Polite Savages (tm)

Don't Take Your Shoes Off During a Business Meeting

 

I'm back after a long summer hiatus!  I have a lot of adventures to share with you.  However, before I tell you about what I learned on my time off, I advise you never to take your shoes off during a business meeting. 

This morning I attended a seminar at a law firm that my company uses as outside counsel. Though we are a client, I put on a suit and tie, fashionable of course.  Usually Iwear business casual but I thought it would be nice to dress up and put on a pretty face.  Let's face it, people are nicer to you if you pay the bill but they are even nicer if you pay the bill and look nice too.  As I've said again and again, your dress and hygiene is a sign of respect for those around you.  This makes a big difference in business.

If you look at the photograph, you'll notice that you can see the foot of your run of the mill conference table and the feet and shoes of the person sitting next to me.  Gross!  This was a presentation at a fancy law firm which I think merits a certain level of decorum.  Read, don't take your shoes off.  It's off putting and disturbing.  Especially because I was sitting there in my Paul Smith suit, constricting Aquascutum tie and dress shoes.  Sure I would have loved to attended the seminar in shorts and sandals but I didn't.  I sat properly and listened attentively while suffering in my business wear.

I advise you to do the same the next time you attend any business meeting that doesn't take place in your bedroom.

Manners Vigilante

     John Clifford is a manners vigilante who takes matters into his own hands.  Like many of you he is fed up with rude behavior on trains especially loud cellphone conversations among others.  He has allegedly punched a woman in the head and yelled at many other passengers, male and female.  He sounds very civilized.  He's a retired cop and a lawyer so you think he would know better.

     This affair reminds me of an episode of a show called Futurama.  The premise of the show was that a regular joe from the 80's accidentally became cryogenically frozen and thawed out one thousand years later.  Needless to say many things are different.  X-mas is now a scary holiday presided over by a robotic Santa Claus that reigns terror upon Earth every December 25th.  Robot Santa really punishes the bad.  Instead of just leaving a lump of coal in your stocking, he hurls a boulder of it at your house.  A complete perversion of the holiday's meaning.

     John Clifford is like our Robot Santa Claus.  So the next time that you are on the LIRR, mind your manners or the New York area's very own manners vigilante might get you.  If he does, please file a police report and follow through with the prosecutors.  Let's make sure that he learns some manners. 

Happy Slapping, Insult Chat Rooms

      This is a still shot from a "happy slapping" incident that resulted in the death of a homeless man.  For all my fellow Americans who are thinking just what the heck is "happy slapping"  "Happy slapping is a fad in which an unsuspecting victim is attacked while an accomplice records the assault (commonly with a camera phone or a smartphone). The name can refer to any type of violent assault, not just slapping, even rape and sexual assaults have been classified as "happy slapping" by the media."  (from Wikipedia, September, 17 2007).  That's one trend that I am proud to say that did not originate in the United States.  Perhaps we are smarter than that or perhaps it's because of our litigious society so the average person is savvy enough to know not to create any hard evidence of an assault. 

     But seriously, I heard about happy slapping for the first time on BBC Radio One which I receive on my satellite radio service provided by Sirius which I love.  Apparently, some teenage boys dropped kicked a cat (who lived to tell), recorded it on mobile phone video and then distributed it to their school chums who then reported it to the authorities.  First of all, those boys must be sociopaths or seriously misguided (and to those boys, try to sue me for slander and let's see how far you get).  Secondly, why would you be so proud of drop kicking a poor defenseless animal.  It really does shock the conscience.  For those of you who have a shred of feeling, I assure you that  those boys were punished.

   In a similarly disturbing vein, I recently learned that there are insult chat rooms where people enter to trade jabs and ribbings.   On March 21, 2007, Kevin Whitrick was in such a chat room with about 50 other people.  He threatened to kill himself on a web cam and his audience urged him on.  He was successful in his endeavor. 

Do I need to write more? 

    

Enter the Dragon, um I mean Amateur

    Chris Crocker is the person that Andrew Keen is talking about in his book.  I wonder if Andrew Keen posted anything about Crocker on his blog.  I would look but I loathe giving Keen another page view on his blog. 

     In this case, I admit that I cannot tolerate Chris Crocker.  He represents the worst of his generation and I suspect that he is a product of the narcissistic, fame seeking culture produced by Paris Hilton and friends.  (If you're interested in some naughty satire of Paris Hilton, check out Superficial Friends on heavy.com, but be warned that it's for mature audiences only) With these real reality stars, it appears that all you need to do is behave outrageously and badly to become famous.  The aftermath is that people really believe that all you need to do to become famous is just act completely crazy, like carnival freak crazy.  There seems to be little effort to produce anything original or inherently interesting.  The worst part is that people who actually do make the effort to create get pushed aside.  It truly is sad.  Maybe Mr. Keen has a point.  But I like to think that people like you and me, using our market power, will determine our culture's direction.  So don't watch Chris Crocker's videos.  Don't contribute to an unworthy amateur's career.  Thank you.

The Cult of the Amateur

     This is a picture of a book by Andrew Keen.  He posits in his book that the Internet and especially Wikipedia, YouTube, blogs and other publicly available content publishing tools, is destroying our culture.  Yes this is a huge generalization of his thesis.  If you want to know specifics then read the book.  Mr. Keen argues that the publicly accessible nature of the Internet medium enables any Joe Schmo to deliver their version of the truth with an imprimatur of veracity.  He argues that our cultural gatekeepers, trained professionals and other worthy individuals, have been bypassed by the aforementioned tools by the, god forbid, the average person.  As you can tell, I disagree with him, but only to a degree. 

     Do I think that Rupert Murdoch who controls a vast amount of media outlets all over the world is a "worthy" gate keeper, a high priest of high culture?  No, I do not, Mr. Keen.  Do I think that the New York Times and NPR are respectable objective journalists?  Yes.  Do I believe that Andrew Keen is worthy of commenting on our society and culture?  Yes.  Mr. Keen is as well qualified as anyone else.  Is it my opinion that Mr. Keen misinterprets our society, laws and others?  Yes.  Check out Lawrence Lessig's blog.  He refutes many misstatements made by Mr. Keen about him. 

     In light of Mr. Keen's comments, I find it surprising that Mr. Keen has a blog and uses the Internet, that dirty, democratic medium, to promote himself and his book.  But really, how different is he from any other person seeking celebrity today? 

Drunk and Disorderly Part Two

    

     On a more humorous but not less serious note, one of my desires is to publish a coffee table book of dramatic black and white photographs of drunken people throwing up in public.  I should expand it to the subject matter of drunken people looking foolish in public.  I've been thinking about this idea since 1999.  That is when I started to go London regularly.  A London weekend from New York was fun and relatively inexpensive, not to mention you could get to work at a reasonable time on Monday morning. 

     I sigh and remember the first time I stumbled around a corner and saw a young woman on her hands and knees, her thong popping out on her exposed backside, heaving on a cobblestone street while her friend held her hair.  I remember jumping up from my seat on the night bus because the cross-eyed man next to me started to convulse.  No the convulsions were not because he was epilectic.  They were a result of drinking too many beers and apparently he had to throw up in the adjacent luggage area. 

     Maybe one day my dream of this rude coffee table book will come true.  In the meantime, keep that in mind the next time you're partying in London or some other major city.  You'll never know where I might turn up with my camera.

Disciplining the Children of Others

My last post begs the question: "Is it proper to discipline other people's children?"   Mind you, by "discipline" I don't mean physical beatings or emotional torture.  I just mean instruction by rational dialog. 

The answer as always, is "it depends."  It depends on the context. 

Are you at home or in a public place?  Are the children your guests or within your care?  Are they guests or the children of hosts?  How well do you know these children?  How close are you to their parents? 

Over the next several weeks, I will explore this subject.

A Friend in Need is a Friend in Deed

It would be easy for me to offer up a litany of complaints day after day but who would want to be mired down in that mess?  While I cannot promise that every day will be a cheerful one, I can promise that I will try my best to highlight something positive every now and then.

In fulfillment of that promise, please read about one of my closest friends, Renaldo, who is a true friend in name and in deed.  Recently, an old friend and ex of his, Richard, was in serious medical trouble.  Richard had to be flown from his new home on Menorca back to his home in London.  Renaldo took time off from work to fly to Londonfor the weekend to attend to his sick friend.  This would be the second of three consecutive weekends that Renaldo flew to London.  None of these trips were for pleasure.  They were a result of duty to family and friends.  Why is this relevant?  Fulfillment of social obligations is not just a mere performance, it is in itself, an act of respect for one’s self, those dear to him and society at large. 

Map of Menorca and Mallorca