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.

Let your friends know Facebook is telling you to think about them on their birthday

Once again, I received another email from Facebook this week instructing me to “Let Maxwell House know you are thinking about him on his birthday today.” And once again, I made sure to get up early enough to call my friend and wish him a happy birthday before Facebook sent me their crutch. My friends are important to me, and so are their birthdays. Like people used to do with their friend’s phone numbers, I make an effort to remember my friend’s birthdays and wish them a happy birthday. But Facebook has leveled the playing field. Now, instead of…

Read More

Speed recognition training

Anyone who checks out their local Nextdoor.com site knows that it’s a litany of neighborhood “for sale” ads and people noticing “suspicious vehicles” creeping around their houses. But it’s also full of people discussing how much people are speeding through their neighborhoods. In our neighborhood, it won’t be more than a few days before someone reports that everyone is avoiding the main roads to cut through our neighborhood and everyone driving in our neighborhood is flying and driving at least 40 mph. (The speed limit in our town is 25mph on nearly all roads.) This always makes me wonder,…

Read More

Proud to be an American (when it’s going my way)

Gallup released their annual 4th of July poll with the headline “Record-low 47% Extremely Proud to be Americans.” They’re focus for the story was that the percent of Americans who are proud to be American hit 47%, the lowest percent since they started the annual poll in 2001. I took away something completely different: Conservatives and Republicans (not the same thing) were consistently proud to be American, no matter what year, and no matter who was the President – Bush, Obama, or Trump. In the last five years, the percent of conservatives varied from 61% to 66%. Conservatives’ pride…

Read More

Who would you drop everything to go see?

Someone recently told me if Tony Robbins is ever in town, I have to go and see him. Which got me thinking… Wouldn’t it be cool if people felt that way about you? “If Face House is ever in town, drop what you’re doing to make sure you see him.” What would it take for people to say that about you? If you visited a city where you had friends, and they knew you were coming to town, how many would put aside other plans to make sure they saw you while you were there? What kind of person…

Read More

How does socialism kill people?

It’s not uncommon, when the topic of socialism comes up, for someone to say something like, “Do you know how many millions of people died in the name of socialism?” I’ve heard this said, but the conversation almost always move on without anyone really addressing it. Historically, we know that it’s true (at least most over the age of 25 do, anyway). Or at least we know that when there have been mass murders of populations, ethnicities or communities, the reigning government was collectivist, in nature. So, how does the one lead to the other? In simplest terms, socialism…

Read More

Free Tibet… but how?

If you drive, it won’t be too long before you see someone with a Free Tibet bumper sticker. When I see these, I wonder, if the US were to free Tibet by sending in our military, going to war with China, and taking back the country so they could govern themselves, would those who protested our presence in Kuwait or Iraq (who are generally the same people who would be likely to have a “Free Tibet” bumper sticker) react similarly to our heading into Tibet? Would they be upset about how it was freed? Would they even notice it…

Read More

Always mad at the consequence, never the action

Want to know how to avoid police brutality? Cooperate with a police officer. Want to know how to avoid being separated from your children when you’re in the country illegally? Don’t be in the country illegally. Trying to stay out of jail? Don’t break laws. Want to keep your right to vote? Avoid committing felonies. Don’t want to deal with road rage? Perhaps stop giving people the finger. Want to find a safe place to inject heroin? Don’t inject heroin. It’s the only safe way to deal with heroin. Don’t want to have to choose between an abortion and…

Read More

Lessons from high school

It’s amazing sometimes what you do and do not remember. Yesterday, I was talking with a friend about what he remembers from his high school teachers. One thing I remember distinctly is a Business Law teacher, Mr. Kraft, who often made a big point of telling all of us that we were not going to be rewarded for doing what we were supposed to do. His example? You will never get pulled over by a police officer and be thanked for driving the speed limit. It’s expected. That’s what you’re supposed to be doing. You will get praised for…

Read More

Bag your own groceries

The other day, I went in to our local grocery store to get some milk ‘n stuff. When I finally selected what I thought would be the quickest line, I ended up behind this guy in his mid-30s who had a fair amount of things. When it came time for the cashier to ring up his items, he just stood there with his arms at his sides as she just pushed one item after another toward the bags and the end of the conveyer. Once she finished with his items, he pulled out his wallet, as if he thought…

Read More

Heard on the elevator

I was riding the elevator this morning and two women got in and moved behind me, between me and the door. I was facing the door, so I couldn’t really see what was going on, but this is what I heard: “Your toes look so good today.” “Heh… thanks.” (Said sheepishly…) “They’re *ucking amazing!” (Said with an insane amount of enthusiasm.) The door opened on my floor before I was able to sneak a peak, but I’m going to take her word for it.

Read More

Subscribe to The Bubbler

Avoid the wait and get yourself the freshest stream.