2008 Woodie Awards
View from the II: Things I've Learned
Art LaPenotiere
Issue date: 3/9/05 Section: Features
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If the car in front of me has its left blinker on, there is approximately a 50% chance it will not make a left turn at the next intersection. If the car in front of me has no blinker on at all, there is approximately a 25% chance it will make some sort of turn, without the driver using a turn signal, if I follow it long enough. In either case, there is a 100% chance I will be annoyed. These are anecdotal findings.
It is useless to debate an issue with a person who has a passionate point of view on the topic being argued. Most of these people will quote experts and use information to support their point of view, while ignoring or discrediting information or expert opinion that is contrary to their passionate beliefs. These people are not interested in an intellectual discussion that might reveal new ideas or information. They will never concede even a small point. They desperately need to be right. Avoid them, for they will bedevil and frustrate you.
Some things never change. When I graduated high school in 1962, kids felt like they desperately needed to fit in with a group, and, yes, there was an unspoken pecking order of appeal assigned to each group.
The Jocks were generally considered to be the most desirable group. They were athletic sorts who wore the latest fashion and embraced the clean-cut hairstyles. They were also the most likely to be the boozers.
Then there were the Drapes, clearly the bad boys and bad girls. Drapes wore jeans and leather jackets and wore their hair longer, slicked back with a few tubes of Vitalis (something like gel). Drapes were into fast cars and motorcycles.
And there were the Eggheads, the intellectuals, either totally focused on getting into college, or completely at the mercy of their parents who were totally focused on getting them into college.
Things don't seem too terribly different today, other than some of the characteristics of the various groups. But classism among young adults is still clearly alive and well. I suppose it's just a part of the human developmental process.
The best and worst invention of the 20th century? Until the final decade, I would have chosen the automobile or the telephone as the best. Now, I'll cast my lot with the personal computer/internet as both best and worst. The world-wide web is a treasure trove of information, misinformation, stunning photos, disturbing photos. It is a place where good and evil people go to explore the bright and dark sides of our existence. Sometimes, it is the source of brilliance, other times it is downright scary.
The profession that I least covet is that of politician. The very nature of working in a job that relies on the approval of the voting public makes the idea of personal convictions nearly meaningless - assuming the politician wants to be re-elected. The high principles needed to serve as an elected official can not be achieved under our current political system.
For nice mindless, escapist reading, one could do a lot worse than People magazine.
Any film that Clint Eastwood directs is usually pretty good. At one time, I thought his Dirty Harry character was as far as he could stretch himself.
If the latest study from the American Medical Association - or equivalent organization - suggests that a certain food or supplement increases or decreases your risk for the disease-of-the-day, wait five minutes before changing your diet. Chances are the next study will contradict the first one. Case in point, vitamin E. I once took 1,000 units a day when it was reputed to be just loaded with cancer-preventing antioxidants. Of course, a recent study strongly suggests limiting vitamin E consumption to well below 400 units/day, which was once the recommended minimum to take. Reason? Vitamin E taken in excess of 400 units per day is now believed to significantly increase the risk of heart attack.
Hey, some of life's lessons are harder learned than others.