random stuff friday!
Mood: determined
Posted on 2008-08-08 10:01:00
Tags: asmc politics links
Words: 164

Back to the summer musical grind tonight. It should be fun though - only one show and then the silent auction and a cash bar! Wooo!

random stuff:
- What I Learned Buying a Rug in Turkey - a narrative of good salesmanship. By the end I want a rug, too!
- The Tire-Gauge Dust-Up - contains this gem from Obama: "It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant."
- Women would rather carpool with Obama: because that matters for the leader of the free world. I'm glad Obama's winning that question (and the coveted "Who would you rather vacation with?"), but come on people!
- Nasty Democratic primary ends - I think "Jew-baiting" is a little strong for the ad that was aired, but it was nasty, and she lost.

Ever had that experience where, months or years after the fact, you discover there were crazy things going on you never expected behind the scenes that would have totally changed how you acted or felt? That always weirds me out.

6 comments

Comment from wildrice13:
2008-08-08T12:22:23+00:00
Re: your last paragraph, yup, that always weirds me out too. But because I tend to be a somewhat suspicious and analytical person, there's an extra layer for me. In the moment, I try to make myself assume good intentions and no hidden agenda, even if I think there might be one. So if I do happen to find out something different later, I either have a sense of "you know, I had this sneaking suspicion that might have been the case, but ignored it" or "wow, I usually pick up on that thing but I had NO IDEA it was going on this time. Crazy!"

That story about buying a rug in Turkey is very interesting. On one hand I really like when someone is willing to dedicate that much time and effort, when they really know and are willing to share about their product. But on the other hand I also very much appreciate a relaxed environment, so I get VERY uneasy when the sales part begins. Those "weapons" work well on me, and I think it's telling that the author the story talks about calls them weapons. They really are, and it's part of where I don't like the "art of business" and why I would never want to go to business school, why the concept of being a manager daunts me despite the fact that I think I'd have some skill in that direction. I don't WANT to use those "weapons" and make people uncomfortable. It's just not me.

I'm glad that woman lost the Democratic primary. Ugh.

Comment from llemma:
2008-08-08T13:40:36+00:00
That particular ad might not have included much Jew-baiting, but she did publish posters in which she stated that the people of the region should be represented by a black Christian who loved Jesus, not a Jew, who hate Jesus. In those words.

Comment from gregstoll:
2008-08-08T13:46:34+00:00
Ah. Well, that settles that :-)

(actually, it looks like she didn't publish the posters, but she did air another ad sorta linking her opponent with the KKK...)

Comment from llemma:
2008-08-08T14:03:19+00:00
Thanks for the correction. (: I feel better, actually, knowing that it wasn't the actual candidate with that craziness.

Comment from copperwolf:
2008-08-08T16:22:17+00:00
How did you come across the rug sale anecdote? It's interesting, and I am now looking up Robert Cialdini on Amazon.

Comment from gregstoll:
2008-08-08T16:26:29+00:00
I found it at Hacker News (specifically here).

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