Is peanut butter really SATAN in disguise?

This blog post is about people with life threatening food allergies and how those allergies affect the people around them.  I could be wrong but I seem to be hearing about more different kinds of allergens and more life threatening allergens all the time.

I really don't have a lot to say on this topic. I just came to pose a question.  We've already started down a path. That is to say, ever greater responsibility is being placed on restaurants to provide warnings about an ever increasing number of potential allergens and offer non-allergenic alternatives.  I believe many schools ban peanut butter altogether. New health legislation is being introduced every day. 

My question is simple.  Is it fair for someone with a life threatening allergy to expect such accommodations?  This is not like the Americans with Disabilities Act.  In the case of disabilities, we have collectively agreed that some accommodations should be made.  But THIS isn't about where one can work or how someone can get to the bus or train.  This is about life or death.  Is it really appropriate to dump that responsibility on the local Shoneys or Cracker Barrel staff?  Consider this from the food service workers point of view.  You know they all swear that oath: First, serve no parm'.  But beyond that, are they prepared for a customer to place his life in their hands?  Is it even the tiniest bit logical or fair to expect them to be? 

I didn't start writing this in an attempt to change your mind.  I'm not even sure what I think yet.  I only believe we have started down a path that is becoming increasingly difficult on restaurateurs.   And I think it is beyond unfair to expect them to accommodate these issues.  I think if YOU have a life threatening allergy then its is 100% upon you, no one else, to protect yourself to whatever degree is necessary. 

Red Light Cameras: Only the WORST IDEA EVER...

In the last few years before I left New Jersey, I began to feel an uneasy us vs. them attitude towards the police and the government in general. When I realized it, I wondered why?  I’m a republican.  I’ve been pro-police all my life. Why should I now suddenly feel anti-police or anti-government?  Afterall, those laws are put in place to protect me, right? I’m a part of the system, right? Or am I?   

I really had to stop and think what is it that makes one feel like he is part of the system. The answer I came to was not intuitive. I believe having the choice to obey the law is what makes one feel like he is a part of the system. Of course, this REQUIRES having the choice to disobey the law as well. We need to decide to obey for our own sakes and for the safety of others.  Only then do we feel like this is what we want and what we choose.   

Who could say No to red light cameras?  They seem like a great idea, don’t they? Technology has advanced to the point where a system can monitor an intersection for traffic violations and automatically hand out fines. No opinions to get in the way. No one to appeal to for leniency either.  The problem is this:  A.) they never seem to pay for themselves because their presence at an intersection changes most people’s behavior. The number of fines collected does NOT measure up to the number of violations before the camera system was installed. Some communities have resorted to tinkering with yellow light timing to “catch” innocent people to generate the revenue needed to pay the millions of dollars on a system that was supposed to pay for itself.  B.) By giving the system the authority to hand out fines, we have elevated “the system” above the citizen making him feel like he’s no longer a part of the system.    

I believe the red-light camera system was the worst idea ever because it removed from us, the sense that we choose to obey or not. And by removing that choice, left us with the sense of being watched and monitored and forced to obey. Just what makes a person feel free or like a prisoner?  It’s having choices.  It is imperative that we NEVER place the law in the hands of automated systems. There is NOTHING more dehumanizing than discovering that a computerized system controls you.  I’m not saying it's necessary to break the law. But it is necessary to have the opportunity to choose to obey. Without that choice, you are beneath the system and irrelevant to the system.  

Watching what has happened between the police and the citizens in various communities around the country, it behooves us to examine why we feel like we are a part of the system or like inmates under the system. It is imperative we do this before things get worse. The red-light camera systems are only one piece of the puzzle. 

Why have a Disclaimer?

As I've said before on this blog, I hate deceptive advertising.  I hate companies that feel the need to make offers they never intend to fulfill.  Why lie?  Why not rather make an offer you can fulfill? For me, honesty and integrity is what builds credibility.  But I guess that isn't what drives a line of suckers through your door, is it?  Is that really in your best interests to have lots of look-i-lous OR would you rather have a trickle of customers who have already decided to buy from you before they ever get on the lot? Maybe its a reflection of how mobile of a society we have become; that no retail vendor is really interested in cultivating us as long term return customers.

My goal here today is to address car dealerships or really any business that chooses to advertise with a disclaimer that is indecipherable. We are not fools!  We know that if you have a disclaimer in your commercial that is in any way even the tiniest bit difficult to hear, that you are intending to trick us with false advertising. Its just that obvious.  Why do you persist in it?