Four for Friday

(Link at left)

Q1 - Language: Does it bother you that more and more consumer goods contain packaging that is printed in both English and Spanish?

Not in the least. It's kind of interesting to 'translate' and I find myself saying, "Oh, so that's how you say 'shampoo' in Spanish!" Also, there are a quite a lot of products that come through with English and French packaging. I totally ignore that, I'm sorry to say, since I could care less about the Quebecers (Québécois).

Q2 - Selective Service: Last weekend, the owner of a Louisville, Kentucky, restaurant said he didn't want OJ Simpson in his restaurant. "I said I'm not serving you," said Jeff Ruby, owner of Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse. "And then this blonde comes up to me, I guess it's his date, and says 'It's a free country, he should be able to eat where he wants!' I said, 'Listen now, you're a blonde. You'd better be careful he doesn't slit your throat.'" What's your take on this? Should the owner of a restaurant be allowed to selectively choose whom he does and does not serve or should everyone be served so long as they are not breaking any laws or reasonable house rules?

I work in a public library, so there's no way we could make it through the first hour without serving someone we have 'issues' with. However, in a privately-owned company...I dunno. I think I'd be more inclined to give him a shitty table, VERY fast service, and get him and his friends out the door in a hurry. I admire his principles, but he sounds like a wingnut.

Q3 - Standby: Have you ever flown standby? If so, was it a good experience and would you do it again? If you said you'd never fly standby again, would you change your mind if the ticket you were flying on was free?

I found that the flights the airline put me on as a courtesy when my dad died were sort of standby. The one coming home definitely was. I remember standing with my 2-year-old son hoping we'd get on the plane so we wouldn't be stranded in the airport forever. It turned out fine, but it was VERY nerve-wracking and I wouldn't recommend doing it with a child! I would do it again only if I had no set schedule.

Q4 - Problems: What do you think is the most important problem facing the United States today? The economy in general, fuel/oil prices, unemployment, federal budget deficit/federal debt, taxes, wage issues, high cost of living/inflation, the gap between rich and poor, foreign trade/trade deficit, corporate corruption, the situation in Iraq, immigration/illegal aliens, terrorism, environment/pollution, crime/violence, drugs, the media, race relations/racism, care for the elderly, or something else entirely?

Health care, the war and the Middle East in general, and the deficit. Those are my big ones. I'd also like to see the government investigate Big Oil and their profits over the past 5-8 years, but that's just not bloody likely to happen!