Burger flippers get training, so do crossing guards and street sweepers - but not parents. As soon as sperm fertilizes an egg, we become human sculptors. We're given approximately seven pounds of protoplasm to mold and manage, help and heal, teach and train, comfort and care for. I can't help thinking the world would be a better place if we were trained to do it - if we were trained to take care of the next generation - the generation that will take care of us.
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Advertisers buy time on television shows based on demographics - statistical data showing the age, sex, income, etc of viewers. More men watch sports. More women watch daytime talk shows. More children watch cartoons. By knowing who's watching what when, advertisers can spend promotion dollars with an ad-vantage.
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Jay Leno has been keeping the ratings high on NBC as he continues to impress audiences with his guest stars and jokes. Leno has been doing this for years, but as the first season on NBC and with a nightly show, he still manages to top the rating charts with his product count and more.
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Is creativity inherited or taught - or both? Because my mother believed that handmade gifts were better than store-bought ones, I made gifts for my grandparents every gift-giving occasion. As soon as I was old enough to use scissors and glue, I turned cans into pencil holders, Popsicle sticks into trivets and shirt cardboards into picture frames. When I was a child, I felt sorry for my grandparents. Now when I look at the sticker-covered boxes, paper Mache bowls and clay figures that my sons made for me, I think they're treasures.
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Once a year we feel taken by the IRS. Last year, however, the IRS issued a consumer alert to prevent us from feeling taken by surprise. The alert warned about an e-mail scam offering $80 for participating in a customer satisfaction survey. Among other things, the survey asked for social security number, bank name and credit card information - information helpful in withdrawing funds, making credit card charges and getting loans. I may be blond, but I think I'd be suspicious if the IRS cared about my satisfaction. I know I'd be suspicious if the IRS wanted to give me $80 - unless the R in IRS suddenly stood for reciprocity.
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My watch runs fast. In spite of the jeweler telling me that it runs perfectly, I know that its hands spin around the dial when I'm not looking.
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When it comes to plant-based foods, think black. Black foods are especially healthy. Black rice is high in anthocyanin, which fights cardiovascular disease. Black beans are rich in terpenoids, which stop the growth of certain cancers. Black tea is rich in flavonoids, which protect against neurological disease; and blackberries are rich in polyphenols, which help prevent diseases related to chronic inflammation. Then there's the pigment that makes these foods black. It provides antioxidants that also protect our health - and give new meaning to black power.
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Aren't there anymore original ideas? Now "The Simpsons" is a movie. Soon Hollywood will be making "Oceans 21" and Spiderman will be using a walker. One "CSI" turned into three. One reality show turned into an unreal number of them. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but on television the words are repeated.
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Although getting what you pay for is a truism that's withstood time, we keep trying to get more than we pay for. We buy on sale, at discount and in bulk. We use coupons and accumulate frequent flyer miles. Nevertheless, profit margins are rarely marginal. Even going out of business sales make money. When my sons were growing up, I thought they'd put all-you-can-eat buffets out of business; but they never bit off more than the restaurant owners could chew.
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"The check's in the mail". "No, you don't look fat in that". "You don't look that old". These are familiar exaggerations, white lies or what my grandmother called Pinocchio noses.
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