Edition 275 – Confounded

Something different this week. These are the things I’m confounded by right now:

1. Men using their phones in public toilets – and they’re not on “hands-free”. Haven’t they learned anything about hygiene in the past 12 months or have they always been grubs? By the way, some of these guys are, ummm, how should we say, sitting……not standing.
2. Unemployment is at 5.5%, yet every family business I know, if not crying out for staff, is certainly looking for them. What beach are those 5.5% lying on?
3. Why right lane hogs are not pulled over for their selfishness & stupidity let alone the potential danger they pose to other road users?
4. The amount of fast food litter along our roadsides. If the younger generations are so concerned about the environment, why are they throwing their litter out of car windows? Or maybe it’s their grandparents who, apparently, caused all the problems to date and, perhaps, still are?
5. The more high end the establishment, the lower the quality of their wait staff. Apparently their food sells itself and the front of house people have forgotten the definition of “hospitality”.
6. Banks not liking the concept of “buy-now-pay-later” finance options (think Afterpay) for personal customers applying for home loans, yet are happy with those customers having higher levels of credit card debt. Could it be that the banks play in the latter space, but not the former and don’t like their business model being disrupted?
7. How 50% of the world’s pharmaceuticals are manufactured in India, the country most ravaged by COVID 19 during a time of vaccine rollouts?
8. Why so many reality television shows exhibit so much negative energy, foul language, nasty name calling and plain old horrible behaviour? Is it ironic that the same networks that roll out this stuff have, one hour earlier, editorialised to politicians and others in the public sphere their behaviour is bad and needs to improve.
9. Needing to apply for a travel permit (which really is just another name for a Visa) to enter Victoria from New South Wales, only to be confronted by nine officers of some State Government authority ready and waiting to check your details when you hop off the plane. By the way, if you drive, you’re through at 100 kmh, no problems.
10. Anyone that says they love going to Bunnings! I can’t think of anything worse. I learned long ago that if I persisted with the notion that I was a home handyman that I was going to die….mainly because I almost did!
11. How people who willingly and lovingly took in a dog from a rescue shelter this time last year, are now handing them back. Let’s hope they don’t feel the same way if and when they have children.

Sometimes, when you stop and think about things, there’s quite a lot of ridiculousness in the world..