I thought I would share some random thoughts with you today. This time of year, and for that matter most times of the year, my thoughts drift to things that make me ponder why or how or even just wow.
It is fall and the weather is changing. It is still warm here in Mississippi but the mornings are cooler and added to the cooler weather we have had daily rain showers. No not showers; showers would be the wrong word. It has been pouring buckets for a couple of hours every day. I woke up this morning and it was cloudy but at least there was no rain. I turned on the radio and played the news in the background while I made my coffee. Once my coffee was done, I ran across a Bass Pro Shop sale flyer. They are having their “Fall into Savings” event. I really enjoy perusing their outdoor items and their men's clothing including the flannel shirts, hiking boots, hunting and fishing accessories and everything else.
How About Using Some Real Guys in Your Ads Bass Pro Shop?
Note to Bass Pro: I occasionally visit your store just because the indoor environment you create allows me to go on a mini holiday...vacation...as we call it here in the US. I also enjoy perusing your flyers for the same reason. They make me feel like I am planning a vacation. Anyway, in your flyer I found a great looking long sleeve knit shirt...a tee shirt actually. As I was looking at it I was thinking about how nice it looks, but it was on a paid model who is in perfect shape; strong, slim and paid to make clothes look their best. Ok, here is my thought Bass Pro. Why don’t they take those same clothes and let real folks model them? Put that shirt on a skinny guy or, better yet, let someone like me model it. I am almost sixty-four-years old, in fair shape(round is a shape, too), but by no means am I a model. I show evidence of being a beer drinker for over four decades. Here is my thought. Get a guy like me with a little bit of a gut to show what those shirts really look like on a human, not a humanoid.
Hell, they photographed the same two guys throughout their flyer. Of course, the clothes look good on them, they are models. You could put a flour sack with a hole for arms on those guys and they would look good. They ought to get the folks buying those clothes to model in them. If those clothes look good on guys like me then they will look good an almost anyone.
Next time I walk through their store maybe I will offer my services to the manager. “Hey, you need an old, out of shape, real dude to pose in your clothes, to show folks what they really look like?” Now that would let real men see what they will look like in your shirts, vests, and jackets.
Here is my advice, pick some “normal” guys to show off your clothes. I bet sales, at least the sales to men, would improve. I would look at one of those guys and say to myself, “that might even look good on me.”
I Don’t Write About Politics but...
During the past week, there has been a political circus of monumental scope taking place in Washington, D.C. Last week the pot we call D.C. came to a rolling boil over these happenings. Without going into detail, because I refuse to write about it, I will talk about my thoughts. I refuse to state my opinion on the two good people whose lives have forever been placed in turmoil. Why would anyone willingly put themselves through the horrible, unrealistic scrutiny that has become the vetting process of modern appointees? I am not just talking about the appointee but also those wishing to discuss matters pertaining to the appointee. Why would someone expose themselves to the other side of that picture? Both sides openly expose their lives to the world and open themselves up to the opinions of millions. I don’t know how anyone could do either of these things.
As I said, Washington, DC boiled over and in my opinion, the smell that came from our nation's Capital City wreaked of unbridled political ambition. Maybe, just maybe we are vetting the wrong people. Maybe we are putting good public servants and witness through the horrible wringer of public opinion when it is not necessary.
I have an idea. How about we set up a new system for doing this vetting process. Let’s allow the appointees and the witnesses to have the opportunity to ask a question, any question of the senators. For every question they are being asked by the committee, they will be allowed, in return, to ask a question of the committee member asking them a question. If those being interviewed are required to answer the questions asked of them, then so are the senators. Now you talk about a circus. That would be a circus. For every question a committee member asks, they would be required to answer a question by the one they are interrogating. Think about this for a moment. The questioning would go in both directions. You could sell tickets to an event like this. It would be like Wrestlemania for politicos and news junkies.
I can see it now. The parties would come in the room dressed in their party colors. Red on one side of the room and blue on the other. The room would be decorated with beer signs, sports gear ads, and ads for automobile companies. There would be an announcer, probably the Committee Chair to bark out introductions and set the stage for the spectacle that would begin with the dropping of the gavel.
It might go something like this.
Chairman: "Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to argue! Senator, you have the floor. Ask your first question."
Senator: “Sir, is it true that you say you ghostwrote for Ernest Hemingway and that you say you should have been given a Pulitzer Prize for your writings?”
Answer: “Well, that is not exactly the truth, I actually said when I was a child I once met Mr. Hemingway in his home in Ketchum, Idaho."
Chairman: "Sir or madam, you may ask your question of the committee member now."
The witness or the appointee would then smile. "Well, my question is, did you or your campaign, Senator, receive a donation of $6 trillion from the law firm of Dewey, Stickam, and Howe for a positive vote on the legislation that provided for that firm the executorship over the
Congressional Slush Fund for disgraced and accused senators who have various indiscretions?"
Senator: "Where would I have gotten $6 trillion to give anyone?"
Chairman: "Thank you for your question Senator, but you must answer the question." "Mr./Mrs. appointee or witness, you may ask your second question."
Senator: "Wait, that wasn't my question. That was an answer.'
Chairman: " Oh, I beg your pardon Senator, yes that was a question. There was no answer."
Senator: "Wait, a point of order sir."
Chairman: "Careful Senator, you may be about to be down two questions if you ask another one. This could get ugly for you. Are you certain you want to ask another question? You have not answered the first one yet."
Senator: "I don't think like the way this going."
Chairman: "Is that your answer, Senator?"
At this point, the senator contemplates getting up and leaving the committee room because he sees the direction in which this whole exercise is headed. He doesn't think he can win in this scenario. The fight or flight instinct takes hold and he quietly gets up and leaves the room.
I hope you see the satire in this. We are asking good men and women to endure a horrible experience for the political and narcissistic gratification of our elected officials. The process could be clean and neat. It is, however, necessary to make certain appointees are qualified for their jobs, are not convicted criminals, are citizens of the United States, and that they are decent human beings. At this point I have to say, not everything should be "transparent." While I completely agree with transparency in government, I think not all things are supposed to be transparent. Lives are supposed to be private and even our senators should show a modicum of compassion when dealing with people even if they are being appointed by members of one or the other party.
My final thoughts on this. Civility is a lost trait. Let's search for it, find it and use it to recreate our form of government into one which works for all of our citizens.
The tranquility was interrupted only by nature's whispers. Deer delicately nibbled on the sparse winter grasses, moving gracefully between the shadows. Squirrels busily darted up and down the few oak trees scattered in the pine forest, searching for the last remnants of autumn's bounty, while winter birds chirped and called from their perches. Above, a pair of hawks called out to each other, their cries echoing through the crisp air as they soared gracefully overhead searching for their next meal. (illustrations created in Microsoft Copilot) 
