Inklings

Category: opinion

  • Money Talks

    It’s funny how people’s attitudes about wealth in this country have become skewed. One of the things that makes this country great is the freedom of choice. Every time you are faced with more than one option you have the ability to exercise the power of that freedom. When you make a decision to purchase you’re essentially voting with your dollar. It’s a simple concept, I know, but how many people look at it that way?

    The price of goods and services is largely determined by the law of supply and demand. Why then do some Americans have a problem with businesses that have become wealthy? In most cases, their wealth is simply the spoils of working hard to develop and sell a product or service that the people have determined they want. The more demand, the higher the price. If you don’t want to line the pockets of (insert successful widget-seller here) then don’t buy their product (that is, assuming you have a choice).

    It makes little sense in my mind to bellyache about the high price of something and then turn around and buy some of it. You’re perpetuating the law that makes it so. Granted, your vote won’t override the millions of others but if everyone truly looked at their money in this way I’m sure we’d all become more fiscally responsible. If only it were that simple.

  • Contentment

    In today’s ‘fast food’ world it’s hard not to get things our way. Often times we dispose of something perfectly suitable to upgrade to something better, not out of necessity, but preference. How spoiled are we? It’s times like these that I am thankful that we live with the blessings we do. I try very hard not to take for granted those things I have which I don’t deserve but strive to be content instead.

  • Luck

    Is there really such a thing as luck? I guess when you really, really long for something to happen your mind tends to be extra perceptive to those things that seem to go in your favor, but is it luck when it happens? Luck suggests something unbridled and uncontrollable. It’s not attributable to anything. It’s based on nothing more than changing circumstances. One person’s good luck is another’s bad misfortune. I guess it’s all relative. In the end I don’t consider myself lucky at all, but blessed.

  • Salesmanship

    As a parent of school-aged children I see a different side to the ‘salesmanship’ we experienced growing up. At some point or another every child goes through the ‘salesman phase’.

    The (insert organization here) will be conducting a (fundraiser/raffle/lottery) to raise money by selling (insert product here). The child that sells the most (product) will win (a really cheap prize that negates all the hard work the child has done to attain it).

    I understand that kids’ organizations take money to run and I have no problem supporting them but I think these organizations have to understand that not all kids will be salespeople. We have, like many parents, guiltily assumed the role for them because a) it’s safer and less time-consuming than taking them door-to-door and b) our kids aren’t exactly thrilled about selling anything to people they don’t know. Perhaps in doing so we’re cheating them from not learning some valuable life lesson like working hard to accomplish a goal or how to cope with rejection, but I think they’ll experience enough of both when they become teenagers.

  • SUV (Sadly Underutilized Vehicle)

    The cost of petroleum in this country has nearly pushed the once popular full-sized SUV into extinction. My feeble mind never understood the love affair some people had with the huge gas guzzlers (I know my wallet couldn’t). It seemed that the people who would actually need such a vehicle for heavy-duty, off-road hauling of cargo/personnel didn’t own one – but everyone wanted one. Smelling the profits, auto manufacturers began cozying up to the status-seekers who coveted the sleek urbanized versions of their rugged SUV ancestors (remember the Broncos and Blazers of yesteryear?).

    The oil industry and heightened environmental consciousness have brought about the latest evolutionary change in SUV design – the crossover. It’s not exactly the rugged behemoth we associate with the term SUV, but it isn’t the pansy, family mini-van either. It’s the perfect vehicle for pulling out tree stumps while your wife changes the kids’ diapers in the back seat. I have to admit the mini-van part of me just might be interested in this version. Now if I can just convince my wallet.

  • Curse of ‘Twilight’

    I’m going on record to say that I’m one of the millions of men who doesn’t get ‘Twilight’. And before the ladies stand up to defend the literary phenomenon, let me just say that I haven’t, nor do I plan to, read the series. No ma’ams, I choose to remain blissfully ignorant of Stephanie Meyer’s brilliant, sparkling, teen-heartthrob, vampire romance.

    For those guys out there whose spouse or significant other is circling these books on their ‘to read’ list — STOP THEM! She will spend the next several weeks in an Edward/Jacob-infatuated coma induced by reading these works into the wee witching hours of the morning. Don’t think that it will stop with the first book, either. It won’t. The combined series is as thick as the Encyclopedia Brittanica volumes A through M, so if you thought you felt alone during the first book, get used to it.

    And whatever you do, don’t encourage them to see the movies as a way to get their ‘Twilight’ fix in a shorter span of time. They may just suggest you see it with them. It will be their way to entice you into accepting all things ‘Twilight’ and thus condone their further indulgence in this franchise. If you should happen to catch a viewing of either film, seek immediate treatment by watching a good western shoot ’em up or tune in to Spike.

    Beware, men, these vampires are nearly impossible to kill, so if she gets bitten you can forget about the stakes, crucifixes and garlic. Just accept the fact that you’ve been bested by a blood-loving romantic by the name of Edward Cullen.

  • Inappropriate Choices

    I saw the trailer for the new Warner Brothers flick Sherlock Holmes and couldn’t help but feel this way about their choice to cast Robert Downey Jr. in the lead. I think he’s a superb actor, but this choice, in my opinion, reflects Hollywood’s tendency to latch on to the surefire winners for even recycled fare to make it profitable. I believe that WB is jumping the shark…again. They even feature Holmes and Watson escaping death in that infamous hero cliché shot (an explosion sends their silhouettes hurling away from a fireball towards the viewer). Who knows, maybe it will be a hit – a la Michael Keaton as Batman – and children the world over will flock to libraries and bookstores to sponge up every last bit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works. Only time will tell.