Odds and Ends

People often speak in indirect ways, many times when it’s entirely unnecessary. One question, most commonly asked of children, is “Where is your (homework, sweater, etc)?”. The questioner doesn’t really want to know where the object is, they want to know why the person being asked doesn’t have it with them. So why can’t they say what they mean?

Another common question is “What are you doing here”. Again the questioner isn’t concerned with what the other person is doing, they want to know why the person is in a particular location and the question usually implies that they’re not happy with the person being there. Again, people should say what they mean.

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Police officers traditionally are not terribly fond of lawyers, even less so than the general population. The best source of lawyer jokes is frequently a police station. Here are a few corny ones I like:

Question: What’s the difference between a dead skunk in the middle of the road and a dead lawyer in the middle of the road?

Answer: There are skid marks by the skunk.

Question: California has the most lawyers of any state in the nation and New Jersey has the most toxic waste dumps. Why is this so?

Answer: New Jersey got first pick.

Did you hear about the lawyer who was so slick that he got his client’s charge reduced from sodomy to tailgating?

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I’ve noticed that things cost more in poor neighborhoods. Gas prices are higher and grocery stores from the same chain will charge more in a downscale neighborhood than in ones more upscale. My town has two Wal Marts, one in the north part of town, another in the south part. I’ve noticed several price differences between the two, with the higher price always being in the less affluent neighborhood.

What’s up with this? If there’s going to be a difference in price, why isn’t it in the richer areas, where they can more easily afford it? Why are poor people penalized for being poor? It seems to me that reversing this difference would bring in a higher volume of sales from less affluent neighborhoods and that rich people would continue to buy, even at a higher price.

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While reading a book the other day, I came upon this interesting quote:

“When he evades domestication, he also flees the constraints that seem to go hand in hand with marriage. He reminds wistful husbands, ensnarled in the claims of wives, children, and creditors, that the Latin root of ‘libertine’ is libertus -- a freed slave”.

Really.