- This topic has 14 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 18 years ago by
mikazuki.
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May 2, 2007 at 4:13 am #51324
JimmyDimples
ParticipantHey, guys, I was catching up on nuggets of wisdom and joy from one of my heroes, Fox News business correspondent Neil Cavuto. And he came up with this interesting thing in his commentary, "Common Sense."
Tell me if this has ever happened to you:
You're at a cocktail party or a barbecue and you're introduced to someone.
You ask the person how he's doing and he actually proceeds to tell you that he's battling allergies, his kids are a mess, frankly the wife can be a pain and the job — for what it's worth — isn't very satisfying.
Oh yeah, the country's a joke too. The war in Iraq, the subprime mortgage mess — you name it, we're in for it.
And here's the topper: After all that, he blasts, "And this new generation ain't like us with the fortitude to deal with it."
Wow.
And all this from my innocuous, "How are you?"
You know, it was "almost" enough to affect my appetite. I said "almost."
The complete column's here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269300,00.html
Me, I can relate. But still, I had to write him this:
When was the last time you REALLY cared about how things are going with someone? Often, I feel that "How are you?" is just one's way of saying "I'm in your space right now, please acknowledge." We don't honestly give a freep on their blues.
I try to keep my eyes and ears open so if my acquaintance isn't doing so hot, I can help out somehow, or at least groan sympathetically. But when I'M asked, well… I get a little impish.
When I see the clerk at Starbucks, or a store greeter, or someone I meet once in a while, and they ask, "How are you today," I paste on this phony scowl, and snarl, "HORRIBLE, MISERABLE, AND I FEEL LIKE THROWING MYSELF IN FRONT OF A BUS!" Then I honestly smile very sweetly and ask, "How are you?"
That usually keeps the clerks on their toes, and loosens things up for both of us. Of course, this little gag can backfire.
Once in a Greensboro, NC airport, I slammed that line on a newsstand clerk. She shot back, "WELL, THAT'S YOUR OWN FAULT! IT'S A NICE SUNNY DAY, AND YOU GOT OUT OF BED THIS MORNING WITH YOUR OWN TWO LEGS, AND IF YOU'RE MISERABLE WITH THAT, THEN SHAME ON YOU! I'm doing fine, sweetie, thanks."
Moral: When you ask… make sure you REALLY want to know.
So what's y'all'z take on this? And how are YOU doing? For reals.
May 2, 2007 at 6:33 am #51325Chuck
ParticipantAfter seeing Lugo's She-Hulk masterpiece, feeling pretty darn good. After the wings I had, I have a little headache and feel like laying down. Other than that, I feel like I'm in good shape.
And I work at a comic book shop, so I have to deliver the obligatory "How are you doing?" line every day, but I try to care about most of the customers that walk into my shop.
May 2, 2007 at 8:17 am #51326gblock01
ParticipantI feel like making a smart ass comment.
I just can't think of one right now. 😉
May 2, 2007 at 8:43 am #51327Lingster
KeymasterReminds me of this song, based on a Winston Churchill quote:
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May 2, 2007 at 9:17 am #51328ParticipantHuh. Never figured you for the CMT type, Lingo.
But hey, that one was a keeper. Thanks for sharing. And I gotta spread that one around. 🙂
May 2, 2007 at 11:07 am #51329The Muffin man
ParticipantI'd be better if everyone involved with Fox News were to spontaneously combust 😛
May 2, 2007 at 4:58 pm #51330KeymasterI'd be better if everyone involved with Fox News were to spontaneously combust 😛
Neil Cavuto is a very nice man. I'd much prefer having the likes of him here than certain other people who often have trouble keeping a civil tongue in their mouths.
May 3, 2007 at 9:29 am #51331ParticipantNeil Cavuto is a very nice man. I'd much prefer having the likes of him here than certain other people who often have trouble keeping a civil tongue in their mouths.
Neil Cavuto makes unfair statements and then renders them "harmless" by adding a question mark.
For example.
"That guy is some giant asshole."
"That guy is some giant asshole?"The last ones not calling that dude an asshole! Just asking, IS he an asshole?
May 4, 2007 at 2:58 pm #51332cpbell0033944
ParticipantCountry and Western I actually enjoyed listening to? ??? 😮 Blimey – I never expected that. 8) Well found sir. :-*
May 14, 2007 at 9:14 am #51333mikazuki
ParticipantInitially, I thought you were making a different point about the Power of Negative Thinking. I've recently read about the power of negative thinking in the sense that it can be a powerful form of energy to get us motivated to do things, even more so than "positive thinking" where one day we wake up feeling great and feel like conquering the world, then a day or two later, so go back into the slump because we just don't feel so good anymore. The power of negative thinking is undervalued in society because people are encouraged to keep their whining to themselves, and the energy gets stuck inside us rather than directing it into action. And even when we sometimes do direct it to action, we're not taught how to feed it into -constructive- action, and more oft than not, we hurt the close ones whom we wish to hurt the least. Whereas some cultures have made complaining and whining into an artform, for example, the blues and some traditional rituals.
Well, that was more than what I wanted to type, but I didn't want to sound vague.
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