There isn't any reason I am posting this picture, Joel sent it to me a long time ago and I just found it again. I call it the white blur. We were supposed to be taking pictures of the nieces and nephew jumping and watching thier facial expressions, but I couldn't just sit there and watch. Time seems to be a big white blur lately...I am sad to say I measure time by how often I pay the bills or the rent, and I have been doing that a lot lately so time must be flying by. Joni and I have known each other for over four years already, carter will be 4 soon, I have been home from Chile 6 years, and I have been in Texas of all places for 8 months. Maybe that explains me craving old school video games lately, I can't get the Mario music out of my head and I don't know if it ever will leave my head until I find somewhere to play it.
Last night Joni and I went to Walmart to buy a scale, some rubber gloves, and a gallon of milk...we always try to guess someone's life story by looking at what they buy, or how they act-it's a pretty fun game...I can only imagine how we are "classified" sometimes. Speaking of which, there really are a lot of crazy people here, I know I have said it a lot, but it is true. I was thinking last night how many kids I feel sorry for because if they become anything like thier parents than they are doomed. Seriously, it should be against the law for some people to have kids, and they are the ones who end up having ten kids. At this rate by the time I hit the half century mark I am going to go crazy with the number of insane people there are in the world. Maybe everyone else is normal and I am crazy. You never think of those in your "bubble" being crazy but who knows. All I am thinking is that kids deserve the right to grow up normal, learning to respect others and themselves, eating a proper diet, experiencing discipline etc etc. Then let them be free to choose how they live and hopefully they had a good enough upbringing to get them by. Some kids just don't get a good fair start...which explains all the bad drivers out there. I know it is the easiest thing in the world to be judgmental, especially with other people's kids, but come on. I wonder sometimes what kind of childhood George Bush had. Thanks mom and dad for doing your best, even though I am a bit messed up sometimes, you guys managed to do a pretty good job at the parenting thing. Thus concludes the most random blog I have ever written.
10 comments:
Yay! Paul the hilarious, random blogger has returned! Sounds like time is flying for you - us too. It's good for you to see all the crazies out there - I think the places you are hanging out tend to attract crazy people - ie: Wal-mart, Loews, Monster truck rallies. Going to Texas A & M at College Station will probably give you a whole different perspective! I do worry about this next generation of kids too, and their lack of repect, discipline, and boundaries, added to it legalized firearms in Texas. I think "King George" ie "Who's your daddy" grew up pretty well, but thinking he knew best. Scale, milk & rubber gloves? Interesting! You are awesome, and if you're crazy, it's in a good way.
Yep - - -random is the word! I thought I held that title, but I'm relinquishing it to you! I'm with Melecia - - if you're fantasizing about people based on what they buy, imagine what you could to with milk, a scale, and rubber gloves. The mad scientists at work?
Thanks for the compliment, but you kids made it easy. I agree with you about parenting. We have to take tests and get certified to do any number of jobs, but there are no such qualifications for becoming a parent. It's a miracle that so many grow up relatively normal.
Hi Mom! I love you!
The demographics of the average person that shops at Walmart or Sam's Club is different from someone who shops at Target or Costco. The "typical" Walmart consumer has lower income and education, and is more likely to be blue collar, a minority, and from a larger household. Many companies position their products differently depending on where the product is sold in order to appeal to the target consumer. I'm an elitist, so I only shop at Costco. I kid! I don't personally have a problem shopping at Walmart, but some people do.
Marketing is a very fascinating thing to me. Some people think it's manipulative, but I don't. To me, you try to appeal to what a particular consumer values and the product or service that does it the best wins.
Just look at in-store positioning. The staple items like milk and eggs are in the back so that a consumer has to walk through the whole store. Chances are that they'll find something else they want before they get to check-out. At check-out, the gum and mints are at adult eye level and the candy is eye level for the kids... not by accident (kids have time to work on Mom before she pays and the gum is an impulse buy for Mom. Okay... so that example is a little manipulative... but very sophisticated.
I am a victim of marketing not being catered to me. If I know where something is in a store (which is rare) I seriously don’t see another thing in the whole store. Maybe it’s tunnel vision or something, I dunno. If I don’t know where the item(s) I am looking for is beforehand, I will go to the section where I think it should be (usually wrong place since I don’t get shopping marketing) look around for it, don’t find it, get annoyed, and leave. Maybe I should not be allowed to have children.
I hate Wal-Mart, mostly for its effect on small businesses and communities.
I like pizza.
Dear Random: My thinking goes that way many times too. Eric has a habit of playing the Mario tune on the piano so many times that it becomes background in my mind as I go over many thoughts. Hope you are reading Susan's blog. See pictures. We are starting to wonder when our ski village here in Longmont is going to melt? Hawaii, here we come! Glen's marketing observations was interesting. Susan has been a Target shopper for many years. We go to Wall-mart and other big stores when we are needing the best buy. The only big store we had in Wellsville was K-Mart. I wish we had a Costco in Longmont. There are two of them about 20 minutes away. One of the sad things we notice is the small town businesses continue to disappear as our population grows. Thank goodness Browns Shoe store is still here. Ta, ta. Love, Dad
Neat stuff on marketing, Glen - - and as long as we know the "scheme," I guess it's not manipulative. Our mall here is a great example of "demographics." 80 percent of the stores within the mall are geared to teenagers, and that might be an understatement. The "adult" clothing stores, with the exception of Eddie Bauer, are on the outer edges of the mall, with outside entrances - - thus avoiding the mall entirely if you choose. Interesting ideas. Jim says, "It's all just a big plot to extract money from people." Guess he's right. :)
Jim's right. It's all about getting the most money out of people. I have a friend that's in charge of the layout of GAP stores. For every new store that opens up, he has to find the best way to get consumers in, and maximize the amount of money they spend once they're there. It's an interesting topic of discussion... I'll shut up now.
First of all, if you want to talk marketing you know who your guy is huh?
2nd- Paul, I am glad that you and Joni can remember how long you have been together total by Carter's birth. I will definitely always remember you guys visiting us and Joni eating all the frosting off that "special" cake someone brought me!
And last, I for sure agree with you about those people out there that shouldn't be allowed to have children. Speaking of Walmart and children this reminds me of a late night trip I took to Walmart around Christmas time. It was probably midnight to 1 am and people had their little toddlers out shopping with them. They were some winner people too.
Thats what got me thinking, was seeing a man yell at his 1 year old kid in front of everyone, and it was 11pm...then I looked around and felt uncomfortable and out of place all of the sudden. Not the best people at Walmart after 11pm...and there were lots of kids. Carter is the only birthday we can remember because of Valentines and seeing you in the hospital Kendi...So as long as he stays alive we'll have a timeline. Interseting stuff about Target and Walmart...it's totally true
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