An Open Letter to Short People

Dear Short People,(For the sake of this post that's all people under 5'10)

I fly in planes on a regular basis for work and I've noticed that the seats aren't very big and there isn't a lot of leg room.  I point this out just in case it's escaped you, as you all seem to like to cram your seats as far into my lap as humanly possible.  Tall people don't do this as they understand the discomfort they would be providing their fellow passengers.  You may say to me that if it's that much of a problem sit in first class, or buy the seat in front of you.  This is similar to what has been asked of larger people asking them to buy two seats next to each other.  I'm not saying that you don't have the right to recline your seat, but seeing that your feet barely touch the ground as it is(slight exaggeration, and I'm sorry) I would appreciate if you would try to be sensitive to the person behind you who can't move his legs when you are reclined.

Sincerely,

Rich Goldberg

Customer Service-A little goes a long way

I was in New York recently on business and I was getting ready to go home when my Southwest Airlines plane got delayed at LaGuardia Airport.  That in itself isn't extraordinary as every flight I take out of NY gets delayed.  What made this different was the length of the delay and how the gentleman at the gate handled it.  We were waiting on a plane from Baltmore where they were experiencing bad weather, and when I questioned the man at my gate about knowing if and when the plane was ever going to come because I didn't want to get stuck in NY and I figured they had weather people who should be able to determine if a plane could fly, he made it clear he had nothing to do with the plane coming.  As a representative of a business, passing the buck is not what a customer wants to hear and second, I wasn't blaming "him", I was speaking to him as representative of the airline.  His being more concerned about being blamed than solving my problem made a bad experience worse.  Southwest, I fly you all of the time and I know you're better than that.

When did I become Weird?

I was at work today and the subject of cloth diapering came up.  I'm not sure why it came up either, but it did and I chimed in that my wife and I have cloth diapered all three of our kids.  The two women couldn't believe it and asked me all sorts of questions like this was the weirdest thing they had ever heard.  This discussion made think back 14 years, as before I started dating my wife I would've thought this was weird  too.

I thought about the first time my wife had me taste an apple that wasn't a red delicious.  Before then, I never thought of eating another variety of apple as the ones I ate were always red and delicious, but I tried a Gala and have never looked back.  She was also the person who showed there was lettuce that people eat that isn't iceberg.  I give you very simple, innocuous examples, but my wife has opened up my mind to an alternative way of thinking about oh so many subjects that the person I am today is almost completely different than the person I was just a decade ago.  We will talk about some of these views as the weeks go on.

My wife has made me a more complete and well rounded person that finds himself more open to divergent viewpoints and different ways of thinking.   I guess I just want to say thank you to her for helping me grow and become as weird as she is.

A spoiled Man's IPhone Dilemma

As many of you know the IPhone went on pre-sale yesterday.  I've been getting excited about it for months.  I plan my life around yearly major events.  February is the Super Bowl, March is the Final Four and June is the release of a new IPhone.  When Steve Jobs announced the new features of his super phone I started counting down the days until I could get my hands around the greatest phone ever invented......at least until next June.  As an aside, this is another reason why you want to get the phone early.  There is only limited time until your phone is looked at as obsolete in the tech world.  I'm not looking to keep up with the Jones's, I just want to keep up with the Pogues and the Mossbergs. 

The night before the presale I let my wife in on my IPhone plans and she asked where I was getting the money for the phone.  I told her I planned on using the money I get paid every two weeks for going to work.  Not surprisingly, that didn't go over well as I was reminded of the other things we had already committed money to, such as a vacation, bikes for the kids, and food.  Initially, I felt quite badly for myself as I would be stuck even longer with an IPhone 3G.  It was two years old!  The Humanity!!  I then started to feel badly because I couldn't believe my biggest problem was not being able to buy the latest, greatest apple invention the day it came out and I was letting it ruin my day.  I came home tonight and hugged my family.  They never become obsolete.

I'm Baaaack

I can't believe it's been four years since I've posted here, but like the switching of Darren on Bewitched and the Viv's on Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I'm not going to comment on it and move on.