September 2004 Archives
Let’s check my list of petty annoyances, which I whine and complain about (often in this space)-which probably helps no one…
A constant annoyance, to me, is the radio (and TV) commercials, where, for legal reasons, there is a lot of “legalese” –basically, “audio fine print”-that has to be in the commercial, but there’s not enough time for it. So, what do most advertisers do? They either have a motor-mouthed announcer rattle through the words at break-neck speed, or use electronic means to speed up a normal announce to hyper-speed. This leaves them covered as far as everything being legal- but- the general populace doesn’t understand or grasp much of it. You’ve heard the type of thing I’m talking about- “voidwhereprohibitedbylawpricesmentionedmaynotbe ineffectforentiretimeofsaleallsalesarefinal87%interestonallfinan- cingboyareyoustuckonly colorblueavailable.” If you’re only understanding five or six out of forty seven words- does that really meet the legal requirement? (Department of Truth and Justice: I’ll be honest with you- I have personally had to do the “motor-mouth” read for some commercials. I haven’t enjoyed it, and don’t think it’s fair.) Couldn’t there be something like a line that says-“for full legal info, visit sellit.com”-a website at which the legal jargon would be printed out and easily readable? Or, wouldn’t that be legal, because not everyone has access to the internet? There must be a fair way of doing it…
That people can actually understand. Am I going slow enough for you?!
What else is growling in the back of my feeble little mind- how about the continuing lack of courtesy among drivers? I know I’ve harped on this before…but, tell me- if you stop and let someone into your lane, when you could have just kept going and made the person wait- wouldn’t it be nice to have them, at least, give you a little wave or something? I know, I know, being courteous should be its own reward- but, that attitude that I OWED it to that driver-especially in a day and age where nobody seems to want to give someone a break- makes me sad. Just like the driver who doesn’t signal that he’s going to move into a lane- I’m sorry, your car must be lead-lined, so your thought transmission that you were going to shift right in front of me didn’t come through!
Sorry for going all “Andy Rooney” on you – come back tomorrow for some insight on the great movie we have for you Saturday night- featuring a non-stop trip to the Black Lagoon, if you catch my meaning!
A constant annoyance, to me, is the radio (and TV) commercials, where, for legal reasons, there is a lot of “legalese” –basically, “audio fine print”-that has to be in the commercial, but there’s not enough time for it. So, what do most advertisers do? They either have a motor-mouthed announcer rattle through the words at break-neck speed, or use electronic means to speed up a normal announce to hyper-speed. This leaves them covered as far as everything being legal- but- the general populace doesn’t understand or grasp much of it. You’ve heard the type of thing I’m talking about- “voidwhereprohibitedbylawpricesmentionedmaynotbe ineffectforentiretimeofsaleallsalesarefinal87%interestonallfinan- cingboyareyoustuckonly colorblueavailable.” If you’re only understanding five or six out of forty seven words- does that really meet the legal requirement? (Department of Truth and Justice: I’ll be honest with you- I have personally had to do the “motor-mouth” read for some commercials. I haven’t enjoyed it, and don’t think it’s fair.) Couldn’t there be something like a line that says-“for full legal info, visit sellit.com”-a website at which the legal jargon would be printed out and easily readable? Or, wouldn’t that be legal, because not everyone has access to the internet? There must be a fair way of doing it…
That people can actually understand. Am I going slow enough for you?!
What else is growling in the back of my feeble little mind- how about the continuing lack of courtesy among drivers? I know I’ve harped on this before…but, tell me- if you stop and let someone into your lane, when you could have just kept going and made the person wait- wouldn’t it be nice to have them, at least, give you a little wave or something? I know, I know, being courteous should be its own reward- but, that attitude that I OWED it to that driver-especially in a day and age where nobody seems to want to give someone a break- makes me sad. Just like the driver who doesn’t signal that he’s going to move into a lane- I’m sorry, your car must be lead-lined, so your thought transmission that you were going to shift right in front of me didn’t come through!
Sorry for going all “Andy Rooney” on you – come back tomorrow for some insight on the great movie we have for you Saturday night- featuring a non-stop trip to the Black Lagoon, if you catch my meaning!
