Tag: Thoughts

Entertaining, often funny, stories about my life, the world around me, or the people I meet.

My character flaw is…

Posted on by CV Whitfield

… being too cynical.

Unfortunately, as I grow older, this doesn’t seem to get any better. Perhaps it’s just my life experiences that have influenced this? I try to explain this to people that I’ve been around the block. I’ve seen behind the curtain and I’ve seen the strings. It’s not my first rodeo.

I find myself questioning everything and anything. I don’t trust anyone. Those that I do trust you had to earn it. This goes for even major corporations. McDonalds doesn’t get my trust just because they’ve served a quadrillion Big Macs. And a business like McDonalds has to earn that trust with every return visit. Because they can lose that trust on multiple levels. Customer Service. Was the person at the counter able to speak clearly? Did they greet me with a smile? Food Quality. Did the food look good? Was it delicious? Value. Was paying $15 for something, that just a few years ago was only $5, worth it? There is only a few fast food places that hasn’t lost that trust at least once or twice. This goes for big box stores too. Wal-mart or Home Depot have the same responsibilities.

With that said. I would say McDonalds and their trust depends on the day if that day’s name ends in “day.” I can’t count how many times, I’ve been unhappy with something that company has provided. There’s a day when I go their the drive-thru I basically make a dice roll. Yes, I’m very nit-picky. I basically look at things and wonder why can’t that be accomplished? Why is there dirty tables? Why is there no ice cream? Simple things that I don’t understand why they can’t be nearly perfect every day. It all comes down to dedication and work ethic. Those two things can make McDonalds run like a Chick-fil-A. And why I don’t go to McDonalds more often.

Another example. I work for a very large corporation. It pays the bills. This company is possibly the top dog in their market. So they have lots of money. Last week, they decided to treat everyone in the office to a “pizza party.” It’s these little things that bring joy to a mostly joyless day. Yet, if you didn’t line up fifteen minutes before the specified time, then you didn’t get any pizza. Many folks arrived to find only empty boxes. Why is that? Just to clarify: there’s not a lot of people in the office anymore. Heck there would be a lot less if they didn’t mandate employees to go into the office. I would say there may have only been a 100 people in the office that day. Each floor got about 12 pizzas. Which wasn’t enough. The aftermath of this “pizza party” looked like that scene in Bug’s Life when the locusts “come, eat and leave.”

I inquired how they determined how many pizzas to order. Those determinations were: individuals had to RSVP and each one of those individuals get 2 slices, 8 slices per pizza… I believe you can do the math. But did they think about how many people are in the office? Did they think that some may have not realized you had to RSVP? Did they tell everyone only to take 2 slices or less? This wasn’t the first time this has happened either. A few months back, they decided to treat us to bundt cakes…well, we got tiny slices of a bundt cake. They did the same math. Everyone gets two tiny slices. Now what they didn’t think about is that those rules were never stated. So what happens when someone takes 3 slices? or 4 slices. Back to the bundt cakes, it was witness that some people (people from other cultures) decided to literally load their plates with about 3 bundt cakes so that would be about 12 tiny slices.

Sorry I got distracted. The actions of bad people shouldn’t destroy the enjoyment of a “pizza party.” Yet, you know this will happen. And taking an extra slice of pizza when you weren’t told you were allocated only 2 slices because 3 slices is a nice hardy lunch. My point here is: where did we loose the generosity of providing a “pizza party”? Why is a billion dollar corporation worried about how many pizzas are ordered? Just for the record I used my Dominos Pizza App to order 100 medium pepperoni pizzas. I got a 20% coupon and requested a time several hours away and the app allowed me to order these pizzas. The total cost was something like $778 or just shy of $800. So let’s call this at a $1000 to give some employees a lunch. And they could eat as much as they wanted. And maybe have some to take home. (trust me, you leave food on the counter it will disappear) Now, I know what the nay sayers will say. Well, its just not those employees but if they did it for the whole company that could be like $20,000!! I get it. And I’d still call this out. $20K is nothing for a company that made $3.5B just last quarter.

Thus, my cynicism continues…

0

What happened to Discipline?

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, I notice things when I’m out and about the world. And today my observation today was the wardrobe of the employees at the local Target.

I was lucky enough to see several of the employees working. So I guess thats a good thing. Right? But I noticed outside of their wrinkled and difficult to notice “Target” vest was they were basically wearing the clothes you’d where to high school or a weekend at the mall. Basically the wardrobe wasn’t anything to be impressed by. It included ripped jeans, baggy jeans, big blocky sneakers, logo t-shirts and tank tops. I don’t mean to sound like a know-it-all but I thought the Target uniform was tan pants and read shirts? At least that’s what it used to be. Sometimes I would wear khakis and a red polo to the office and go to Target after work only to be mistaken for a Target employee.

Long before I became a white collar employee of the corporate world, I used to work a retail job. Almost every retail box chain had a dress code. I worked for the now deceased Kmart Corporation. Our store had a dress code requirement of black pants (not jeans) and a nice profession white shirt or top (for the ladies). This was accentuated with the bright red Kmart logo vest. Some other workers and management could wear black pants and a red logo Kmart polo. Yet, the uniform was taken seriously and I recall some getting sent home if they didn’t have the right color pants or top.

When I started working for the corporate insurance industry and working in a high rise office building, the dress code was business professional. That meant we had to wear slacks or pressed khakis, along with a shirt and tie. If you had a meeting or face-to-face with a client, a jacket was required (a jacket was a sports coat or suit coat — sorry not sure if the youngins’ know those terms). Fridays were a dress down day. We could wear what they called Business Casual – khakis and polos or rugby. I remember the day they decided to let us go Business Casual all the time. Then dress down Friday allowed jeans or denim. We still have that dress code today if meeting with clients or meetings. Yet, we can now wear nice jeans all the time. No rips. No tears. No sag and no bag.

So, I’m wondering what the next generation is getting out of simple things like work dress codes and appearance disciplines when they are abandoned? I truly think it brings the attitude down to a second thought or could-care-less mentality. We wonder why people now wear their pajamas to Walmart and wear flip-flops all year long like they are real footwear! Sorry, I feel if you’re not at the beach, the pool or going into a locker room, flip flops is not an appropriate shoe. But I digress….

So I guess I just have high standards? Should we expect employees to present themselves like they are at a job and not hanging out with friends? Just a thought….

0

I just watched Super/Man…

Posted on by CV Whitfield

… and this film was a massive pull on the heart.

Superman is my favorite super-hero. I have 1000s of Superman comic books. It’s possible the reason this true because I saw Superman: The Movie in 1978 when I was six-years-old. I have faded memories of reading the comics at my grandmothers house, lying in the floor with the air conditioner blowing cool air over me and the comic pages. I remember holding the pages down so they didn’t turn on their own. I also have a memories of gazing at an image from the movie (the one below) and wishing there was a real Superman. I even prayed and wished I could be Superman.

To say, this film impacted my life is an overstatement. I bought the trading cards, the comic books, the soundtrack on vinyl and recorded the moving off the ABC Sunday Night Movies on VHS. I still have the VHS tape and the movie is in rough shape as I know I wore out that magnetic tape long ago. I recently found a digital copy of that ABC screening (it had scenes that weren’t in the theatrical cut) and watch it once a year.

So, back to the Christopher Reeve story. It saddened me in 1995 when Christopher Reeve suffered his riding accident that nearly took his life. I prayed he would recover. I’d be dishonest if I didn’t wish his recovery was because I wanted him to return to the role. Most of us comic geeks hoped that he’d return and maybe even team up with Michael Keaton in a cross over movie. It was just fan boy fantasies as movies like that weren’t as common as they are now.

I think the film brings great awareness of his life and struggles. I learned much about the man behind the Superman that I didn’t know. I also hope that the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation continue to fund medical research to hopefully find a remedy to spinal cord injuries. To see what Christopher went through was hard. He may not have had the physical strength of Superman but he had the determination and bravery of Superman. To see his children remember those horrifying days and years of recovery brought tears to my own eyes.

If you get an opportunity to watch the film and I insist you do see this documentary, you’ll see that Christopher Reeve had the support of many Hollywood celebrities, premier politicians and even some Presidents of the United States. A bill was even signed into law by President Barrack Obama to set aside roughly $150 Million dollars to do more research into spinal cord injuries. And I tried hard not to bring my own jaded emotions to this part of the film.

I know I’m cynical and as I get older it doesn’t get any better. So, we have something that impacts thousands of Americans, millions of people worldwide, and the US Government only sets aside $100 million bucks?! Why isn’t this more. Especially when we send billions to other nations. We sent $100 Billion dollars to the Ukraine alone in the last year. So yes, this is why I look at Congress and that President with disdain. It disgusts me that they send that kind of money funding a war that doesn’t benefit us. And they praise and expect us to cheer and give standing ovations because they got a minor $100 Million dollars for something thats much more important than foreign wars that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. (Ok, enough of the politics!)

But you’ll now understand why I have little faith in our respected leaders.

Please go see this documentary. Please donate money to the cause.

Be a Superman!

0

Things change….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

There’s an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation, in the 7th season, where the Enterprise finds Worf’s human step-brother living among a primitive race – a primitive race that is facing the death and destruction of their planet. In a violation of the Prime Directive, Worf’s brother Nikolai, beams the people of Boraal II, to the holodeck. Captain Picard and crew quickly discover the plot as the simulation causes massive drain on the ship’s power. Worf is sent in to assist in a plan of deceiving the people on a great journey (they will do inside the holodeck) to a new home (ala planet) where they can live out the rest of their lives.

The debate of the Prime Directive and the actions of the characters can drive a million debates. Yet, I will focus on a smaller (and a much more personal) circumstance of the actions of Nikolai. During the long journey the people of Boraal II take, winding and climbing through tunnels and simulated terrain, the village chronicler Vorin, accidentally finds himself outside the holodeck. He is shocked to see the world of a the Enterprise’s hallways and crew. Doctor Crusher and Counselor Troi try to help him through his frightful discovery. Starships, planets, aliens and magical technology are not looked upon as optimistic ideologies of the future for him. He struggles with the anxiety of a changing world; his whole purpose was to record the history of his village. Vorin can’t accept the knowledge he has been granted. He feels trapped. Coming face-to-face with gods, and the destiny that all civilizations evolve will influence his appreciation of the old ways, the ways of his people. He can’t bare the weight of it all. Vorin commits suicide.

When I was younger, I dreamed of discovering new technology of a futuristic race. I wanted to be The Last Starfighter. I wanted to be drawn up into the struggle of Battlestar Galactica. I wanted to have a super car like K.I.T.T. Star Trek brought optimism to my life. Everytime a new thing was invented: VCRs, Apple II computers, Space Shuttles, I couldn’t wait for the next better thing. Heck, I marveled at my first iPod and iPhone as a young adult. Now, I feel like we’re moving too fast. I’m not so excited for the future anymore. I feel like I haven’t had time to enjoy the things of today. Because tomorrow will mean I have to upgrade or be left behind.

I once scorned Vorin for how he dealt with the knowledge he was gifted. I was optimistic that the future would solve problems. The future would be a better place. This man rather die than return home to an uncertain future, a frightening awareness beyond his comprehension.

Today, I find sympathy with Vorin. I understand his plight. There are days I struggle with my own awareness of an uncertain future. Sometimes I don’t want to move forward. I spend my days wanting to move backwards – sentimentally looking back on my childhood, early adulthood. A desire to find security and peace. What is wrong with me? Why has my attitude changed in the latter half of my life? Am I the only one who feels this way? Am I alone? The thing that scares me the most is that Vorin’s solution isn’t so ridiculous anymore….

I guess all things change….whether I want (or like) it or not.

CW

0

What Happened to Journalism? ….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, the internet destroyed honest journalism. Wait. Hear me out. I believe it. Listen.

The other day I was looking over the social media sites and came across and article about …. comic book industry and some words of wisdom from a very well known comic book creator. As I continue to read the article, I realize that the person writing the article is just retelling what the creator said at a recent show. And this got me to thinking about many many articles I see everyday on the internet.

Y’know, those articles where the breaking story is someone has an opinion about something and then this website tries to spin it as earth-shattering news. I’ll try to better detail it. With the invention of Twitter and social media, the thoughts and activities of the celebrity crowd is no long a mystery to anyone. (Maybe it should be?) That’s my belief no one watches the Oscars or any other award show anymore. Why tune in to see your favorite star when you get pics of their food, what they did in the Bahamas, and 140 character snippets of their morals and virtu signaling. It’s true!

Nowadays, these quasi-news sites exaggerate everything in the name of clicks. That’s how they make money. Just go to one of the sites and the madness of pop-up ads and banners all over the site. Heck, I can’t read a 10 paragraph article without scrolling past 10 banner ads for TV shows and miracle cures for my Diabetes. Thus, let’s say “fake news” is a real thing. (Yet thats a whole different topic). Sorry, back to the someone saying stuff about something. Example: Kevin Smith tells all about the MCU/Sony Split. So I click. $$ for them. I start to read. The “journalist” writing the piece begins to draw me in. Banner ad $$ for them. I continue to read. More banners $$$ for them. Oh, so the entire article is based around the 10 tweets you copied and pasted from Twitter? Really! You have to be F**king Me! Seriously!? Does anyone remember when a reporter had to pick up the phone, call a source, run to the studio and stalk the actor to get a quote? (If you don’t, I truly feel sorry for you). I do. That was reporting. That’s when I started to wonder. I wondered if this snowflake writer would be able to get this “breaking news” if he/she had to actually do some work? I really don’t think so.

If any news site wants to earn credibility or be a trusted news source (again), then actually do research. Maybe call the celebrity and interview them about the tweets not just repost them with your “divine” insight. And I’d think real journalists would get angry by this. It really doesn’t help the industry.

Oh well, thats todays thought….

0

Snake-Eyes Solo Movie….no thank you!

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Again, Hollywood has no clue. Yet, I still blame Hasbro too. Because Hasbro could oversee and control the out come as they “own” the property.

I’ve never understood the motives of film writers and producers that have (literally) the easiest job when it comes to adapting a iconic 80s property. The backstory is there. The characters are there. Heck, the fans and viewership is already there! All you have to do is come up with a great story! How hard is that?

But noooo. Producers and writers have to come in and F*#k it all up. Why? I truly believe its because they have absolutely no clue about the actual source material. Either this is complete ignorance or simply a matter of no respect. Because its all about the money.

Thus, if these producers (or Hasbro) had any clue, they would not be moving forward with a Snake-Eyes solo movie. Snake-Eyes is a product of G.I. Joe. G.I. Joe is a team. G.I. Joe, in definition, is a group of diverse characters with unique skill sets that work together to defeat Cobra, a terrorist organization determined to rule the world. Snake-Eyes excels when he’s fighting alongside Duke, Scarlett, Roadblock and Tunnel Rat.

Honestly, Snake-Eyes is a bad-ass character and he’s freaking awesome. But I don’t want to see him in a movie by himself. He needs his supportive cast. And if you bring even one of those characters, or a member of Cobra (i.e. Storm Shadow) then it’s a G.I. Joe movie. Why not just make that one?

There’s over 200 stories in the form of comic books. Its okay to use those as the basis for a good story – a great story. Yo Joe!

0