"They", "Lethargic" and the Weekly Quiz
Why is business more trusted than government?
Three weeks ago, I boarded a Sunday afternoon Southwest Airlines flight from New Orleans to Atlanta.
As the passengers filed in and sat down on the completely full flight, a group of six young men in their mid to late 20s took up seats directly across from my aisle seat.
One of them had difficulty putting his carry on bag in the overhead compartment. The bag fell back bumping his face and especially his glasses. He sat down in the middle seat between two friends. A flight attendant noticed something was wrong so she asked, “Sir, are you okay?”
He nodded affirmatively saying “yeah.”
But she noticed he was not okay.
A couple of minutes later, a representative from the airline came up to my row asking the aisle seat occupant if he could sit and talk to the middle row passenger. Without incident, the representative spoke with the passenger explaining that he would have to disembark the plane because in the event of an emergency they wouldn’t be able to adequately deal with him thus making him unsafe for himself as well as the other passengers.
Naturally, over hearing all that piqued my curiosity.
Even though he would not be on another plane until the next day, he seemed only moderately concerned about the change of plans. Not thrilled, mind you - but resigned to the reality.
This passenger, again without incident, stood up telling his other friends in the row behind him that he had to get off the plane. I could hear mutters of “What the f…”
But off he went with carry on now being carried off by the flight attendant.
This took maybe two minutes; however, the other passengers started the whispering “What’s THAT all about?”
My aisle seat neighbor sat down. Naturally, I asked “Is your friend okay?”
He leaned over saying “Yeah, he’s just a bit lethargic.”
“Lethargic?” I asked. “Airlines don’t throw people off planes for being lethargic. They encourage lethargic. Try again. Is he drunk?”
This kid reluctantly acknowledged that yes, in fact, his friend was drunk.
Shaking my head like the dad of four that I am, “Well, then just say so. We’re in New Orleans for crying out loud.”
Lethargic.
The kid comes up with lethargic? Okay, points for using a legit SAT word in the moment but what a bunch of Bravo Sierra. Lethargic.
Dude. This is 2021. I was half expecting epileptic seizure and a therapy iguana to pop out of his jacket. Just drunk? In New Orleans? That’s a tap in birdie putt from six inches. You’re supposed to be drunk in New Orleans.
But to be so gassed at 3pm on a Sunday that you can’t pass the Southwest Flight Attendant Eagle Eye Test is kind of a rookie move. Seriously, this airline used to give out handles of booze to attract business flyers when they were just getting the business off the ground. (See what I did there?) I mean I have gotten more free drinks on Southwest flights, than any other location save the General Assembly Member’s Lounge before a Governor Warner Address to the Commonwealth. (thank you Riley Ingram)
Lethargic. Can’t we just flat out own our sh*t anymore?
Just say it.
Fast forward to Good Friday.
Early morning drive back to my hometown doctor’s office for the annual physical.
Dr. Babar retired so I drew a new doc. Nice guy. Princeton undergrad, Georgetown Medical…what ever. Just get on with it. Well, this guy became Dr. Questions. He was looking over my not so recent blood levels and asking me all sorts of stuff.
Naturally, I answer them all sometimes with dry humor to see if he was paying attention. It’s what you do on first dates, right?
Then he asks, “Do you drink alcohol?”
“Not yet.”
“I mean daily. How many drinks would you say you have?”
“Well, since light beers don’t count especially after work outs, about 2-3.”
“Light beer counts.”
“No they don’t. I did the math.”
“Well, they say for men no more than 2 per day”, holding up his two fingers in a peace sign.
I said, “They?” and my mind spun up a rant that took in Gulf of Tonkin/Vietnam/Watergate/Fluoride/Malaise/IranContra/IDidNotHaveSexWithThatWoman/WMDs/ShovelReady-Save$2500aYear/StopTheSteal/C’MonMan in a viciously short seven maybe eight seconds of AttentionSurplusDisorder or ASD.
Yeah. How many times have THEY said one thing only to update us later on their brilliance.
I mentioned earlier that we have four kids - now 27, 25, 21, and 18. Four incredibly unique humans that I just love hanging out with and we’re blessed that they all like each other as well.
But here’s what THEY told us about OUR kids during the first doctor visits following their births. And this is not a mark on our amazing pediatrician whom we adored. We were told how to put our kids to sleep.
For each child we were told something different for each kids. THEY were usually the attending nurses. Also not a knock on them. Just doing what THEY told them.
“They say babies should sleep on their backs.”
Ok.
Next.
“They now say babies should sleep on their sides.”
Ok.
Next.
“They now say babies should sleep on their backs.”
Ok.
Next. ( I kid you not)
“They now say babies should sleep on their sides.”
They also sell rotisseries.
We literally went full circle with THEY.
So, Dr. Questions passed his test and I will go back next year since apparently THEY have decided that a PSA test is preferable to a digital exam.
Funny side story about this office. About twelve years ago, I went in for a physical and the nurse says, “I see you are over forty. Will you be having a digital exam today, Mr. Saxman?”
I perked up asking, “You mean you can do it with a computer now?”
She giggled leaving the room. “No, Mr. Saxman. In this case, digit means finger.”
Rats.
About thirty seconds later the entire nurse desk broke up laughing.
Oh well. Score one for wishful thinking and one for making others laugh.
But back to this whole concept of THEY.
THEY always seem to be so sure of themselves and THEIR pronouncements, but THEY never take the time to acknowledge THEIR mistakes.
THEY, after all, are really smart. Just ask them. THEY’ll tell you how smart THEY are.
A lot of times, THEY are smart or were especially smart in high school.
THEY think we don’t remember. But we do. The lack of accountability and responsibility at almost every level erodes trust. Deeply.
As Roger Scruton observed, “Trust and belonging are everything. Distrust in government is one thing, but when we distrust each other it empowers an untrustworthy government.” Talk about full circle.
Just because your preferred team is at the helm, don’t think for a second that the underlying problems go away.
Your WE, is our THEM. And vice versa at damn near a 50/50 clip, too.
Perhaps this is why business leads government when it comes to institutional trust. (in this case, THEY is Edelman's Annual Global Trust Barometer.
and why people are seeking business leaders’ input on issues more and more. Are they trusted more because THEY have to produce results?
WEEKLY QUIZ!
1. Which EU country had the highest GDP growth rate of almost 5% in Q4 2020?
A) Romania
B) Austria
C) Germany
D) Latvia
2. According to HireAHelper.com, which state had the highest percentage of retirement moves from out of state with 15.1%
A) Florida
B) Virginia
C) Texas
D) Wyoming
3. Which city in the UK has recently seen nightly rioting at a result of Brexit?
A)London
B) Dublin
C) Belfast
D) Manchester
4. Along the U.S. Southwest border with Mexico, how many “encounters with migrants” did the US Custom and Border Protection report in the month of March?
A) 50,000
B) 127,00
C) 172,000
D) 90,000
5. Employees at the Amazon warehouse rejected an effort to unionize their workforce. What was the vote percent outcome agains the effort as a percentage?
A) 56/44
B) 61/39
C) 67/33
D) 71/29
6. Recently, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of which Big Tech company in a copyright case over Oracle?
A) Facebook
B) Twitter
C) Google
D) Snapchat
In 2019, there were an estimated 2.9 million new gun buyers. The previous record was 3.4 million in 2016. How many new gun buyers - not new guns - new gun buyers were there in 2020?
A) 3.9 million
B) 4.9 million
C) 7.9 million
D) 8.9 million
According to Mauldin Economics and Bloomberg:
The key factor in housing demand is household formation. Single people tend to live in apartments or rental homes. They turn into homebuyers when they think about having children, because they need more space and stability.
The age at which this happens has been remarkably steady around what age?
A) 27
B) 30
C) 33
D) 36
**One of key components in the housing prices we see nationally is the lack of houses for sale. Another is a first time home buyers coming into the market. Supply and demand. The “Millennial Demand” will continue for the next ten years and will be eclipsed by the next generation which stands to have even more first time home buyers.
On the hit TV show All in the Family, Archie Bunker and his son-in-law Mike Stivic were both fans of which New York baseball team?
A) New York Yankees
B) New York Mets
C) New York Giants
D) Brooklyn Dodgers
Virginia’s Unemployment rate in February was 5.2%. Which state had the lowest unemployment rate of 2.9% in February? (all states listed here below 3.2%)
A) South Dakota
B) Utah
C) Vermont
D) Nebraska
According to the Wall St. Journal, which “mass market car producer that hasn’t reported (semiconductor) chip problems?”
A) Ford
B) GM
C) Volvo
D) Toyota
A front page above the fold article today in the Richmond Times Dispatch highlights the complaints of Richmond’s police and fire departments complaints about low pay and morale. One representative of Richmond police calls this “a crisis.” This comes right before public employees gain collective bargaining rights starting May 1st. Meanwhile the Wall St. Journal notes in an editorial that Chicago spends annually how much on pensions?
A) $500 Million
B) $1.3 Billion
C) $1.8 Billion
D) $2.1 Billion
State Senator Amanda Chase said in a recent radio interview that she would be heading down soon to meet with former President Donald Trump in hopes of gaining his endorsement for the GOP gubernatorial nomination slated for May 8th in an unassembled convention. Chase has also said she will not support which Republican candidate for governor?
A) Pete Snyder
B) Kirk Cox
C) Glenn Youngkin
D) Sergio de la Pena
Honestly - if you made it this far please share this!
ANSWERS 1A, 2B, 3C, 4C, 5D, 6C, 7D, 8C, 9B, 10A, 11C, 12C, and 13A