Government Downsizing

Read an article in USA Today about a trend in the Northeast to downsize local governments. Towns in New York are holding referendums to eliminate council positions. This is fascinating. You have a group of people who are finally standing up and proclaiming that government is "for the people by the people".

What is fascinating to me about this situation and others I've recently read about is the extent to which human emotion plays into decisions. I've been reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and the book gives some real insight into situations such as this.

The ringleader of the movement, Kevin Gaughan, has successfully ousted many town council positions consolidating the five positions down to three. He sells his downsizing by playing up the anger of the people, talking about how times are tough, that they've lost jobs, why shouldn't the government have to tighten its belt too? Council members sit on their bench, raised above the crowd, and that is just not how it should be. They are servant of the people, and if they are not doing something to fix the problem then they are a problem.

So to think through the situation logically, what does the council have to do with jobs being downsized by international corporations? Nothing. Have these council positions been expanded in the past ten or twenty years? No. Does a council position make someone wealthy? No, a position only makes about $16,000 a year, this means eliminating two positions would save each tax payer about $4 a year.

While I am not really for or against the idea of eliminating town council positions it is fascinating how a man can rally a cause using situations where people are scared and blaming those that have no authority or ability to change the situation causing the fear.

I remember a history professor talking about this. There is a need within humans to simplify bad situations into black and white. If there is an economic downturn the problems are rarely black and white.

Try making a talking point of the current situation, what exactly happened to cause the downturn? Economics has always been part black magic. Was it the oil prices going up causing inflation? Was it the real estate bubble? Was it the over leveraged credit? You know what I think it was, the guys with red hats, they did it!!! It was those guys!!

See how effective that is? You see the red hats in your mind don't you. You can visualize guys in red hats. You now have something to concentrate your frustration on.

I think this movement has the potential to go national, and by that I mean people actually discussing eliminating Congressional districts. If the current instability remains I have no doubt this will be discussed. It doesn't matter that it doesn't make sense, that people would be asking to eliminate representation, they want to blame someone, who better to blame than politicians?

Mirrored Elevators

I do not care for elevators with mirrors. I'm guessing that in theory the mirrors help the more claustrophobic, make the elevator seem larger. Anyway forget that, take the suckers out, RIGHT NOW!!! They are to dangerous!!

Today I'm standing in the elevator doing what you do in elevators, wait and stare. I notice something, I'm staring at the reflection of a dude on the other side of the elevator. Worse he catches me staring at the reflection, which I thought of just as a side of the elevator until a second ago. Now me and the dude are having a moment, just the two of us, on an elevator, with the reflections.

I did the only thing a dude can do in a moment like that, COMMIT!!!! You have been caught, you were dude staring, or dude gazing, or something to do with looking at a dude in a confined area, you have to commit and win the staring contest. The goal is to make the other dude more uncomfortable than yourself.

This was a big dude, and he was not in the least uncomfortable, we stared, reflection to reflection, ding, elevator ride done. The dude stare was broken as the elevator doors slid back and the lobby replaced the view of some dudes kisser.

I stepped out of the elevator thinking next time I will be one of the impatient number gazers, anything is better than the thought of staring at a dude, then getting caught.

Do you tip everyone now?

So I've run up against something that confuses me and that is the trend of constant tipping. Is this something new?

A few years ago I could only name a few places I would tip - restaurants and the barber come to mind. At a hotel I would carry my own bags, and I live in Houston so I'm rarely if ever in a taxi. Lately it seems tip jars have popped up everywhere. Is this new or have I just not seen it?

Coffee shops, ice cream parlors, shuttle services, the porter at the airport, everywhere is a tip jar. The latest place tips have shown up is online on blogs and podcasts. I have occasionally tipped for a good blogpost or podcast but I've always felt it was merit based. The people on the other end are making little or nothing from their posts, they are working hard in many cases, they deserve a tip.

Should people doing their everyday jobs for which they are being paid get a tip? I mean if you need to tip the ice cream lady do you also need to tip the McDonald's cashier? If the ice cream lady why not the McDonald's dude? Am I missing something?

The waitress at a restaurant has her compensation based on the idea that she will get tips, is it the same way with these other services? If I'm paying $2+ for a cup of coffee is the salary for the "Batista" not built into that price? Is scooping ice cream into a cone really a tip worthy service? If so how much?

Its not that I'm uber cheap or anything I just find it confusing.

This week I was shocked to find a tip jar in the shuttle from the hotel. Why? I've never tipped before, have I been rude and inconsiderate? Is tipping expected for these types of services? I'm guessing the hotel employee isn't paying for the gas or the van that has the hotel name stamped on the side.

The other issue, I rarely carry cash so I always find myself sheepishly wondering how to deal with these situations. I mean its only a dollar or two, its not like I mind giving a tip, its just that its unexpected and I'm not quite sure merited.

Am I the only one who asks these questions?