U Turn Signal Revolución

Every car in America should have the U-turn blinker, just like we have a right and left turn blinker.

Think about it, How many times are we behind a car that we think is turning left but is actually doing a U-turn.  We are forced to slam on our brakes as they slow down in order to make the U-turn.  And how about oncoming traffic?  Wouldn't we like to know whether a car is turning left or just doing a "You-ee"?

This is probably not a new idea.  In fact you can read all about the patent holder right here!

I'm begging car manufacturers to install this on all vehicles.  That or make it mandatory for drivers to do hand signals indicating a U-turn.  I'm thinking something along the lines of a giant foam finger in the shape of a U.  Perfect!

Shopping Carts

Ok, so I know we all use shopping carts or Buggies as they call them here in the South (that's reason enough for a whole other post).  And we've all seen or maybe even participated in the greatest tragedy of supermarket parking lots...stranded carts.  Thrown aside like they were never loved, nor deserve another home.  People use them and abuse them like an unloved child.  They sit for days just wishing someone would pick them.  Sure it may have a squeaky wheel but that doesn't mean it won't work hard to carry your heavy groceries!

It really grinds my gears when I see people blatantly leave shopping carts by their car, not allowing other people to park there, or on sidewalks.  Is it really that hard to walk 20 feet and put the carts away where they belong?

People may say, "but they have employees where that's their job to get those."  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Sure the cart guys/gals end up picking up customers "trash" because otherwise the parking lot would be filthy with lonely stranded carts, but this isn't their job.  They are to retreive the carts from the lot Return area and return those to the store.  Trust me when I say this is a tiring and thankless job.  The last thing these hard workers need is mindless people who are too lazy to return a simple cart.  When we eat at restaurants we don't throw our trash on the ground because we know someone will pick it up do we?  No, we throw it away in the trash where it belongs.

Will you stand up with me to always return carts?

The Buckle Challenge

Growing up in Nebraska, I find that Nebraskans take a lot of pride in things that are distinctly Nebraska.  But there's one thing that has become the ugly step child of Nebraska...The Buckle.

The national clothing chain started up in Kearney, NE and the headquarters still reside there.  Unfortunately a large number of teenagers in NE wear Buckle clothes religiously.  But that's besides the point.

You may or may not have heard of The Buckle Challenge.  It's a game that I was introduced to in my teen years.  Since The Buckle has an incredible customer service standard, the goal of the game is to walk through the store, touch the back wall, and walk out without any clothing salesman talking to you.

I've played this several times over the years and have beat the challenge, but believe me, it's no easy task.  In fact, it's near impossible.

The point of this blog is to talk about the overbearing and ridiculously invasive customer service the Buckle has installed.  I was in The Buckle not to long ago to take advantage of a gift card I had, to buy some new pants.  Upon walking in the store I had two employees approach me and asked me several times what I was looking for.  I said nothing and they left me alone...or so I thought.  Within two minutes a guy sneak attacked me from behind and whispered to me "Yo man, whatcha lookin to buy today?"  I wasn't down with this bro all up in my business so after 5 minutes of failing to explain that I was just browsing, I said jeans and walked away towards Emily.

Emily and I found a pair of pants for me to try on and I was headed to the changing room where the bro intersected me and gave me 5 pairs of "Mikey Bo" pants.  I kindly took them and pretended to be interested.

After trying on a pair of pants and stepping outside to show Emily the door creaked so LOUD that the bro raced around the corner to check out my new duds.  He was shocked I wasn't wearing one of his pairs.  After about the third pair of pants, and him racing around the corner, I had had enough.

I looked at Emily and our eyes both said to get the heck out of this place.  I did end up getting the pants but I will take every opportunity to avoid The Buckle at any cost.  No matter where in the country, every Buckle I've been to has been this annoying.

I don't mind having good customer service.  I've been on the opposite end of bad customer service.  But if you take a good thing too far it turns dangerous and creepy.  The Buckle needs to learn that an aggressive Mikey Bo is not a good Mikey Bo.

Popcorn Chicken

Can someone please tell me the logic behind this commercial?

They make fun of other restaurants for having chicken nuggets because there's no part of a chicken called a nugget.  But then they follow that up with saying they have popcorn chicken instead.  Riiiiiiight.  Because chickens obviously have popcorn.

Score 1 for KFC geniuses.

Can't you see the warning signs?!

So I'm riding in the car with my co-workers on our way to our new office and I see a nearby sidewalk with several caution barriers.  I think to myself, "Well maybe they're doing heavy construction for a new sidewalk." or, "Maybe they're putting up one of those stupid handrails."

But no.

There is one square of sidewalk that is being worked on.  I guess that requires at LEAST 7 barriers surrounding every inch of the square of sidewalk.  That may even seem ridiculous for a piece of sidewalk in NYC, but I doubt more than 1 person would use this sidewalk in a given month.  It's that out of the way.

I love Tallahassee more and more every day.

You're all up in my space yo!

My wife and I have lived in Tallahassee for almost two years now.  It's been fine for the most part.  Sure it's not a city we would choose to live in, but hey, it's an OK city.  EXCEPT, the way people drive.

Both of us have done a great deal of traveling through our years and we both agree that drivers in Tallahassee are some of the worst.  No, there's not really much traffic.  No, there isn't many crazy fast drivers.  People seem to forget how to use their turn signal.  The majority of time people turn, they don't use their blinker.  It blows my mind.

The lack of turn signal is irritating, but there is something far worse in my mind.

While I'm driving I usually am in a lane with a car right next to me.  Whenever a car turns (usually a left turn) they feel the need to make a wide turn resulting in them getting into the next lane before making the turn.  This freaks me out every time someone does it, especially on one way streets where the lanes are smaller.  There's no need to make a wide turn!  So why scare the hell out of other drivers by getting in their lane so that you can make an easy turn?

Here's a diagram of what I'm talking about. (Excuse the crappiness of these illustrations)

I'm in the yellow car, while a hummer is next to me.

Everything is hunky dorey.

 The hummer begins to turn, avoiding my lane all together.

And Voila! Everything is fine.

But here is what happens in Tallahassee.  We start out normal.

But when the other car starts to turn he inches closer into my lane. 

 I swerve to avoid him.

And there you have it.  Unnecessary reckless driving.

What I've learned from living here is that I can't trust other drivers as much as I used to.  Thanks Tallahassee.

Useless Handrails

All across the city of Tallahassee, FL there are new sidewalks being built.  Most of this construction is being done on a major parkway near my home.  Which is great!  But along with the new sidewalks come handrails.  Maybe it's just me but I usually see handrails for stairs, corners, businesses, or in parks.  But this is my first time seeing them by normal sidewalks.  Not only do they not have any noticeable use (next to high fall offs, handicap access, bus stops etc.)  but they are small in size (about 5 feet) and randomly placed along the sidewalk.  Who thinks of these things?

After driving several miles and trying to figure out the need for these random handrails I noticed how they are placed wherever there is a drain that goes to the sewer.  I guess that means a lot of people might take note of them and decide todays the day they finally can take an afternoon dip in the gutter.  Without the balance of handrails it was merely a dream before.

Let's stop building these handrails and start putting money into sidewalks in neighborhoods that don't even have them (like mine.)