Spout

This site is full of ideas. Some of them might make you cringe. They may not align with your worldview, perspectives, or experiences. That’s a great thing.

Sharing is caring

Hi. As of today, we’re two months into this experiment that is the Bubbler. My goal was to share what I was thinking with you, and hope that instead of rejecting the ideas because of some trigger or word cue you may have seen, you would stop and consider the idea, discuss it with friends, and see if there’s anything to it. As the website says: I don’t want to tell you what to think. I’m just asking you to think. Thank you all for sticking with it this long. I hope you’re finding something interesting or enjoyable in…

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Forget the excuses

Forget white privilege. Nevermind racism, sexism, and bigotry. There’s no such thing as homophobia, and I’ve never seen ageism. I’ve no interest in #metoo, and all lives matter. All of it is nonsense. It’s noise. Excuses. Life is so easy when we group people together and make up reasons why entire swaths of society just can’t seem to get ahead. Blacks can’t get a fair shake. Women don’t stand a chance. Gays are in hiding. It’s getting so even white males aren’t safe anymore. Just stop already. I reject all of it. It’s just you. And whatever it is…

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We always know when we get what we deserve

We’ve all heard complaints about not keeping score in youth sports. You know, everyone getting a trophy. Winning and losing is critical to the human experience because it happens in all aspects of life. At work, you’re judged against your own accomplishments and the accomplishments of others. At school, you’re judged against your ability to answer a certain percentage of the questions properly. In sports, you’re judged by any number of statistics that are designed to measure your performance against others. In relationships, some people will like you and some will not, no matter what you do. I’ve had…

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Can you use it in a sentence?

Every so often, we make up words that aren’t words, but should be words. Some of you may remember sniglets: words Rich Hall made up to describe things for which there were no words, like Snackmosphere: the pocket of air found inside snack and/or potato chip bags. Douglas Adams, of Hitchhiker’s Guide fame, also came up with a book of them called, The Meaning of Liff. This featured words like Shoeburyness: “The vague uncomfortable feeling you get when sitting on a seat that is still warm from somebody else’s bottom.” I thought of these because of a recent slip up when I…

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Standing out in your job search

As frustrating as a job search can be, there’s always a “thrill of the hunt” aspect that gets me fired up. What I find most exhilarating is trying to find creative and resourceful ways to get myself (or at least my name) in front of the hiring manager. Personal contact and networking are most often the keys to finding a job. Simply sending in a resume and hoping for the best usually ends with the emailed form letter rejection. Recently, a local agency provided the perfect opportunity for some creativity. Their listing included the line, “If you you want…

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The most important meal of the day should be eaten in private

There are few things more irritating than watching and listening to someone else eat cereal. It’s a noisy, clumsy food. The constant clanking of the spoon on the side of the bowl or the clicking of the spoon on teeth. The chewing. The accumulation of saliva washing around in your mouth. The milk dripping off the spoon into the pooled milk below making that trickling water effect. Hell, I even annoy myself when I eat cereal. Eating cereal is best done in private. So why can’t people build cereal eating into their morning routine… BEFORE they leave for work….

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An activist’s work is never done (no, really… it isn’t)

Activists never succeed. It’s the nature of the activist. Perceived wrongs and injustices are identified and then well-meaning people begin raising money and awareness about them until one day, the look up and realize they have a career. One argument I often hear about unions is that without them, we wouldn’t have proper work safety, child labor laws, etc. First, I wonder if that’s even true. (You really have to have a lack of faith in people.) But either way, the union concept did improve the work place – over 100 years ago. But do union activists ever sit…

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I scream, you scream

I was in the grocery store today getting food for a get together I was hosting, and it seemed like the right thing to get some ice cream. When I got to the ice cream aisle, there was a guy shopping for just the right ice cream. He and his cart were parked about two inches from the glass, and every time he got to a new window, he had to open the door to look at each pint, as if the glass door was somehow preventing him from seeing in. This guy obviously is a science denier, because…

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Let’s go break shi*

File Rage Industry under the heading of businesses I wish I had started. Rage Industry’s entire premise is they have a room dedicated to breaking stuff. If you’ve had a stressful day, week, month, or year, and you’re looking for a release, Rage Industries has a facility built specifically for you to go ahead and break, wreck, or destroy anything you’d like using anything you’d like. Oh sure, you have to wear a requisite amount of safety gear, due to regulations. But it doesn’t appear to hinder your ability to really cut loose. Not sure if Rage Industry is…

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