Blahgorrhea

Why do we bring back souvenirs from vacations for people? A few sleepless nights before departing for Japan, I was running through a list of people it would be polite of me to bring back gifts for, and I thought how silly of a notion this is. Given the root of the word, French for “to remember,” it makes no sense to bring back gifts of remembrance from places that other people did not go to, and thus have no memories of. My apartment is filled with artwork, trinkets and tchotchkes from all over the world, but only the ones that I bought for myself carry real memories and thus higher value. Sure, it is cool that I have three iron stirrups from different countries in South America, but having never been to those places, they are merely objects taking up space in an already crammed room. [Continue reading…]

I was reading in a local coffee shop yesterday when a woman barged in and announced, “I’ve found money. I need the largest house coffee you have. And I need a lot of room for milk and suger.” I wanted to slap her right there. She clearly hadn’t been taught manners as a child. She didn’t storm out in a hurry, so it’s not as if she needed to be curt to get in and out fast. And then, when she left, she took about 50 paper napkins. It’s too bad the barista was polite to her.