The Todd Blog

Hayley has her very own blog now. It’s amazing.

Hayley left a comment at the end of the “Twitter Fight” post that I’m afraid will be missed now that the conversation has wrapped up. Her insight, per usual, is spot-on.

I have two strikes against my credibility as I’m not on Twitter and I’m Todd’s wife, but I have one comment I’d like to make regarding this fight (or, “extended conversation wherein both participants talked past each other over an entire weekend, up to an including a full work day”). I don’t know how many followers Todd and Shea lost, but I would suggest that any lost followers may not be due to disagreements with each person’s stance but rather a disappointment with the tone of the conversation. Shea’s tweets were kind of mean-spirited and Todd’s post was a little spiteful. Maybe I don’t know since I’m not on Twitter, but Twitter is supposed to be fun, right? It doesn’t seem fun to me to watch two people trade angry and vulgar barbs over a rather insignificant issue. Maybe if the conversation had been kept lighter and hadn’t verged into the spiteful no followers would’ve been lost and all the commenters on the summary, rebuttal, and rebuttal-to-the-rebuttal blog posts could’ve been working [Monday] afternoon rather than dissecting this “fight.”

P.S. I know Todd and Shea may not have written anything with malicious intent, but all we have to go on is how they came across, and they came across as rather mean.

P.P.S. I also know Todd and Shea aren’t belly-aching over having lost any followers.

As far as I can tell, I didn’t really lose very many (if any) followers, but I did lose some respect for myself and the way I handled the situation. Once again, Hayley cuts to the quick. 

What do you think? Is she right?

I’ve often wondered to myself how profitable those mall kiosk shops are. Selling $10 sunglasses, cell-phone-blinging cases and purses with dead celebrities on them don’t seem like very lucrative ventures. And it’s pretty apparent from most kiosks that the employees agree – they’re very rarely trying to move any merchandise, choosing instead to text on their cell phone or stare blankly into space.

However, one particular kiosk in our mall bucks this passive-behavior trend.

There is some kind of Dead-Sea-Salt-Lotion product that the employees are VERY eager for those who walk by their stand to sample. I was unaware of their eagerness, and this ignorance caused a small disagreement between Hayley and me.

Hayley and I were enjoying a low-key day at the mall. I don’t remember the exact details, but I’m sure I was carrying several bags while munching on a delicious Auntie Anne’s pretzel. As we got near Dillard’s, a man jumped in front of us and said something along the lines of “Hello! Would you like to try this lotion?” Hayley politely refused and he then replied, “Well can I ask you a question?” Again, Hayley refused, but this time, not as politely.

I was shocked – Hayley is not typically rude to complete strangers like that. And so I told her that I thought she should have at least answered the guy’s question so as to avoid being terribly rude. She disagreed. And we had a small argument about it.

Boy was I wrong.

Those guys are like Venus Fly Traps – they lure you in with the innocent “Can I ask you a question?” question and then they don’t let you go. They snap down and put on the hard sell like you would not believe. I am now ruder to them than the Abercrombie salesfolks are to ugly people.

So once again, Hayley was right. I should have known better than to argue with her mall acumen.

Supposedly, I am an advertiser’s nightmare.

I pay attention to commercials and find plot inconsistencies, grammatical errors, poor line readings, ridiculous scenarios and tons of flawed logic on the part of the writers and producers. If they expect me to ignore the fantastic capabilities of my DVR and actually sit through their ads, they need to put a little more effort into not making their ads asinine.

And as may have been previously discussed in this space, I bristle at someone telling me what to do, so when someone on TV tells me to buy a certain product my natural inclination is to avoid buying that product just so that they know I can’t be told what to do.

There have been many products that I have avoided based solely on their lame/bossy commercials, but never has a product’s advertisements incited the anger I feel when the Charmin bears come on my screen. They’re stupid, nonsensical, and gross. I will sit through used car and fast food commercials, but I will mute and turn away from those Charmin ads.

I refuse to buy their product, but they are tricky and bought the prime shelf space at the grocery store, so I have had to teach myself to be much more cognizant of my toilet paper choices. No more strolling down the aisle and absentmindedly grabbing a package off the shelf while continuing to push the cart for me.

No, I hate those bears and will not buy Charmin toilet paper until they find a new ad campaign and issue an apology to America for foisting those bears upon us.

The end.

Typical conversation in our home:
Me: “You really need a new blog post, it’s been nearly two weeks.“
Todd: “I know, but I don’t have time, or anything to write about.“
Me: “Well, you need to do something because you’re going to lose readers.“
Todd: “Why don’t you write a post for me?“
Me: “No.”

Yes Internet, it’s me, Todd’s lovely wife, she of the hula-ing and scrunched-up face.

In the past I have turned down Todd’s offers of writing blog posts because I never feel I have anything to write about that anyone else would want to read. Todd tells me I need to get over that, because if everyone else felt that way we would have no blogs, and then what would America do during the day to avoid actual work? I have relented in this case, though, because three* bloggers are trying to raise money for adoption:

Brian Seay’s Un-Raffle – You can win a trip (but this is not gambling)!

Steven Bush – You can buy a pretty picture!

The Neills – You can buy a pretty hair bow!

If you’re able, please give what you can to these three families! And please stop back by Todd’s blog in about 5–7 years (timeline still under negotiation) and donate to our own adoption!

Thank you, Internet, for reading my blog post.

Hayley

*I understand that there could be many more than 3 bloggers currently raising money for adoptions but these are the ones I am currently aware of.**

**Yes, I totally ended my sentence with a preposition. Todd knows how to push my buttons, and I know how to push his.