Karma is a Bitch

 

Karma is a Bitch

 I am not a vindictive person, at least no more than most people, but I do love a good “Ass-hat gets his comeuppance” story.

My favorite scene from “The Godfather” was the baptism scene at the end when all the heads of the families that conspired against the “Godfather” get wacked.

No, I don’t usually like violence, but when bad people pay a price, I do get a little vigilante pleasure in their demise.  I know, it is still wrong…

I’ll light a candle and move on.

At my work many years ago, there was a manager who held power over maybe 25 people.  To those 25 he was an ass-hat with a capitol “A”.

To his bosses, he was an ass-kisser with a capitol “A”.  

I knew him to also be completely incompetent at his job.

He toyed with the emotions of those who reported to him.  He was a misogynistic prick even in those days where misogynism was accepted by many and tolerated by most women.

When the company was faced with cutting costs, and when computers had reduced the Ass-hats staff, those whose butts he had been kissing determined he was not really very important.  In particular, his direct report saw through him and knew he was worse than worthless, he was a deterrent to productivity.

The Ass-hat was let go, and his exit was not pretty.  Caught by complete surprise he was in tears as he was led out of the building by security.

Did I take pleasure in his exit?  

Oh yes…yes I did.

I’ll light another candle.

This week another ass-hat at a much higher level is taking a walk of shame.  Head held high, but with a sneer, the raging bully, Andrew Cuomo, abdicated his NY Governors throne.

The son of  "Vote for Cuomo, not the Homo"* Former Governor Mario Cuomo fame, hit the karma wall. 

He left as he was accused of assault by multiple women.  He left as he was facing charges of mismanagement of Covid in nursing homes, but mostly he left because he was no longer able to intimidate. 

As charges mounted it became possible to avoid his arm-twisting tactics and his own bullying, power yielding personality took him down.

Will I miss his daily High School Principal style lectures telling us how to behave during a pandemic where he screwed up so badly?  No.

Will I take pleasure in his demise, his disgrace, his precipitous downfall?

Yes.  Yes, I will.

I’ll light a candle.

*Mario ran against unmarried NYC Mayor Ed Koch who was suspected by many to be gay.   He did not endorse the "Vote for..." but he did not discourage it either.  He was also a bully.

 

A Failure to Communicate

 

A Failure to Communicate

 Have I ever commented on Mrs. C’s poor communication?  I think I have.  Anyway, she is a poor communicator.

Nothing serious, we do not need to see a counselor. But it can be annoying, especially when she says it is my inability to listen.

First off, in my defense, I am a guy.  None of us listen.  It is a given.  Women buy shoes and talk forever on the phone.  Guys don’t listen.

Anyway, Mrs. C communicates, but she does no like to waste words (unlike most women).  

Example:

“Kare, where is the new fornistat we just bought at Lowes?”

“Downstairs!”

OK, she has saved many words, but it is those words that are required to find where she put the brand new fornistat. (Yes, that is made up)

“Where downstairs?”

“In the kitchen!”

“Where in the kitchen, I don’t see it.  If I did, I wouldn’t be yelling.”

“On the chair.”

“We have 7 chairs.”

“The one around the table.”

“We have 4 around the table.”

“The one with the coat on the seat.”

“I still don’t see it.”

“Look under the coat.”

I often wonder why she could not just answer the first time,

“Under the coat on the chair around the kitchen table.”

I guess she thinks she is saving words.

Today was another perfect example.

“I’m going out to put the garbage can on the street for tomorrows pick up.”

As I am unlocking the front door she responds,

“Leave the door unlocked.”

“Why would I relock the door, I am just going to come back when I take out the garbage can?”

“Not the front door, the side door on the garage, why would I want the front door unlocked?”

“I don’t know, call me crazy, but when I am at a door, in the process of unlocking it to go out and you tell me not to relock a door, my mind just gravitates to the door I am actually unlocking at the very moment, not the garage door.”

“But relocking the front door makes no sense!”

“Exactly!”

“So, what is your point.”

“You could have specified ‘the side garage door’.”

“I shouldn’t have to.”

It always makes me think of the Paul Newman movie “Cool Hand Luke” and the prison boss,

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

 

THIS IS A TEST

 THIS IS A TEST

Today I was watching an afternoon Yankee baseball game when, with bases loaded in the first inning and Luke Voit at bat, the screen went green and a message crossed the top.

“This is a test of the emergency broadcast system.”

The test lasted for five minutes.  FIVE MINUTES!

Now this usually happens late at night when I am one of seventeen people still up and watching TV, but this was 2:30 in the afternoon.

AND LUKE VOIT WAS AT BAT WITH THE BASES LOADED!

And what the Hell are these tests for anyway?

The test is intended to ensure public safety officials have the methods and systems that will deliver urgent alerts and warnings to the public in times of an emergency or disaster.

Why thank you Google…

BTW, as a test, if you count audio, every test is a failure.  All I ever hear is a scratchy muffled:

“This is a tryst of the immigrant broad straddle sister.  If it were a real umbilical, we would alarm you turtle French frizzle.  Repeat, this is early a mess.”

But in a real emergency, what happens to all the people who don’t have a TV or never watch the one they have?

Based on my blog readership, almost half of the people in the country either do not have a TV or almost never watch if they do have one.  How are they notified of an emergency?

Will all those non-TV watching people DIE?

What about the vast majority of other TV watchers who only watch PBS or CNN?  Surely the news would report on an emergency…that would be kind of like news.

So, do we really need the Emergency broadcast system? 

Paul Revere reached more people via horse than the Emergency broadcast system would reach today.

I’ll bet it would be possible to alert people over their cell phones easier than via TV.  That would alert everyone in the country under 75 years old.  You could then just interrupt the “Judge Judy” show for everyone else.

Why don’t they advise us of emergencies that way and stop interrupting my Yankee games or late-night re-runs of “90 Day Fiancé”?

When will Government recognize real priorities?

 

Oh yeah…Voit got a single and two runs scored.  I sure would have liked to have seen it.