Ancient History Ramblings

About Time for Another Rant

Well, it has been a while since I expressed my, shall we say, anger about an issue. Today's topic deals with SW Pennsylvania. People living here have the curious habit of when they are trying to order food in a fast food restaurant, they try to form one single line about 10 feet from the registers and then go to the next available register. This is especially apparent in the local McDonalds near campus. At lunch recently, about 30 people were waiting to order and they were all bunched in front of the door with this 10 foot gap between them and the 4 working registers. People literally could not get into the restaurant because of this bizarre desire to be waited upon in the exact order people entered the register. Why can they not form 4 lines like in almost every other McDonalds world-wide? There are other fast food restaurants that cordon off a single line that then goes to multiple registers - Wendy's springs to mind. But there is no effort at the McDonalds to help form an organized line, it is left to be an unruly mob. What really bothers me is that this behavior is not consistent. People do not do this at the grocery store, instead they choose a line. Or at the gas station, when the pumps are all occupied, they pull their car into a specific line instead of forming a single waiting line. Or at the car wash....I could go on, but better stop since it is making me angry just thinking about it.

RSM

One Italian Rant

Since I am still a bit off schedule, allow me one brief rant. What is the deal with musicians in restaurants in Rome? At several places I ate at in Rome, musicians would walk up and start playing an assortment of instruments (accordion, guitar, violin, clarinet, etc.) and singing various songs. Then after a while, they would then come around looking for monetary gifts.Street performers I understand, and can put up with since I can walk away - but when I am eating and trapped in place, it is very frustrating to have to hear yet another version of Volare and then be hit up for money. The worst was in Pompeii. The musician, who to be honest was only so-so, was persistent and would stay at each table holding out a tambourine until someone at the table coughed up some Euros. When he got to our table, I was quite willing to wait until the bus left before I would give in. I actually entertained the thought of taking some money from his tambourine and saying "thanks." Anyway, the couple from Argentina at my table eventually felt bad enough to donate some money to him. The worst was when I was leaving, I heard a woman tell our guide that "Wasn't that musician great?" This nearly led to an international incident......

RSM

Another Rant

So, today, along with about 600 billion other people, I took my family to the Pittsburgh Zoo. While I enjoyed the day, I was left with 2 issues that I want to rant about. First issue: people who drive like they have all day to reach their destination. I am not advocating speeding, but I got behind several cars who evidently were in no hurry to complete their journey, no matter how many cars were held up behind them. What I can't figure out about these people is that they drive the same speed no matter what the speed limit is. Most of these people drive about 40 miles an hour, when the speed limit is 25, 35, 45, or 55. So they speed through town, but then drive slowly out of town - what is the deal?

Issue 2: strollers. As a parent with 2 children, I have used and appreciated the value of strollers when visiting places with small children. BUT, it seems that people who use strollers today are evidently told when they purchase their stroller that when they are pushing their strollers that everyone else is legally obligated to get out of their way or it is ok to run them over. My favorite pose today was the parent turning their stroller sideways to block the path and then stepping back to take a digital photo - and the camera had to be held at arm's length to function for some reason.And the worst was the double stroller, which seems to be about 12 feet wide. What is going through a person's mind to choose this doublewide - why not the model with one child in the front and one in the back? All I am saying is that if you use a stroller, show some consideration for other people - is that too hard?

RSM

Another Rant

Ok, it has been a while since my last rant (at least in this blog), which was back in January. So I am well overdue for another. Today's rant involves cell phones. I was out recently having dinner when a cell phone went off in the restaurant with an extremely loud and obnoxious ring tone. Then a woman two tables away answered the phone and began carrying on a conversation with someone at the top of her lungs. This went on for a good 10 minutes.Why do people do this? Is it too hard to speak quietly or to go outside? She was so loud that it was hard to hear people at my table talk. If your cell phone service is so bad that you have to yell to be heard, get a new provider! It reminded me of a sitcom episode I saw a few years ago where when this happened, the main character of the show turned to the loud cell phone talker and joined in the conversation, totally freaking out the person. I should do this next time and maybe I will.

RSM

First, a Rant

Ok, I know that I am tired after traveling yesterday (and I know compared to some people that it was a short trip), but I have to rant for a few minutes - and this is because my wife won't listen to me on these subjects anymore. This will have a point at the end, I think. I really am turning into a grumpy old man. Have you ever noticed (now I sound like Andy Rooney) how people are oblivious to others? I noticed this again in the airports I was in yesterday and maybe that shouldn't count since people are often very focused on getting to where they are going. But, on the moving sidewalks for example - you are supposed to stand on the right side and leave the left open for walkers, so as I follow a couple onto the sidewalk, one leans on the right rail and one leans on the left rail with their luggage in the middle. As I walk up to them, they look at me and then continue their conversation. Since I was in a hurry, I said "Excuse me?" And they looked at me like I had some sort of problem and reluctantly moved over like I was interfering with them. Or the people talking on the cell phone while doing other things. I stopped to get cash from an ATM and the guy in front of me was talking on his cell phone while doing it, and three times he stopped what he was doing to focus on his telephone conversation. Fortunately, the last time he did this, he even slowly turned around while talking and saw me staring at him in disbelief. Or when I stopped to buy some small gifts for my kids and the lady in line in front of me at the register stopped paying for her stuff to take a phone call.

So, what is my point here? One, I certainly understand that cell phones and portable electronics have created this artificial cocoon around people that allow them to ignore others. But I think that this also applies to academics in the way we sometimes tune out the public and publish our results for ourselves or other academics. We need to do a better job of involving the public in what we do, particularly as historians and archaeologists. We shouldn't rely only on public historians, since that is their job - we should all be public historians. We should want to disseminate our findings as broadly and as quickly as we can and fortunately there are new digital ways that are available to make that happen.

RSM