lot.
For a second or two, I was wondering why I bothered clearing shopping carts out of handicapped parking spots.
"Orient" comes from the latin "Orientem" which refers to the rising sun or the part of the sky where the sun rises, and itself comes from the word meaning "to rise". From the point of view of the Occidentals (The "west"), eastern Asia was the "Orient".
When I say "Oriental", it's perfectly clear whom I'm talking about. The current politically correct term is "Asians". That'd be fine, but people from India and surrounding countries also consider themselves "Asians", and let's face it: I don't look anything like them. If I'm talking about people who look like me, I use "Orientals" to avoid any confusion. We need a word for people who look like us. I know some Chinese people will be offended if confused with the "Japanese" or any other "Oriental" group, though let's be honest, they do look like each other. :-P
...says the guy who used to sign his email with "Le Chinois Fou".
To put that into perspective, walking around Epcot Center in Disney World was worth over 20,000 steps and that's only because we started at noon instead of 9:00 am.
The Magic Kingdom was a little better at 22,000 steps. Of course, the Magic Kingdom wasn't planned out in the same way as Epcot so you'll spend a lot of time going over the same paths.
If you have three days at DisneyWorld, you might be a bit tired and not get around as much but a last minute jaunt into Downtown Disney might get you up to 17,000 steps.
It's just my opinion but don't bother shopping at the different parks at DisneyWorld. It's a waste of time because all you need to do is spend half a day at Downtown Disney (practically a destination all by itself and you don't need to pay to go there). The shops at the parks can run out or have a limited selection. Why waste time shopping at the parks when you do it all in one trip. I'd rather spend the time on the rides or the attractions. One neat feature is that if you buy it at any of the Disney Stores, you can return it at the gift store in the Disney hotel where you're staying.
I was at the U-Haul truck rental place the other day. While I was waiting to drive off with the rental truck, I saw some young Oriental/Asian guy come out of the store with about five flattened empty boxes. He opened the passenger door of his Porsche 911 and spent a bit of time wondering why he couldn't get his boxes into the car. Then he went around to the driver's side, opened the door, and still couldn't get his boxes into the car. (the 911 is a two-seater, made for speed and handling, not for cargo). I just sat there and laughed and laughed and laughed. My 2007 4-door Grand Prix with the super-charger, heated seats and a ton of room is all the car I need.
I've always wondered: Assuming all other factors not being relevant at this time, do women consider a young guy with a Porsche 911 as a hot date prospect, or do they think that this guy isn't ready for a girlfriend, marriage, or children any time soon?