Every so often, our local Grocery Outlet has Mickey Mouse Ice Cream sandwiches at amazing prices, especially when compared with the ice cream sandwiches sold in the parks. The Grocery Outlet sandwiches seem smaller than the ones in the park, but that could be an illusion of memory. While the sandwiches were always my favorite, my Grahms loved the Mickey Mouse ice cream bars. She liked how hard frozen they were, and she would get at least one every trip. When the email ad from Grocery Outlet landed in my box touting the sale of Mickey Mouse ice cream bars, I knew I had to get them.
I found the ice cream bars in the frozen section with the other ice cream, which makes sense. However, I hesitated. They were a low price, but could I really afford them? How many could I afford? Wouldn’t I be better off purchasing something of real nutritional value? I looked at the packaging: one set was orange and celebrated the Mickey Mouse Club; the other was blue and celebrated Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary. I looked closer, and holding the package, it didn’t seem like they were Mickey Mouse shaped. I decided to take a trip around the store. Maybe I didn’t really need them, after all.
I got to the end of the frozen food aisle and knew I would get the ice cream. Maybe they weren’t Mickey Mouse shaped, but I could still enjoy the ice cream and the packaging. Now, I had to decide how many I could afford. I decided to see what else was available in the store. After picking up a box of Pop Tarts, I couldn’t stand the thought of someone else buying the ice cream bars, so I returned to the frozen food aisle.
I bought them all. I no longer cared about the shape or the cost. I was going to enjoy them and the memories they invoked. Twenty-one Mickey Mouse ice cream bars went into my freezer at home.
I waited 16 hours before I opened my first ice cream bar. IT WAS MICKEY MOUSE SHAPED! Grahms would be happy. I know I was, and as of writing this, still am.
Netflix’ “Damsel,” starring “Stranger Things’” Millie Bobby Brown as Elodie, is about a stereotypical, at least as far as modern fantasy is concerned, princess who faces off against a dragon. “Damsel” also features Robin Wright of “Princess Bride” fame, subverting her Buttercup role, playing the queen of a nation that the dragon threatens. The story is enjoyable, and the next spoiler-filled paragraphs (if this one has possibly avoided spoilers) are not meant to diminish the mild pleasure the viewer may get from watching Millie Bobby Brown dress up, fight a dragon, and do other things the script required. Instead, they are meant to explore storytelling using two questionable choices the film made. (If you are worried about spoilers, don’t watch the trailer. I’m glad I didn’t see it before I watched the film.)
Accepted Modern Fantasy Story Trope
The princess knows how to use a sword. The whole point of the film lies in its name. “Damsel” is often the word used to denote a young woman, usually helpless. The word is often used with “in distress,” and the woman waits for her prince to rescue her. Over the course of the last 30 or 40 years, Hollywood has subverted this trope. In Disney’s “Hercules,” Meg says, “I’m a Damsel. I’m in distress. I can handle this. Have a nice day,” as she dismisses Hercules. In “Damsel,” Elodie is a damsel in distress, but she’s going to handle it because she has to. The sword use is never set up, but the audience is fine with accepting she knows how to use it.
This contrasts with horse riding. Elodi and her little sister are seen riding horses at the opening of the movie. Later, when the Elodie suggests that she and the prince she is supposed to marry go for a ride, he is taken aback. “Do you know how to ride a horse?” Why was it necessary for the story to point out she can ride a horse? I don’t know. The audience would’ve likely accepted that she could as well as they accept she knows how to use a sword. It’s fantasy. People, especially nobles, know how to ride horses.
Damsel’s Amazing Flaw
The first flaw is really just a dead end. It’s not a tragic flaw. It doesn’t impede the viewer’s joy in the story. It just doesn’t go anywhere in spite of the prominence the movie gives it. Elodie draws labyrinths. In a fantasy setting, books and paper are often difficult to come by. She’s a noble, so her family can sort of afford them. Still, to use a book to draw a labyrinth is a pretty bold statement. It lends importance to her skill, which should lead to some sort of payoff later in the story. If it were only shown once, we could forget about it. However, it comes back when she meets the prince, and he shows her the letter she wrote to him. He asks about the labyrinth she drew on top of an anatomically correct heart. She never uses the skill again. Some may claim that it helps her in the “labyrinth” of the caves, but she never uses her drawing ability there. And the caves aren’t labyrinthine.
Damsel’s Visionary Flaw
The second flaw in the storytelling of “Damsel” is a little more problematic. When Elodie finds a map and the names of princesses who went before her on the cave walls, she has a vision of those princesses doing things. In a fantasy setting, they could be real visions. Maybe she is using some sort of magic to see the past. It’s enough to throw off the audience. She never showed magic powers before; why does she have them now? The other possibility is that we are seeing what she is imagining. However, what she imagines may or may not be the truth. She has more visions later, and they absolutely affect the outcome of the movie. Still, because they are never explained as magic, the audience is left assuming that Elodie’s imagination provides the correct and true version of the past and not the product of some over-active imagination. However, in storytelling, first person perspective can be used to mislead the audience. The viewer can never be sure that the person, whose point of view the story is told from, is telling the truth or even knows what the truth is. Had the movie set up her imagination or her visions in a way that was reflected in the cave, it would have been easier to understand and more productive than the dead end of her labyrinths.
Some Gen Z nitwit complained about how Gen X was being left out of the generational wars. Another asked why Gen X gets a pass, and then Pinkie Pie (not their real name; choosing their because it seems like the safest pronoun to go with) stated Gen X is the worst generation. By this time, I got my popcorn out because the Gen X I grew up in wouldn’t let this stand. We were sitting around, minding our own business, and these little dweebs call us out – Nuh-uh (Nah, bro – for those who don’t understand Gen X). However, instead of video after video of devastating personal attacks based on everything from personal appearance to speech patterns to lineage, I got a lot of Gen Xers explaining why it was a bad idea to poke the bear.
Don’t Poke the Bear
The reasons were peripherally related to Gen X skills or abilities. Our parents were never around. We rode our bikes everywhere. Our parents locked us outdoors. We drank from the garden hose. We rode Big Wheels. One or two Gen Xers mentioned that when we wanted to insult someone, we did it to their face and our problems were sorted out on the playground where lawyers and cops were never present, even after the altercation. Of course, this started to change in the mid-80s, but even in 1987, we were told that if two kids were fighting and the kid that the teachers liked the best was winning, they wouldn’t be so quick to respond. Still, the one thing that was missing and was essential to our Gen X childhoods was brought up by an early Millennial.
Getting Moded, or Insulting Friends Is Fun
The person that best summed up why leaving Gen X alone was a good idea was laurahigh5, a comedian. “We do not summon the latchkey kids unless it is our literal only last resort because we know we will have to pay a price and that price is our feelings.” In another video, she says she learned so much about Gen X from her siblings and later as a comedian. She and the Gen Z comedians would be roasting each other when a Gen X comedian would show up and send everyone away crying (happy tears because they didn’t want to show they had their feelings hurt). And this is what I remember from my childhood. In my neck of the woods, someone who was destroyed by an insult was “moded.” (The same as “burned.”)
We insulted each other for fun. The person that could deal the best insults ruled the playground. It didn’t matter how big or small you were. If you could hurt someone else’s feelings without using foul language, you were respected. We sharpened our biting wit against one another, and some few of us took that wit and used it against our elders.
Before the older generation starts crying about being disrespected, it’s important to note that we grew up believing respect was earned, not given out like participation ribbons are now. Age didn’t automatically grant you respect because we knew older people were just people, and many of them weren’t worthy of respect.
Where Are the Insults?
The Gen X videos I’ve seen responding to the call for Gen X to rise up are seriously lacking in the insults that would make the other generations cry. Instead, they are filled with warnings, nostalgia, and Gen Xers generally poking fun at themselves and their age. These are musical celebrations full of hair or mentions of hair in the case of John Kotrides, memories, and a little wisdom, or something that is disguised as wisdom by the old-timey voice of DadBod Veteran. Maybe, that’s the way it should be.
Gen X and Your Feelings
It’s possible that there are places where Gen X has resorted to its feral nature and commented so hard that some other Gen Z or later, or Baby Boomer has cried. However, there are several other reasons that Gen X may not be out there raining down the chaos that would come from a few, simply applied insults:
Gen X doesn’t have anything to prove anymore. We’ve already taken on the best. We know where we stand.
Gen X is out of practice. Insulting people in the workplace has become less acceptable than ever, and we don’t have anyplace else to practice our craft.
Gen X is tired. Several videos mention age and the related fatigue that comes with it. They also talk about supporting the boomers, Millennials and Gen Z financially, which is exhausting considering how many jobs Gen X must work to bring in that much money.
Slim Sherri specifically mentions that she doesn’t talk bad about other generations because that’s not her thing. That gives me hope because maybe… just maybe… we learned something out on the playground, or with Mr. Rogers, or someplace else. Maybe, we learned that hurting people’s feelings isn’t the way toward a better world.
Of course, it may be that when we were young and came face-to-face, we were insulting people we knew and loved. We cared about the people that we spent time with and used our words to bring down. We were making each other stronger to withstand what was coming in our adult lives. We knew that at some point we would have to rely on ourselves because life was so fragmentary.
Friends moved. Friends died. Parents were already telling us they wouldn’t be around forever, and they divorced. Companies fired people six months before they became vested in the retirement program; then did away with retirement altogether. We could get at the very heart of what hurt our best friend and help build that scar tissue, rubbing metaphorical dirt on the emotional wounds. We were kids, so we didn’t always get it right. Some of us were traumatized by the relentless teasing, especially when it could be laser-focused. So, when we come together on the Internet, we don’t tap into our dark side to rip someone because to do so would mean that we actually cared about that person. And the biggest tag we try to live up to is that we don’t care – about you, your feelings, or anything else. We just want to be left alone to live a life that best defines who we are as individuals and families not as a generation.
The following is the full text of the Declaration of Independence. I have placed the source link at the bottom of the page. The text is about 1300 words. I have changed the formatting of the list of crimes King George committed that led to the colonies declaring their independence. It is now in bullet points to make it more readable.
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Beat the social media algorithm Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
To paraphrase Gandhi, “Be the Feed You Want to See in the World.” One of the things that I dislike about recipes and “help” articles on the Internet is that they require you to wade through a bunch of extraneous stuff to get to the information you want. There’s always a story, complete with large photos, that requires you to scroll for five minutes before you ever get to the solution. That’s why I paraphrased Gandhi and put the easiest solution to beat social media algorithms first. Now, if you know how to do that, you don’t have to read any further. However, it would be nice if you did continue because that’s how the algorithm works. The longer you stay on this page and the more you click on the links on my website, the higher the ranking my page and website will achieve.
Computer Algorithms
Algorithms have no decision-making capabilities. It is important to know this because it means that the algorithm can’t decide if you want to see content. It can only compute the amount of time you spend interacting with a topic and, based on its program, the type of interaction you focus on. Algorithms will also look at the key words you are using. Whatever you interact with, no matter the type of interaction, is what you will see. If posts that make you angry cause you to react on social media, those are the posts you are going to see. Algorithms may also look at what your friends and who you are following are interacting with, which means you can’t control everything you see on your feed because some of your (social media) friends are likely going to interact with stuff you don’t like.
Your Posts
The easiest things to control in your feed are your own posts. Post the type of content you want to see. If you’re posting your political views, chances are you’re not only going to the views that align with yours, but you’re also going to see the views that are directly in conflict with yours. Anger is a powerful motivator, and if Trump or Biden get you to like, comment, block, stop scrolling, repost, subscribe or other interaction, you’re going to get more of them on your feed – both good and bad (from your point of view).
If you’re reposting something, make sure it’s something you want to see more of. Keep your personal feed free of the stuff you dislike, that makes you angry, or that could incite others, and you’ll be on your way to a happier, more engaging feed.
Seek Out Friends
You’ve seen the post:
Facebook is blocking me from seeing my friends posts and showing me ads instead. Like and comment on this post, so I can see more from my friends.
Your friends interacting with your post will allow them to see more of what you are posting. You need to interact with your friends’ posts. Social media’s first priority is to keep you on the page. Interacting with your friends with a long comment that sparks a conversation will compute to the algorithm and cause it to show you more of that type of content. If you want to see more posts from your friends, it’s up to you to make that contact, like, long comment, and share (repost) their posts.
Post What’s Verifiable and True
A lot of people will post or repost something that they want to be true. Cough CPR doesn’t work, but the post makes its rounds because “if I’m alone and having a heart attack, I’m going to do what it takes even if it doesn’t work.” Flat earthers abound; conspiracy theorists, like scum, rise to the top. Some people just want to believe the lie: If you repost this the lucky penny, the four-leaf clover, screaming goat, Jesus will grant your wish. It’s the modern version of a chain letter. No matter how much you want it to be true, do not post it until you have verified it as a fact. If your opinion is not true, it is a lie.
That doesn’t mean you can’t post your opinion. (And obviously, you can post whatever you want because freedumb.) However, “aliens built the pyramids” isn’t an opinion; it’s a conspiracy theory. “This cupcake tastes amazing” is an opinion. “Who is the worst president ever” is an opinion-based question. An opinion is something that ascribes value to a subjective experience. Facts are not objective. The best way to look at it is if you don’t want to see the opposite of what you are posting, then don’t post it. For example, if you really dislike people who think that chocolate is the best flavor when you think vanilla is, don’t post your opinion on vanilla.
It’s important to remember that posting your opinion, even when based on facts, will not change anyone’s mind on social media. You won’t have the perfect comeback, the perfect link, or the perfect rapport with someone to help them see the truth or the light. Responding to a post where you have the undeniable truth on your side – i.e., the Earth is round – will only cause your feed to become inundated with people who disagree with you and no amount of evidence will convince them otherwise.
The Chaos Bullies
This is probably too cool a name for those people that enjoy poking the bear. There is a significant portion of the population that gets their jollies from poking the bear. They don’t care if what they post is true. They don’t care that their comments hurt you or the people you love. Their only pleasure in life is making others angry. If they can get a rise out of you, they will feel better about themselves. They will have gotten the attention they crave, and they will have learned how to control you. Their like toddlers who learn to control mommy and daddy by making a scene in public, throwing a tantrum in the market, shouting out “you’re not my parent” and asserting that they will call the police and claim abuse.
The best way to deal with bullies is to ignore them. By not interacting with them, you take away their power. If a bully is persistent, you can and should block them. Just remember that the algorithm is going to pick that up and file it away as an interaction. You may have to block quite a few people and bots depending on the comment. If the bully is not a social media friend, you can change your settings to post only to friends, and avoid the possibility of unwanted attention. (I posted about a person’s car being stolen, found and impounded. It was going to cost $500 to get the car out of impound. I had 60 almost identical comments about how to use an Instagram tracker to get the car back. All of the comments referred to one of two Instagram pages. I tried blocking them, but they just kept coming. I switched the post to Facebook friends, and that cleared up the problem.)
Facebook Manipulates Feelings
In 2012, Facebook manipulated the feelings of over 700,000 users subjected to the social media platform’s science experiment. They found that those who saw more positive and uplifting posts posted more uplifting words by the end of a week. Those who saw sad posts posted sadder updates by the end of the week. We know that Facebook has done at least one experiment to control people’s feelings. We don’t know what they have done with that information.
Follow the Right People
John Schneider was posting a series of amazing, heartfelt tributes to his wife who died a year ago. He talked about compassion, lifting others up, and explained how we’re all fellow travelers. These were amazing sentiments about coming together in hard times. My heart went out to him, and I was uplifted by his ability to express his emotions. It was nice to have a childhood icon explain some of the very things I was feeling and could relate to.
Schneider is also a die-hard Trump supporter. Once his year of grief was over, he posted more of his alt-right rhetoric, disrespected the president, and shouted pain from his social media platform. How could he reconcile the two positions? More importantly, for me at least, is how could I reconcile the two positions – one of uniting and one of dividing? The last post I saw from him was one where a woman complained about his political stance. Rather than engage in a dialogue, where neither would be convinced by the other’s position, but where maybe they could come to an understanding, Schneider and company just kicked her out. Good riddance. Schneider doesn’t have to be nice to people. He doesn’t have to be consistent in his beliefs, and I don’t have to follow him. I don’t want to see political posts against the American judicial or political system. I don’t want to hear from people who only believe in democracy as long as it conforms to their vote and opinions. That’s my personal thing. If you love Trump, and seeing political posts makes you happy, follow John Schneider.
If you don’t want those kinds of things in your feed, do not follow people who are posting politics. If you do follow people posting about subjects you don’t want in your feed, you will engage and your feed will be inundated by those things you don’t want.
Your Friends’ Feeds
From time to time, maybe more often than you want, one of your friends is going to post something you don’t want to see in your feed. Social media will share these posts with you because you have interacted with your friends. Ignore the posts you don’t like. Don’t comment on the post, don’t angry emoticon the post. Ignore it, especially if it’s something they copied and pasted or it’s from another page. If it’s especially bothersome, block the page (not necessarily your friend). Just remember blocking is a form of interaction.
Beat the Social Media Algorithm
If you’ve made it this far, thank you. It won’t be easy to beat the social media algorithm and save your feed, but it will be worth it. By engaging more with your friends’ original posts that you truly enjoy and only posting what you would like to see more of, you will be able to find your happy place again. Avoid the angry emoticon, interact with what and whom you love, be healthier mentally. (And if you want more of this type of content like, share, follow, comment, subscribe and interact.)
Truckers boycotting New York City doesn’t target the judicial system in New York, and it doesn’t directly affect the politicians. Instead, the boycott targets New Yorkers. New Yorkers are the quintessential “F—k around and find out” people. You want to bring that type of energy to the table against New Yorkers? Fuhgeddaboutit. In their response to every threat, New Yorkers have shown themselves to be some of the toughest SOBs in the world. More importantly, September 11 showed how New Yorkers come together in the face of tragedy and hard times. They don’t have to fight to win; they can love in solidarity. In fact, that may be the city’s and its citizen’s greatest strength.
Supply Lines and COVID
During the COVID-19 lock-downs and their after effects, Americans learned more about supply lines than they ever wanted to know. While some businesses have already forgotten those lessons by returning to Just-in-Time inventory management, you can be sure New York has not. The lessons that the city and state learned during the pandemic will be put to use if a trucker boycott were to disrupt the supply chain. New York already has some powerful tools in its arsenal to combat a lack of distributive power.
The National Guard
One solution the governor may decide to use is the National Guard. The military organization can be called out in times of emergencies, and it has a lot of people who can drive large vehicles. The Guard can be sent to where the loads are left, pick them up, and bring them into the city. If the stores getting the shipments pay the same amount to the National Guard that they would pay to the ordinary delivery company, it may not even cost the state of New York much to put this plan into action.
Port of New York and New Jersey
New York, in partnership with New Jersey, has the largest port for importing oil and the third largest port for importing containers. In this case, boats could bring the needed supplies into the port. Even if there are no big rigs available to pick up those containers, New York has possible solutions. The port is already connected to a railway system. Load those trains up, boys.
If times got desperate, they could employ drivers in box trucks or even go with an UberEats-style delivery and pick up. It wouldn’t be efficient, but it would open jobs to more people. You don’t need a CDL to drive a box truck. Again, businesses receiving the deliveries could pay the drivers of the vehicles rather than their regular shipping companies.
Long Term Effects
Necessity is the mother of invention. If the boycott were to drag on, New Yorkers would innovate new ways and reinvent old ways of getting goods to where they need to be. This is the city that built the tallest building in the world at a time when it was dangerous to do so. New Yorkers know how to get creative. Railways may become more prevalent. Drones might become more proficient. Robots and artificial intelligence will be advanced into doing the heavy lifting and delivery. No one can predict the actual way New Yorkers will fill in the gaps. However, once New York lights the way, other states will follow. Whatever they do will get passed on to other areas where there is no trucking boycott. The demand for trucking services will decline, possibly on a worldwide scale.
Boycotting Vs. Striking
The average salary for driving a semi is about $120,000 a year. When a trucker, or a group of truckers boycott some place, they don’t get paid that money. A boycott is not a strike. The Teamsters may support a strike, but unions, typically labelled socialist, don’t generally support boycotts. Truckers would lose their income, which they likely can’t afford to do.
More importantly, trucking companies will simply adjust their schedules. Businesses do not want to lose the revenue that New York City generates for them. If a driver doesn’t want to go to the Big Apple, the trucking company could simply find another driver, one who doesn’t support the Big Orange, and send that trucker and the shipment. It a simple capitalist transaction.
Moreover, a trucking company could threaten workplace sanctions against truckers refusing to deliver loads. This could include fewer runs, resulting in less pay. If one trucking company boycotts New York, another will step in to take its place and the profits from those deliveries. Businesses are geared to short-term profits, and they don’t want to lose any revenue, especially not for political purposes.
A Successful Boycott
In order for the boycott to be successful, truckers would have to take a page from the French. They would need to drive their rigs to the outskirts of New York City and park them on the roads, besieging the city like an ancient army taking on a castle. They would need to cut off the ports and remove the river from the equation. They would then need to find a way to control the skies. Prices would skyrocket, and the people would rise up and demand Trump be allowed to work in the city and not be fined.
Unfortunately, as many protestors on the left find out, blocking a road for any reason is against the law and can result in police action that includes impounding of vehicles, getting hit with batons and/or pepper sprayed, possible use of fire engine water cannons, and being put in jail for an unspecified amount of time.
Other Unintended Consequences
Even if the boycott is likely to be unsuccessful, for numerous reasons mentioned above and also including an actually lack of commitment to the cause, taking big rigs off the road for any length of time would be a win for the environment. It would be an even bigger win if it results in a better way to deliver goods.
When Christ is asked what the greatest commandment is, he offers two:
37 …“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40
All the laws and all the prophets hang on these two commandments. If a Christian can follow these two commandments, they wouldn’t need to worry about anything else, assuming the Christian doesn’t hate themselves, which creates a whole new problem.
Luke also has a similar passage, but in this one, the person who asks the questions seeks clarification about his “neighbor.” Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan:
A man is beaten by thieves and left for dead. He is passed by members of the church, including a priest. However, it is the Samaritan, a person who should’ve had nothing to do with the man, who stops to help the man. The Samaritans hated the Jews and vice versa, and yet, this Samaritan took care of the man’s wounds. He then took the man to an inn, further administered to his injuries, and the next day, he paid the innkeeper to take care of the man while guaranteeing additional money to pay for any expenses that weren’t covered.
In short, the Samaritan took a victim of violence, a person he would’ve otherwise despised, and took care of his health while giving him food and shelter, not just for the moment’s he was with him, but for as long as the innkeeper deemed necessary.
Christ has asked people to take care of their neighbors. He made it the second commandment like unto the first. There is very little separation between the commandments. Even if he ranked one over the other, it sounds like it was a tough call.
Then, he made it clear that our neighbors aren’t just those who we love, or those who are near us geographically. Our neighbors include those we despise. They include those who are hurting. They include those caravans that are coming from the south, who are being unceremoniously shipped under false pretenses by the very same people who call themselves Christian.
Those people have certainly not learned the lessons of the Good Samaritan, and many have not learned the lessons from Christ’s own life. Instead, they use their religion as a bludgeon to hurt others and to remain ensconced in their powerful positions while feeding the emotions of their followers the stones and snakes that a father would not give a son when he asked for bread or fish.
When panel suggestions opened for FanX 2023, I had no idea what I would be doing in September during the convention. I was looking for jobs and hoping to get something that would pay the bills. I figured if I wasn’t employed by the comic convention in Salt Lake City, I could get to the Salt Palace and have a good time. So, I filled out the form and suggested “Disneyland Is Creativity.”
Disneyland Is Creativity
“Disneyland Is Creativity” is the name of the first book I published. It uses the structure and history of Disneyland to illustrate creativity principles. Main Street, U.S.A. is a good example of how Disney made people feel comfortable when coming into the park; you need to feel comfortable if you want to practice creativity, especially in a business setting. Disneyland’s opening day provides plenty of examples of failure and mistakes; in creativity, you’re going to fail and make mistakes because you’re trying something new.
I had done a panel based on my book at Lilac City Comicon, and I have also done the follow-up panel based on the Haunted Mansion at Lilac City Comicon and Ogden UnCon. I was confident I could present a compelling and enjoyable panel for FanX conventioneers and Disney fans.
FanX 2023 Notification and Work
When I got the email to let me know that I had been chosen, I was excited. I was also working at a bookshop and didn’t have days off available. Still, I figured I would figure out the time off at the time that I was able to let people know I was invited to FanX as a panelist. The bookshop was fine with me going; I just wouldn’t get paid.
Then, I got a notice that my rent would be increasing. My bookshop job would no longer pay for my expenses. I was going to have to find something new.
I applied for a hotel job and a bank job. I scheduled interviews for both, and I was offered the job at the hotel. I told him I would have to discuss it with my wife. He said he would get back to me the next day with the exact pay amount they were offering. He didn’t call the next day.
I did the interview for the bank and was offered the job there as well. However, they had some details to work out before they could give me the benefits package. I called the hotel, the person at the front desk refused to take a message. I called a second time, and left a message with a different front desk person. I called a third time, and I had the bank offer in my hands. There was only one more hurdle to jump for the bank before the offer was finalized. I asked for time off to go to FanX. While waiting for the approval, I called the hotel manager one more time. He did not get back to me. The bank did with the approval for unpaid leave, and I accepted the offer.
Flights and Hotels
I had to book flights and hotels for FanX. I booked the cheapest hotel I could find within walking distance. If I was going to drive, I didn’t want to have to deal with my car during the convention. I should have looked at the reviews. By the time my wife looked at the reviews, it was too late to book a hotel with the FanX discount, which is what I should have done in the first place. We found the City Creek Inn and Suites about 1.5 miles away from the Salt Palace. It ended up being good enough – quiet, waffles for breakfast, clean room. It could do with a renovation, but we were just going to be sleeping there.
I booked flights out of Eugene with Southwest Airlines. They were the least expensive that didn’t charge for luggage. That meant I could take my books, computer, and posters to FanX without paying anything additional. The flights went smoothly; we didn’t even need to pay for earlier boarding. (We got the last two seats that were together on the flight back. All the other flights we sat together without having to worry.)
The Worst Buddhist
Geek Buddhas from The Worst Buddhist
I knew Darren Lamb, the Worst Buddhist, was going to FanX. I think he may have been at every convention put on by the group since its inception – 15 shows or 10 years ago. I edit Darren’s books because he writes stories that need to be written and read. If you’re looking for something amazing with some Buddhist leanings, Darren delivers. His fiction works include “The Book of Benjamin,” an exploration of what happens if the answers are literally inside of us, “Rebirth: a Zombie Tale” explores reincarnation during the zombie apocalypse, and “The Pit Bull” brings together a dog and a disparate and desperate group of people who are looking for healing.
I asked if he would allow me to do a book signing at his booth. He was enthusiastic about it. I asked him to pick us up at the airport, and he was enthusiastic about that, too. I scheduled and did the signings at his booth immediately after my panels.
Darren also writes some great non-fiction. If you are looking for a way to practice spirituality, and you can’t find anyone to help you, “Ronin Buddhism” is a great read to set you on your own path. (I have used affiliate links for the books in this post. They take you to Amazon, which provides me a small commission if you purchase something and doesn’t cost you or the author anything additional.)
Walt Disney World Vs. Disneyland Panel
Josh Twelves Facebooked me and said I was scheduled for a panel on Thursday. I looked at my schedule and told him I didn’t know anything about that panel. I knew I was scheduled for Friday, but Thursday was free as far as I could tell.
He clarified that he added me to his panel. I didn’t know Josh, but I have been to both parks. Disneyland is my go-to vacation, and I was a College Program participant at Walt Disney World (which was amazing). After a little back and forth, I agreed to do the panel with Josh, Tracy Mangum, and Jake Dietz. (The latter two do “the Movies that Make Us” podcast.)
It was a fun panel that Josh moderated well. There was plenty of audience participation, but I think the consensus was that Disneyland is better overall. We did have a West Coast bias because it’s super easy to get to the Happiest Place on Earth from Utah. We also had a Walt Disney bias; Disneyland is the only park he walked and lived in. Neither of those two things can be said for Walt Disney World.
Disneyland Is Creativity Panel
Jenya said this was her favorite panel of the two days we were able to attend FanX. I had brought the wrong laptop, so I couldn’t connect to the projector. That meant I had to do the presentation without the PowerPoint prop. Jenya thought it went even better than the previous panels I had done on the same subject.
I enjoyed being able to take a group of Disneyland fans down the Main Street, U.S.A. of our imagination while relating aspects of the park to creative principles. The questions afterward were great, and we found out that one of our audience members was headed to do her own Disney College Program experience. If you want me to upload video, leave a comment.
Panels and Books
I was able to sell three sets of the books I brought: “Disneyland Is Creativity,” “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity,” and “Penguinate! The Disney Company.” All three are available on Amazon in eBook format. Only “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” is available on Amazon in both paperback and as an eBook. I have some paperbacks of the other two still available. All three sales came from people who came to the panels.
FanX and Its Guests
Outside of my panelist duties, I was able to see several stars and a couple of panels. Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Zachary Levi, John Rhys-Davies, and Christopher Lloyd were the biggest names that I saw on stage. Lloyd said this would be his last comic convention. Abel was hilarious. They were all hampered about what they could talk about by the writers’ strike that is being supported by SAG-AFTRA.
We started the day with Jim Meskimen, who was funny and sincere. He made a good impression on us, pun intended. Meskimen does impressions as part of his act; you can visit Jimpressions.com for more information. Jenya really enjoyed the History of Costumes panel put on by the costume department of the Hale Center Theater Orem.
Artist Alley
As with almost every comic convention I have attended, there just wasn’t enough time to do much with Artist Alley beyond my own book signing. We saw Ty Hulse from afar, who we had met at Lilac City Comicon. On Friday night, our last day, I took a couple extra minutes to rush through the aisles jam-packed with amazing artwork, stickers, and posters, but nothing caught my eye until I saw a comic book for $2.99. That’s a great price. As I looked more at the booth, I noticed that the proceeds were going to help stop animal abuse. I wasn’t really sure I wanted it, but as I walked a couple of booths past the comic books, I decided that I had budgeted the money, and I should come away with something from my FanX experience. (Plus, Jenya was sure I wanted it and said I should get it.) If it doesn’t support the artist, at least it will go to a good cause.
So we made a U-turn, and I went to the booth. The Calico comic book series from Sigma Comics was eight issues and a sticker for $20. I was warned the comic was graphic; the bad guys won’t make it out alive.
I would’ve loved to stay for Saturday, but budget constraints and other circumstances required me to go home. Thursday was great because it was less crowded than Friday. Friday was great because the convention energy picked up. We were glad to have been able to attend and participate in FanX2023.
I was asked to participate on a second panel while at FanX in Salt Lake City: Which is better Disneyland or Walt Disney World? Scheduled for Thursday at 5pm, this panel will feature five panelists: Josh Twelves, Tracy Mangum, Jake Dietz, and Amanda Provost.
Disneyland
My experience with Disneyland is as a vacationer. I’ve been to the Happiest Place on Earth more than 50 times, and as those who have read My Life in the Projects, Disneyland was a safe place that we went to every year as a family to have some happiness. I am the author of Disneyland Is Creativity.
Disneyland is the only park that Walt walked in. It is home to innovations, without which Walt Disney World couldn’t exist. Disneyland is the OG park.
Walt Disney World
I worked in the resorts at Walt Disney World while a participant of the College Program. (Going to Salt Lake Community College gave me the opportunity to be a part of Walt Disney World.) As a member of the custodial team for Saratoga Springs, I was able to take advantage of everything the four parks and backstage have to offer. It was spectacular.
Which Is Better?
The answer to the question will depend a lot on the comparison. Are we comparing the two resorts: Disneyland and Disney California Adventure against The Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot? Or will we stick to Disneyland versus the Magic Kingdom? There are questions of budget, time, and attractions. Will we come up with the definitive answer? Do we have to choose?
I will also be giving the Disneyland Is Creativity Panel scheduled for Friday at 3pm. As with all comic conventions, panels and participants are subject to change. Download the FanX 2023 app and mark these panels as favorites, so you don’t miss them.
If you would like me to bring you a copy of Disneyland Is Creativity or it’s sequel The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity, please contact me. Otherwise, I will have a very limited number on hand.
It’s official! We are less than a month away from FanX 2023 in Salt Lake City, and I have a panel, “Disneyland Is Creativity.” Based on my book, this panel will provide ways to improve your creativity by using examples and metaphors from Disneyland’s structure and history. This panel is a must for fans of the park and for those who are interested in learning principles of creativity to improve their lives and the lives of others. The time and place of the panel will be released with the FanX app. Download the app, bookmark our panel, and join us for a walk down memory lane.
Get ‘Disneyland Is Creativity’
You can get a copy of “Disneyland Is Creativity” and its sequel “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” from Amazon. You can also order them directly from me and pick them up at my panel. We will bring a very limited supply of books to be available at Darren Lamb’s table in Artist Alley. (Darren is known as the Worst Buddhist; his table will have cool, geek-inspired Buddhas and stickers as well as books he’s written.) I’ll be happy to sign your books when I see you at FanX in Salt Lake City.
FanX 2023 in Salt Lake City
FanX 2023 is Salt Lake City’s premier comic convention. It will be held September 21 to 23, 2023. Tickets often sell out. Get yours ahead of time.
As always, events and panels are subject to change. Be sure to confirm the panels and activities you’re excited for, ahead of time.
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 