Three Sides (At Least) To Every Story

I liked this saying:

There are at least three sides to every story:

Yours
Mine
And the truth

Everyone sees the world through their personal filter. 

And they present their side of things in a distorted way to make themselves look right and righteous. 

Calls it what you will:  a slant, bias, twist, falsification, or a distortion or perversion of the truth. 

Sure, sometimes one person is right and the other is clearly wrong. 

But more often than not, there are elements of truth and of lies in each person’s story to greater and lessor degrees. 

Hence, the truth often is it’s own entity and exists independent of those presenting it. 

It’s not a bad mission to seek out and promote the truth in this world of many falsehoods. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Now Dat’s Customer Service

This was a sign that talks to a real customer service orientation:

“Suppose we refund your money.

Send you another one without charge.

Close the store.

And have the manager shot…

Would that be satisfactory?”

Actually no, that’s not good enough!

While you’re at it…

Bow down and kiss my filthy feet.

Flagellate yourself with 40 lashes using a wet noodle. 

Give me a complimentary supply of whatever the crap is I was buying for life.

And after you shoot the manager, hang him from the tallest tree for everyone to get the message.  LOL

Now dat’s customer service!  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Sizzle Is Not Steak

There was an interesting quote in the Wall Street Journal the other day.

It was about how the stock brokers all too often hawked hot stocks to their unsuspecting and foolish clients:

You sold the sizzle, not the steak!

Wow, isn’t this all too often what happens with products and services in the marketplace?

People get you hyped up on all the excitement of something.

The latest and greatest widget or whatever. 

It’s gonna revolutionize the world!

Even when the thing itself may not be all that it’s cracked up to be.

Or in fact, it may be a complete dud!

But whatever sells goes, unfortunately, whether it’s right or wrong

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle. 

Doesn’t that sizzle really make you want to buy the steak?

The Greater Fool Theory in full blossom. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Mosquito Into A Mule

So you know the old saying about:

Making a mountain out of a molehill

That’s when you make a big deal out of nothing.

So yesterday, I heard the European version of this as:

Making a mosquito into a mule

Honestly, I like that version a lot better.

A mosquito bites and is annoying.

But a mule resists and is a very stubborn animal that can drive you crazy. 

You definitely don’t want to make a mosquito into a mule! 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Really Highest Quality

Just thought this was a funny, educational photo.

Vendor is selling jewelry on the corner (outside the Metro).

They’re advertising:

Products Of The Highest Quality

But would you even expect to get the highest quality jewelry off the street. 

As nice as these products may be (and he may be), I don’t think anyone would really believe this. 

So while the ad grabs your attention and makes you look, it doesn’t make you believe. 

Advertising and branding has to be credible to reach their intended audience or else it’ll just come off as fool’s gold. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Extra Large Sizes

Obesity rates have been consistently growing in this country.

This is concerning for all sorts of health effects (including unfortunately Cancer). 

Many of us struggle with our weight and it is not easy to fight it especially given the processed foods and carbs all around us. 

The picture as of 2015 is that almost 40% of Americans are categorized as obese (versus a below average of 18% in Israel)  

In this context, this store sign in Israel for big and tall clothing was off the charts. 

Talking about extra large sizes for people…

Check out how many “Xs” as in XL this store is advertising? 

A full 11 Xs (after that I lost count)!

Hey, that is a large size for anyone. 

What does a size 11 XL look like.

Now that’s something that I don’t have a good picture of.  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Batsh*t Crazy

So have you ever dealt with these types of people?

They are what is commonly referred to as:

“Batsh*t Crazy!”

Some telltale signs in combination:

– Loud

– Out of control (off the spectrum)

– Exaggerated thinking/delusional

– Feelings of victimhood/paranoia/anger

– Gesturing wildly 

– Fingers tightly extended or clenched into fists

– Banging on the table/wall 

– Sharpening facial lines

– Clenching of the lips/teeth

– Bugged out/staring eyes

– Dark, hallowed-out eye sockets

– Disheveled hair/clothes

– Unkept/dirty/smelly

– In your face/space

– Potentially violent/dangerous

When you are dealing with batshit crazy…watch out!

You can’t reason with them. You can’t confront them.  You can’t evade them.  

They have you in their sights. 

Scary, right? 

BTW, I looked up the derivation of this term:

It come from “there is nothing at all going on upstairs”–such that the bells are no longer ringing in the church tower, and hence the bats are coming to rest there, and they have been there so long that the batsh*t has built up.

There is certainly a lot of batshit from what I can see! 😉

(Source Photo: here with attribution to geralt)

Sing Louder

So I heard this interesting saying the other day:

If you can’t sing better, sing louder!

It’s funny that people actually do that type of thing all the time. 

My colleagues boss told someone I know: 

You’re a fake it till you make it type of person

This can apply to all sort of activities and not just singing.

— Public speaking, your job, sports, cooking, etc. 

Often, people have to do things that they really just don’t do very well.

– Maybe it’s not their forte. 

– Maybe they’re just not into it. 

But rather than call it for what it is.

Instead, they pretend and make a show out of it. 

They exaggerate what they think they are supposed to do. 

Or they try to compensate with something tangential. 

Hey, maybe no will notice.

But people eventually catch-on and do know when you’re lip-singing and faking your way through or just screaming out the lyrics to mask how horrible you singing is. 

Better to be honest and admit what you can and can’t do.

Take some classes or get some training.

Practice, practice, practice. 

Or even consider doing something else that you do enjoy and are good it. 

Either way, you don’t want to be the one singing loudly their whole life.  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal. Note: this blog is not connected to this or any particular musician)

A Half Truth

So everyone is always playing with the truth. 

They don’t want people to really know the truth, but they don’t want to call it a real lie.

Hence the saying:

“It’s just a white lie!”

A white lie is usually taken as in “pure” or “righteous”–in other words, there is a good reason (like to prevent someone from getting hurt) for lying, .

Yes, sure there is (LOL).

Sometimes people lie to themselves:

“What you don’t know can’t harm you!”

Most often, people tell what they call half truths.

This is commonly referred to as:

“Beating around the bush!”

However, don’t tell anyone:

A half truth is a lie!

And just like beating around the bush arouses the birds to fly and get caught in a net–that’s what telling half truths do too. 

Why is it so hard to tell the whole truth, because that would make most people look pretty bad. 

If people only knew.

But someday, of course, they will. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Politics On A Cow

I saw this “Antifa” (Anti-Fascist) symbol on this painting of a cow in Washington, D.C. 

As a child of Holocaust survivors, I certainly understand and can even sympathize with the view of the anti-fascist movement–certainly, we should all unequivocally appreciate, love, and want to protect freedom and human rights!

However, I think throwing around labels like fascist, perhaps where it is more about political disagreements doesn’t help to identify the really bad actors out there in the world and what they can and even would like to do to harm all of us. 

Anyway, I am pretty sure that this cow is no fascist.

I would also like to say that the red and black with this symbol here is way too close to looking like how the genocidal Nazi’s themselves portrayed the dreaded and infamous swastika in red and black.  

It would be great if we use symbols and labels carefully, and let the cows go back to being cows. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)