YARISTOCBIB*

These shirts have the biggest freaking collars I've ever seen!


(* yet another reason I should try on clothes before I buy)

This has been bugging me all day long ...

So, I get this "workforce crisis" issue; I've heard about the trend towards specialization; I've read about the next "era" of modern society being based on knowledge and that labour is the thing of the past.

Coincidingly, I know that I am moving to the outer edge, if not already beyond the window, of target demographic for consumerism. I'm aware that CRM systems have probably tagged my buying pattern as a non-profitable, possibly even undesireable customer/consumer. I know companies would rather market to my kids than to me. I know that I now shop by aisle, rather than by floor or section.

I get all that. But I can't help but find myself wondering ...

Is it too much to ask for someone working in the clothing department to know how to fold a freaking shirt!

For the record, I am neither impressed by the number of folds you can introduce into my shirt, nor by the how tightly you can pack my shirts into the smallest of bags; nor even by the variety of balloon-animal-shirt arrangements you can make before my very eyes. ("Balloon" modifies "animal" - I don't know what a "balloon-shirt" is/would be.)

Just to make sure I've covered all the angles - I am not Harry Houdini, I am not Doug Henning; I am not David Copperfield; I am neither bound by employment, nor do I dabble in hobbies that, require anything resembling strait-jacket test-worthiness of my apparel.

Damn, buddy.

Oooohhhh-trivin. Every once in a while, someone tries to tell me I have an Otrivin addiction. (I use it seasonally, so I don't think that counts. It just happens to be convenient for me to have some at home, work and in the car.)

But, I think I saw a commercial today for something called Nasanex. Not sure if this product is universal and/or the advertising rules are, but any ads for medicine now have to include disclaimers on the side effects. I swore I thought I heard that, in addition to the the standard side effects of drowziness, dizziness and dry skin, apparently this stuff can give you a viral infection!

I don't wanna hear any more noise about Otrivin.