Now we have from Canada: MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+
That’s
Progress! … Or is it?
I did not make up MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+.
Google It!
Would I kid
u?
Smartfella
Enjoy my mind wanderings. Thought provoking. Serious humor. Stimulating thought since 2006. Nathaniel Hawthorne-"Easy reading is damn hard writing." Tertullian-"Credo quia absurdum", I believe it because it is absurd. John Lennox-"Nonsense remains nonsense, even when talked by world-famous scientists." George Burns-"Someone who makes you laugh is a comedian. Someone who makes you think and then laugh is a humorist." Willy Wonka-"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."
Now we have from Canada: MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+
That’s
Progress! … Or is it?
I did not make up MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+.
Google It!
Would I kid
u?
Smartfella
I just heard a Talking Head on TV say to a Member of our
Congress, “This chaos at airports all over the Good Ole USofA because of lack
of TSA Funding is an awful situation and Congress needs to come up with a solution!”
The Member of our Congress immediately got a very confused
look on his face and turned and started to walk away pulling out his Smartphone
as he mumbled, “Solution. What does that mean? Google, please define the
word ‘solution’.”
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Did I just hear you say to yourself, “Why is this the last one”?
It’s simple. There is nothing else to be said because this cartoonist has captured the full essence of our Obsessive Silliness…
Do you think that deep down the Late Steve Jobs is thinking that he made a mistake & maybe he should have spent his time inventing the next iteration of Jiffy Pop?
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
(72)
The wedding is going to take place a long way away from where we live. It is going to require an airplane flight to get to the wedding.
The wedding is scheduled for March of next year. Because of the chaos the Good Ole USofA is experiencing at this time with TSA I thought I would take no chances and make my plane reservations today.
I made the call and that’s when I found out I really had problems…
The airline’s computer told me I could not be guaranteed a seat next March if I didn’t get to the airport and get in line in the next 45 minutes.
OK, I exaggerated…Or did I?
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: The computer just called me back
and apologized. It said in an abundance of caution it had overreacted when it
told me I had to be there within 45 minutes and I will be OK if I get there
within two hours.
I am tired of watching a player getting brushed by
an opposing player on his collarbone and seeing the brushed player fall to the
floor holding his eye as if he is trying desperately to keep his eyeball from
coming out of its eye socket.
That’s bad enough but it gets even worse when
the referee sees what had occurred and he falls for the player falling to the
floor in imitation pain and he blows his whistle while thinking to
himself, “Oh my gosh! At first it looked to me as if the brushed player
has received an Insignificant Collarbone Brush That Actually Did Not Make
Contact With His Collarbone, but I must be wrong, because he fell to the ground
in Significant Imitation Agony so this must certainly have been a serious hit because
he is screaming that he has been seriously hit.”
Every time I turn around (and sometimes when I don’t
turn around) I hear the announcers saying, “It looks like they (the
referees) are going to take a look at this one”.
Some of us think games are too long (I certainly do), and
this is the major reason why they are too long...
Ø The games are repeatedly
stopped to, “take a look at this one”.
Ø the referees go to the
Official Official’s Table on the sidelines to, “take a look at this one”.
Ø A TV Monitor is turned
around so they can, “take a look at this one”.
Ø All 3 of the referees’ stare
at the monitor for a long time because they are looking at whatever they are
looking at from 27 different angles.
Ø Fans go to sleep,
announcers go to the rest room, fans at home start shouting at their TVs and
monks in abbeys start praying for football season to start.
Ø The players who were on a
hot streak cool off.
Ø The players who were
getting the puntuck (I made that up) kicked out of them recover and they go on
a hot streak if ever the game starts again because the players who were on a
hot streak have cooled off.
************
If all the players were given whistles and allowed
to call fouls when they thought they were fouled, the games would last days
instead of hours because the clock would never run for more than 5 seconds
before a player would blow his whistle and play would stop so the referees could
go to the Official Official’s Table to, “take a look at this one”.
Michael Jordan would never have been the great
player he was because he always played with his tongue sticking out of his
mouth when he was about to make another one of his jaw-dropping miracle shots.
It would have thrown His Greatness off his game if he had a whistle in his
mouth and he had to keep his tongue in his mouth behind his whistle. It would
have put a hitch in his get along and he would have ended up being called “His
Average” instead of “His Greatness”.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: I am going to start this Blog Posting over from the very beginning and this time I will not get carried away and exaggerate…Or am I going to?
I like fried chicken. I have a used-to-be-favorite fried
chicken fast food chain where the fried chicken isn’t as good as it used to be.
Every so often, I go back to see if they have remembered how they used to fry good
tasting fried chicken. So far, they have not remembered but I keep hoping.
As I walked up to my used-to-be-favorite fried chicken
store, I saw the manager outside picking up cigarette butts. I’ve seen him
picking cigarette butts up before and long ago I figured out he’s outside picking
up butts because he’s afraid to go inside because of what his chicken sellers
might be doing that he can’t bear to watch them doing.
In times past he has been very open with me about his never-ending battle to train his chicken sellers to know what the heck they are doing. He once told me about an interaction he overheard between a chicken customer and one of his chicken sellers who, up to that point, he thought was one of his best chicken sellers…
I then went into the store to get my almost free chicken.
First, I got to tell you why my chicken was almost free. If a customer takes
the chain’s satisfaction survey online, they get a code that allows them to get 2
pieces of chicken and a biscuit if they buy a big soda (the soda is the almost free
part).
I showed the chicken seller my sales slip with my code
written on it. (Some parts of my Blog Postings are made up but this part is not
made up.) The chicken seller looked at the coded sales slip and said,
“What’s that?”
At that moment I had full appreciation of the manager’s
battle to train his employees.
Oh yea, the part about the $2.20 change in the head
calculation was also not made up, although it did not happen in a
chicken store.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: If you have not
bought one or two of my books lately and you want to buy one or two or you have
a friend or enemy you want to buy one or two for, go to https://www.amazon.com/Foolishness-Alexander-J-Ortolano-ebook/dp/B00AJ3IYI8/ref=sr_1_1? and
buy one or two.
Father Used to Know Better
Father used to be the Family Hero.
There once was a popular TV Show (1954-1960) named "Father
Knows Best". That was a different time. No one got upset that the show was
named “Father Knows Best”. Were Fathers different back in 1954-1960? I think
not. The Good Ole USofA was different back in 1954-1960.
The show followed the lives of the Andersons, a
middle-class family in the fictional town of Springfield. It centered on Jim
Anderson, a wise and caring father played by Robert Young, and his common-sense
wife Margaret Anderson, portrayed by Jane Wyatt.
(Fella to Fella, be careful about what you are about to
peck out.)
You might remember Fella is The Noticer. For example, since 1960 the Father has literally taken the Proverbial Back Seat in many things. Recently there was a car commercial that proved my point. You probably saw the commercial, but you did not Notice what I Noticed…
In 1954 to 1960 the Father would have been the driver, but
that was then, and this is now. Fathers don’t drive the family vehicle near as
much now as they did back then.
Back then the Father would have proudly loaded up his happy
family and drove them to their happy vacation. Now he cowers way back in the
Way Back.
That’s progress…Or is it?
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: It
could have been worse. The commercial could have had this dialog:
Did you just say, “What did Forrest Gump say? How soon we
forget. I’ll jog your memory. Forrest Gump said, “Stupid Is as Stupid Does”.
Did you just say, you are not going to be swayed by
someone who did not exist and Forrest Gump did not exist?
You may have a point there but what if I gave you another
well-known used to be familiar character who did not exist to lend support to Forrest for what Forrest said? Would you be swayed by reading quotes from two
Never-Was-Characters and thereby convince you to change your mind?
Allow me to dredge up Pogo to remind you of who our real
enemy is. You know you can trust Pogo…Or do you?
Pogo said, “We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us”
Did you just say, “What was a Pogo?” OK, but this is the last time I will let you distract me. I will answer you this one last time and then I will have to move onto explaining who the real enemy is.
************
This is the longest I have ever blogged without getting
into the actual Blog Posting but here I go…
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
There was a video recently of a high school student who had pulled a knife in school and was causing chaos but all you could see was the chaos…
What I did not get from the video was anything concrete like…
Was the TV Station afraid that it was going to be sued
by the bad guy? ... That could not be! ... Or could that not be?
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
I just bought a high-powered toothbrush that is so wonderful
the manufacturer of the toothbrush felt obligated to charge me a lot of money.
As is usually the case, the toothbrush comes with an Owner’s Manual. Because someone back in times past invented lawyers, the Owner’s Manual starts off with page after page of Threats (If you don’t read and abide by these threats, you could be seriously injured or seriously die) and Warnings (A bunch of warnings about everything you can imagine and a bunch you could never have imagined) ...
The Warnings… There are 12 Warnings. I will not list all 12 but I must admit that I am a bit baffled by number 11… “The maximum altitude of use is 4500 meters”.
The Medical Warnings… There are 5 Medical Warnings. I found number 4 very interesting… “If you have medical concerns, consult your doctor before you use this appliance”. Medical Concerns? What could possibly medically concern you about a toothbrush?
The Battery Safety Instructions… There are 13 Battery Safety Instructions. I started to not even look at these, but by now I had become a bit unnerved and confused, so I looked. I wish I had not looked. I saw things like…
>Do not place this product or its battery in a microwave oven (I ask you, who is going to take the battery out of their toothbrush and put it into a microwave oven?
>Keep product and battery away from fire (No kidding!)
>Do not expose the battery to direct sunlight (This greatly disappointed me because I had been so looking forward to brushing my teeth outdoors).
I was compelled to analyze the above bullet point in more depth because this one is Foolishness of The Highest Order…
>To expose the battery to direct
sunlight it must be removed from the toothbrush.
>Getting the battery out of the toothbrush
is a herculean task.
>The Owner’s Manual has 2 pages
of instructions explaining how to remove the battery.
>The removal instructions are laid
out into 17 separate paragraphs.
>To remove the battery, one needs
a towel or cloth, a hammer, and a flat-head screw driver.
>At one point you are told, “Hold
the top of the handle with one hand and strike the handle housing 0.5 inches above the
handle end. Strike firmly with a hammer on all 4 sides to eject the end cap.
Note: You may have to hit on the end several times to break the internal snap
connections.”
You should understand that your toothbrush is now broken and will never work again. Which make one wonder why you went to all this effort to expose your battery to direct sunlight…Or will you wonder?
Wow! The lawyers who had assembled this Owner’s Manual must
have been afraid of their collective own shadows!
************
This next one got my Foolishness…Or Is It? juices flowing
and inspired me to write this Blog Posting…
Changes or
modifications not expressly approved by us could void the user’s authority
to operate the equipment.
What the heck does
this mean?
Could they really void my authority to use my own very expensive toothbrush?!
This causes my now completely confused mind to wonder…
I wish Benjamin Franklin was not dead. I’m beginning to feel that he’s the only one I can trust.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
I did not
have my Potted Plant Outfit on this trip to my health club. If I had had it, I could
have pecked out a Blog Posting in minute detail about how Nestor (the club’s small
jobs employee associate) messed up this small job. Instead, I will make up what must have
happened. Fear not I can make up happenings where I was not present that are so
accurate it’s as if I were present.
Ø Nestor's Supervisor said to Nestor, “Nestor,
go to shower #4 and attach this stick-on hook to the wall right outside the
shower so members can have their towel waiting for them to use when they finish
their shower”.
Ø Nestor said to Nestor's Supervisor, “Sometimes
I think you go out of your way to give me all the hard jobs!”
Ø Nestor's Supervisor said to Nestor, “You
are right there, Nestor, you have special skills and we try to make use of those skills as often as possible. Please hurry there might be a member looking for a place
to hang his towel as we speak.”
Fella says to his Dear
Readers, I leave it up to you to decide. Did Nestor do a good job...Or did he not?
Would I kid
u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: Can you believe that the manager of
my health club turned me down when I recommended this name change for his club? …
Staying Healthy Is Enough To Kill You. 😊
On Martin Luther King Day my wife and I walked into a local Chinese Buffet restaurant that we had walked into many times before. We thought we knew the price we were going to have to pay for lunch but that day the price was a shock to us.
November 12, 1965, was the closest I came to being killed in Vietnam.
If I had been killed on November
12, 1965, most of my family members would never have been born and those who
were born would have had their lives dramatically changed.
Here are those who would not have been
born (as of this point in time): a son, another son, a
granddaughter, a grandson, another grandson, another granddaughter, another granddaughter, another granddaughter, another
grandson, another grandson, another grandson, another granddaughter,
another grandson, a great grandson and a great granddaughter.
Did the above paragraph confuse
you? Well get ready, you ain’t seen nothing yet because Fella is about to
really confuse you (and him).
My first daughter was already born
but without me going to work for American Motors who sent me to live in
Michigan, who knows where my wife and my first two children would have lived.
Probably not in Michigan. My first daughter met her never-would-have-met-him-husband
because one summer she went to work on Mackinac Island
in Michigan because we had lived in Michigan because American Motors had sent
me to live in Michigan and she had learned there was an island way up high in
Michigan named Mackinac Island while we lived in Michigan. She met her future
husband because she saw him working in the window of a Fudge Shop on Mackinac
Island. Had she not been on Mackinac Island to meet him, my grandchildren from
that marriage, a granddaughter, a grandson and another grandson would not have
been born.
My son who never-was-born never met and married his never-could-have-been-his-wife because he was never born. This means a grandson, another grandson and another grandson would never have been born.
My other
son who never-was-born never met and married his never-could-have-been-his-wife
because he was never born. This means a granddaughter and a grandson would
never have been born.
I’m sure
you can now see (or am I certain) this all means a never-could-have-been-my-son-in-law,
a never-could-have-been-my-daughter-in-law and another
never-could-have-been-my-daughter-in-law would all be wandering around looking
for their never-could-have-met-them-mates.
Repeat the above paragraph for another
never-was-born-grandson.
One of my
never-was-granddaughters is engaged to a never-going-to-be-my-grandson-in-law,
so my never-going-to-be-my-grandson-in-law would be wandering around looking
for my never-was-born-granddaughter.
Repeat the
above paragraph for another of my never-was-born-granddaughters who has a
boyfriend who is never going to be my grand-boyfriend-in-law.
I told you
I was going to confuse you.
************
If Vietnam Veterans meet up, they are very likely to say, “Welcome home, brother”.
I’m
different because I say, “I’m glad you made it back”.
This Blog
Posting also has me very confused, however, I’m certainly not confused when I
say I’m certain all of the people described in this Confusing Foolishness ought
to say to me, “I’m glad you made it back”.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: This is the
longest time between Blog Posting on record. The reason be apparent to
you now that you have tried to read your way through this Blog Posting. I have
been trying to figure out what I have been trying to say.
By way of this Foolishness…Or Is It? I am formally
offering each of you the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a
Sure-Fire Money-Making New Venture aptly named...GrandmaNearYou.com. If
you are one to quickly see a financially sound opportunity, you will be writing
a check before you get to the end of this Foolish Blog Posting.
Back when my Mother used to visit us for various holidays,
we flew her to wherever we were living at that time...Los Angeles or Detroit or
Milwaukee or Detroit (again) or Atlanta or Los Angeles (again) or Atlanta
(again).
Our family was always excited to see her, especially since
she was sure to be carrying 5 pounds of my Grandfather’s Secret Recipe
Italian Sausage and several jars of Ma
Brown Kosher Dill Pickles (Since I left New Orleans in 1975 I
have never found Ma’s Pickles).
The silly company which bought out the company that made
Ma Brown's Kosher Dill Pickles quickly decided to take out the Spicy.
Fella Comment: This
proved it was a silly/stupid company.
Fella Wonders: Fella
wonders how much money the new silly/stupid company spent on Focus Groups
trying to figure out why the New Pickles did not sell as well as the Old
Pickles.
Another Fella Comment: They
should have asked me and saved all that Focus Group money because the Spicy was
what made them better.
************
On one of these Grandma’s Coming To Visit visits, as my
family and I sat waiting in the airport for her to deplane, I took note of all
the Grandmas who were arriving from all over the United States who had flown in
for the holiday. The idea for this Sure-Fire Money-Making New Venture hit me
like a thunderbolt!
Why not use some of this computer technology we were now
developing to locate a Grandma that is closer to where our family lives and
bring this, more convenient, Grandma over for the holiday?
Our too-far-away Grandma would not go unappreciated. She
certainly would be grabbed quickly by some local family looking to save a wad
of money on airfare. We would certainly be glad to testify that she would be a delight
to have over because we really liked having her around.
I am not being heartless because the Grandma that you had
been intending to fly in, at great expense, would now very likely just have to
go a few blocks to her new nearby Holiday Family. Other benefits for the Stay Near
Home Grandmas are too numerous to list in their
entirety but here are a few of the obvious ones…
Heaven knows there are a lot of American Males who would
jump at the opportunity to have a different Mother-In-Law for a change.
Variety could also be added to your family’s holiday
because your new Grandma would introduce your family to her own special cooking
talents.
Again, computer technology could be used to make this a
Win-Win Proposition for all involved by using computer technology to tailor
make your conveniently located grandma. The form where you applied for your
substitute Grandma would allow you to fine tune your replacement
Grandma. You would be able to pick from one of the following:
You would be able to specify a cooking specialty:
You would be able to select a nationality:
The potential of this brilliant (if I do say so myself)
idea is boundless! This may be your best chance to become one of the Filthy
Rich.
************
Become a Charter Owner of GrandmasNearYou.com today! Don't
let this opportunity pass you by! Send your check to:
GrandmaNearYou.com
c/o The Smartfella?
What
A Deal, GA 30096
Dig deep! The bigger your check the bigger will be your
percentage of ownership of GrandmaNearYou.com
permitting
you to become filthy sooner than other slower investors.
Would I kid you?
Smartfella