Articles of Observation

No, I'm not Jerry Seinfeld, and I'm learning that there are things in this world that "shouldn't be according to Alan." But sometimes I enjoy simply observing things and commenting on them. So that is what The Articles of Observation will be about.

Today, I rejoined the gym I used to go to before I moved out of my hometown in 2005. The gym is World Gym. And even though the membership fee is high, it has to be one of the best gyms around. For the price you get a TV at every cardio station, towel service, clean showers with soap and shampoo, clean bathrooms with hair dryers, Q-Tips, and Mouthwash, Sauna Service, etc.. worth every penny. Anyway, today in the gym some guy was worried that stuff was stolen out of his locker while he was working out. He also said that someone has been stealing things out of lockers lately, and they just caught the person who was doing it. Now here's the thing, the people who got stuff stolen out of their lockers did not use a lock on their lockers!!!!!! You spend so much money on a gym membership.. is it so hard to spend $5 more on a combination lock to protect your things? Or is this something the government should now regulate?

Which brings me to my next observation. I read an article today that said credit card companies may begin to charge 30% interest on late credit card payments. However, people feel that this percentage is much too high and the government should regulate it. One person in the article said "If I'm one day late, why should I be penalized 30%?" How about because you're late with your credit card payment? Is it so hard to pay the bill one day early rather than one day late? The due date is listed right on the bill! Or how about not charging on your credit card and saving yourself some money. People just don't take responsibility for themselves and they want the government to take care of everything. That's the problem with this country!!!

Speaking of responsibility, when I was in high school, all of us who took the school bus to school had to all meet at 1 corner where the bus picked us all up. Lately, I've noticed that instead of the kids meeting all at one corner, the bus stops and picks the kids up at each corner! Are kids that lazy now that they can't all walk a few feet, or maybe a 1/2 mile, to catch the school bus? Unbelievable.

More idiocy... traffic lights. Usually, unless the traffic light is a signal for a left turn, the green light isn't an arrow, rather it is a full "ball." Well, I've noticed that traffic lights are getting much more specific, and when the light turns green, it actually points in the direction you should be driving in: straight, left, or right. So people who are actually getting drivers licenses these days can't figure out which way to drive.. they need the light to tell them which way to go. We're getting stupider by the day.

Today is the day that David Letterman and Jay Leno come back from their "hiatus" due to the Writers' Strike. This has been covered so much in the news that you'd think scientists found a cure for cancer or AIDS. I used to love television. All my life I wanted to work in television. But lately, I'm finding myself thinking with stories like this "who cares?" Does it really matter? Is this news? And despite the really bad quality of television programming today, part of me still wants to work in television. I did at one time.. my first job was at MSNBC, and I loved every minute of it. But since I left MSNBC, I haven't been able to get back into television. I'm skilled and talented and I know how to produce a television show. But in television, as with any career really, despite my skills and all I know, no one ever gave me the big break I needed. If you look at all the producers and television talent who are successful today, they always credit someone for their "big break." Yet they don't give a break to anyone else who really deserves one. I know a lot of people in television.. some I've known for many many years. And many, if not all of them, got their big break from someone who gave them a chance. And even though I know all those people, I never got the chance from any of them. However, I am proud that everything I have done I accomplished on my own, and that means more than any career in television could.