Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2006
Houston Halit} .^Journal
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Dead air destroyer
There used to be a time when the threat
of taking your business elsewhere
prompted a pretty quick response in
regard to corrective action!s) from the ser
vice provider.
But maybe we as a nation have used it to
the point businesses have become enamored
to the idea. Or, maybe they’re just using it
as an excuse for bad customer service.
“Well, you’re going to take your business
ielsewhere, anyway ...”
; Either way, there appears to be at least
:some “dead air” out there.
! For example, Tuesday, one of our report
ers was having a problem with his Internet
Service
Provider.
• He . had
:rece n t 1 y
signed up for
a glorified on
line caller-
I D/answer
ing machine.
Immediately
following, he
began encoun
tering major
problems. So,
he could pret
ty much pin
point where
the trouble
was located.
With that in
mind, he called
the ISP Well,
that is after
first spending
15 minutes
chasing down
a number. (Did you ever notice you can’t
get a number for help without getting on
line and you can’t get on line because that’s
what you need help with to start with?
Also, did you also note ISP’s don’t list a
direct line to their help desk. If you want to
add new services, well, you can find all the
help in the world.)
Anyway, long story - and five, count ‘em,
five transfers later - he was told: “We don’t
support that.”
Dead air.
Fast-forward to later. That same reporter
was going through the drive-through at a
fast-food place. He ordered chili. You can
probably figure out who this is because one:
“We stay open late,” and two: “We have
great chili.” (Which, granted, they do.)
Step 1, the microphone: He orders. Step
2, window one: He pays. Step 3, window
two: He receives his food. Then, and only
then, is he told: “(Oh by the way) we don’t
have any crackers.” Now, a lack of crackers
might seem insignificant to most, but how
many of you eat “great” chili without crack
: ers? And where was this statement at the
microphone? Where was this revelation at
window one?
Needless to say the reporter’s response
was: Dead air.
The dead air is a courtesy. The dead air
supposed to be the opportunity for busi
nesses to make amends. Yes, it is the pre
lude to: “I guess I’ll just have to take my
business elsewhere,” but it doesn’t have to
come to that.
In fact, it’s arguable most people don’t
want it to come to that. We’re all customers
at one point or another. We’re not asking
for the world. We’re just asking for a little
something to fill the sound of silence.
Letter to the Edctor
Embarrassing cabs
Recently I needed the services of a local taxi for a
ride to the Grooms’ office on Watson Blvd to catch a
: shuttle bus to Atlanta. The taxi driver arrived on time
in a beaten -up cab that looked and sounded like it
should have been in a Third World country like Ethiopia.
The taxi driver was obviously embarrassed by the sad
See LETTER, page 6A
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Step 1, the microphone:
He orders. Step 2,
window one: He pays.
Step 3, window two:
He receives his food.
Then, and only then,
is he told: "(Oh by the
way) we don't have any
crackers." Now, a lack
of crackers might seem
insignificant to most,
but how many of you eat
"great" chili without
crackers? And where
was this statement at
the microphone? Where
was this revelation at
window one?
Sonny proves to be good preacher
Did you see Sonny Perdue preach
ing from the pulpit of Rev. Jerry
Faiwell’s church? It was on
television last Saturday night. Sonny
gave one of the best sermons 1 ever
heard. He’s one good preacher.
■ ■■
Ecologists are warning that if the
current trend of over fishing and pollu
tion continues there will be no seafood
for us to eat by the year 2048. Will - or
can -something be done to prevent this
catastrophe? I doubt it.
■ ■■
A priest in Germany burned him
self to death last weekend in pro
test of Islam’s growth in Europe. He
showed them. Some European coun
tries already have enough Muslims in
their population that governments are
bowing to their wishes. Predictions are
being made that some of these coun
tries will have governments controlled
by Muslims within a few years. Now
that is frightening.
■ ■■
Politicians and advocacy groups con
tinue to bicker over abortion and make
it appear to be the most important
political issue of our times. In my opin
ion, abortion is a moral issue and not
a political one. It should be treated as
such.
t>
Idea of the week: Automated Congress
How would you like a federal gov
ernment that always did what
was best for the most? A legis
lature that ignored party politics and
special interests? A body politic that
didn’t waste our tax dollars like the
Gabor sisters at a toy poodle auction?
How ‘bout a representative incapable
of sexual harassment?
Sounds ideal, huh? Too good to be
true? It may not be. Stay with me.
The other day, I was at the grocery
store. I consulted the list my wife pro
vided, spent 45 minutes looking for
something she called feta cheese, and
then got in the shortest line I could find
to pay for my items. When I got to the
front of the line, I noticed there was no
cashier - just some odd-looking com
puter-like device. Not paying attention
to the people ahead of me, I did not
know how to operate the machine. So I
poked it a few times, shook it viciously,
then sheepishly pushed my cart to the
“dummy line” with the human cashier.
While I waited in that line with my
fellow morons, I watched the sophisti
cated folk maneuver quickly through
the unmanned line.
“They’ve automated grocery store
check-out with some type of new
fangled technology,” I said aloud to
myself, prompting odd stares from
those around me.
As I rode home, and listened to
what seemed like a thousand political
OPINION
■ ■■
In my opinion, the American Bar
Association made a mistake when it
decided to permit lawyers to advertise.
Numerous national firms have popped
up advertising on television, soliciting
clients for lawsuits they create rather
than pursuing legitimate cases. Now
we learn that one of the law firms that
has been a big television advertiser is
being sued by the government for tak
ing advantage of clients. Most lawyers
that I know do not approve of lawyers
becoming hucksters.
■ ■■
Speaking of inappropriate advertis
ing. It just seems inappropriate to per
mit the kind of attack advertising we
have seen this year in races for judge
ships. It is undignified in races where
dignity should rank high along with
honesty and integrity. The Georgia Bar
Association could reverse a decision
that has permitted this kind of adver
tising in judgeship races.
■ ■■
The next presidential’election is only
Len
Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
advertisements, I came to a brilliant
epiphany - why not automate our fed
eral government?
Our federal government - Congress
and the President, in particular - rou
tinely make boneheaded, non-sensical
decisions. Why? I don’t know. They pay
SBO for a hammer, propose building
$223 million “Bridges to Nowhere,”
they start a war for no reason, hit on
interns - those types of things.
It seems that the problem with our
Congressmen and Congresswomen is
that they are actually men and women.
They are human beings, flesh and
blood, water and hair gel, prone to
making crucial judgments based on
emotion or loyalty or pride or prejudice
or bribery or extortion or blackmail or
backroom payoff - just like the rest of
us.
Since we’re all being replaced with
technology, why not them? Why not
replace Congress with a big computer?
They’re basically robots for their party
anyway. A computer doesn’t have any
mm- WjiL
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
* r f
L - I'
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
two years away.
With mid-term congressional elec
tions out of the way candidates can
begin digging up dirt on their potential
opponents. Sonny Perdue told one audi
ence that the best way to learn every
thing there is to know about yourself,
your family and all your acquaintances
is to run for political office. “Your
opponents will dig it all up for you,”
he said.
■ ■■
Donald Walker already is the longest
serving mayor in the history of the city
of Warner Robins. By the time he com
pletes the new term to which he has
just been elected he will have served 14
years and that is a record that probably
will stand up forever.
■ ■■
Numerous people have wondered
why politicians were able to bombard
them with obnoxious computer gener
ated political telephone calls when they
are on the state and federal no-call
list. The simple answer is that politi
cians exempted themselves from the
laws and can bombard you with all the
telephone calls they like. What did you
expect?
■ ■■
For the next two years we will learn
that the people we elected are not the
scoundrels that their opponents told us
they were during the campaigns lead
ing up to the general election. We all
can be thankful for that.
emotions, doesn’t belong to a politi
cal party, doesn’t like to play golf
in Scotland, isn’t indebted to the oil
industry, and has no opposite sex, or
same sex, in which to be interested.
Here’s an example of how it may
work:
Let’s say your community wants to
four-lane a U.S. highway. You would
have someone input all the information:
How much it would cost; how much
traffic the road currently receives;
how much money the government has;
how many people would be positively
or negatively affected; etc., etc. Then
- voila! - the computer would spit out,
without regard to politics, the answer.
No debate, no filibusters, no posturing
in front of the TV cameras, no spin.
You would save trillions, could give
everybody a gigantic tax cut, and, best
of all, decisions would be made free of
influence and bureaucratic clutter.
Now, I know, I haven’t worked out
the fine details of this automation of
Congress, or if we need to go even fur
ther - like the executive branch, the
judicial branch, and basically every
thing else in Washington, D.C. And
there’s also that pesky Constitution to
contend with as well.
We’ll get to that later. First, we need
to get everybody in Congress to quit.
Ya’ll work on that.
I’m going back to the grocery store to
figure out that machine.