Remember The Lost
Shopping
The heaviest of the shopping season is over. It’s just not the same as it used to be, shopping. I can’t speak for this year, but last year and the year before, online shopping increased so much during the holiday season that UPS, USPS and Amazon rented every 26 foot lift gate truck they could find from UHaul, Budget and Penske starting in October and ending the February. Independent contractors had nothing to drive in that period and woe to the normal Joe who had to move his family, especially military families.
I’m partially to blame. I don’t do much shopping apart from grocery shopping, but when I get a gift card, I go online. I couldn’t tell you which stores carry things I might buy, but I can find them online! Grocery shopping has changed too—just shop online! Have someone else get your stuff and go to the store and pick it up— shoot, just have it delivered! It’s nice in a pinch, but this has become a way of life for some people. I’m some parts of the world, you can only buy meat on Tuesday—and it’s still standing.
Nearly every night someone asks me which nearby restaurants deliver. Except for pizza, none of them. But with Doordash and Uber Eats, everyone delivers! A coffee or soda for delivery from the restaurant next door? For crying out loud!
Work from home and shop online. What next?
Popular posts from this blog
The Smooth-flowing Life
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel
A Reflection in Plato’s “Republic” Book 2
Early in Book 2 of Plato’s “Republic,” the discussion turns into the story of a man named Gyges who finds a ring that makes him invisible. Using the powers of the ring, he reports to the court of his king, seduces the queen “and with her help conspired against the king and slew him, and took the kingdom.” What would happen if there were two rings, one worn by an unjust man and the other by a just man? The story attempts to make the case that a just man will act unjustly if given the opportunity to think he is doing right, if only by himself. But what if he doesn’t? What if there was no ring, and what if there was a perfectly unjust man and a perfectly just man and both had everything they needed in life? The unjust man must cover his steps in order to be distinguished and succeed. In the eyes of others, he appears to be just. But what about the just man, who appears to be unjust? “They will tell you that the just man who is thought unjust will be scourged, racked, bound-will have hi
Three New Additions To My Desk
Actually, it’s an ad-duck-tion. I missed the perfect opportunity to say, “and they’re in a row, too!” Silly goose.