Today's Cool News

Even I Can't Hear What They're Saying at the Drive Thru Window Sometimes

Despite decades of listening to loud heavy metal, I still manage to hear well enough for day to day conversation.  Still, sometimes at the fast-food restaurant drive-thru window, I feel like I'm having a conversation with a noise box instead of a person.

Now imagine the same experience if you're deaf... and have three deaf kids in the car... and you just want a milkshake.

Karen is a Deaf Mom Shares Her World:

After picking my youngest son up from school, we decided to grab some shakes at the local Steak and Shake before heading over to the middle school to pick up Lauren.

I went through the empty drive through and drove past the speaker. After waiting a few minutes at the window, I finally honked the horn and waited some more. After a second honk a few minutes later, a young man appeared.

"Hi! I didn't order back there as I can't hear," I said, pointing to my ear. "I'd like two small shakes, one vanilla and one chocolate."

"You'll have to drive around again so I can take your order through the speaker," the guy said.

"I can't hear back there, so I'll need you to take my order here," I explained.

"No, it's our policy. You'll have to just drive around and tell me your order and then I can take your order."

"I can't use the speaker, which is why I'm at the window giving you my order here!" I started raising my voice a little, as I was getting frustrated at the hoops he was putting me through.

So I told him about the Americans with Disabilities Act and I explained that taking orders through the window is an accommodation that I need because I can't use the speaker to place an order.

So at that point the guy, a manager and trainer, says okay, let me get your shakes right?  Wrong.

I sat there flabbergasted. I was getting more upset by the minute. All I wanted was the dang shakes! Then another car pulled up behind us.

"Look, if you're not going to take my order, I'm going to file a complaint and let the corporate office know about this."

"Well, I can call the cops on you for disrupting the business and holding up the drive thru."

"You're going to call the cops on me? I'm just trying to get service here!"

"I'm done with you." He abruptly shut the window, threw up his hands and walked away.

She finally gets him back to the window... when he makes it clear he doesn't believe she's deaf.

So I lifted up my hair and showed him my hearing aids. The look on his faced changed a bit. I guess it started to sink in that even though I speak well, I wasn't kidding about being deaf. You would think at that point, he would graciously return to "serve the customer" mode and take my order.

He still didn't. I explained to him that I was going to call the corporate office and let them know that I was being refused service. "Go ahead, call them," he said. "You will need to leave, you are holding up the line."

And he closed the window again.

Steak and Shake, you'll be hearing from me.

As outrageous as this is, to me it's just another example of the evils that have come from our "zero tolerance" world where people don't have to think, they just have to "follow policy."

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A Slice of Life Story

Your Daddy is a Rapist

What could be worse than having a 12-year old daughter who is a rape victim?  How about having the local newspaper report that you're the one who raped her.

From the Courier-Mail:

AT the age of 12 every child should have the right to be happy. But for one Queensland child - the victim of the Aurukun rape case that has made international headlines - life is just four walls and the same seven faces.

Held alone in a safe house near Cairns with little outside contact, the girl – born with fetal alcohol syndrome – is violent, rebellious and angry at the world.

Since being raped by nine males at age 10, she has racked up 70 criminal charges including violent assault, and has been diagnosed as having the mental age of a six-year-old.

(snip)

Born in 1995 with fetal alcohol syndrome, she was raped before she was five and taken into foster care for what was to be the first of 40 different homes due to her unruly nature.

Ahh... but that's apparently not how that last graph originally read.

From Regret the Error:

IN THE weekend edition of January 12-13, The Courier-Mail published an article, “Aurukun rape victim in hiding”, which incorrectly said that a 12-year-old child had been raped by her father before she was five. The Courier-Mail regrets the error, retracts the allegation and apologises to the father for any distress and embarrassment caused as a result of the publication.

Distress and embarrassment indeed.

Win $10,000 in Free Gear from Gibson! Believe That?

I've said before in this space that I love having a hobby that exposes me to the music business, but I would never want to have to actually depend on the people you encounter there to make a living.

Here's a case in point.  A hip hop musician with the unlikely (for a musician, it seems to me) name of Tonedeff flew to Chicago on his own dime to compete in the 2006 Lolapalooza Last Band Standing contest where he won.

Note the prize package:

Last Band Standing - Prizes
* A spot on the lineup: an opening slot on a feature stage.
* Artist passes for the entire weekend with access to catering, the artist lounge, and everywhere else bands get to go!
* Rooms for the weekend at the House of Blues Hotel.
* Festival tickets for your friends to see you play.
* $10,000 worth of equipment from our friends at Gibson. (yes, believe it!)
* An interview and in-store performance at Virgin Megastore.
* Band promotion on the homepage of Lollapalooza.com and partner websites.
* Plus countless other Lolla goodies and schwag.

Maybe you don't believe it.  You won't believe Tonedeff's story of long (year and a half now) negotiations by e-mail with a Gibson rep named Don Pitts.

Why didn’t I receive anything? I guess you’d have to ask Don Pitts, Entertainment Liason for GIBSON Guitars. He’s the guy who apparently deals with artist sponsorships and the like. He was the man in charge of this particular situation and who, in my opinion, handled it in an unorganized and sloppy manner.

I would leave phone messages, emails, etc that would take weeks for him to respond to. Finally, I land him on the phone and tells me that he’s ‘inexperienced with how these types of contests run’, and he’s ‘not sure how to go about this’. This conversation would set the tone for the entire ordeal.

But then he starts making statements that bug me. He tells me, “I mean, this is kind of weird, because you know, you DON’T play the guitar or drums.” This definitely rubbed me the wrong way, because I already felt as though he was being unnecessarily difficult to contact and somewhat curt on the phone. So, from that statement, I guess I could gather, that there are some reservations on the Gibson side as to whether they need to accommodate ‘a rapper’ with their gear.

Whatever man, I just wanted what I won fair and square.

A year and a half later, Tonedeff's feelings haven't changed.

It’s been a few months since I even bothered to contact anyone. The last few times I contacted the Lollapalooza folks, they always seem surprised that I hadn’t received anything yet. I’ve realized that it’s basically useless to complain to them anymore, because it’s clear that they’re still dealing with Don Pitts. I’ve even tried calling him myself and no one answers. (Surprise!).

As of right now, I want the entire WORLD to know how horribly this entire situation was handled by Don Pitts @ Gibson. And after all my troubles dealing with his lack of direction and continual roadblocks, I don’t think it would be out of line to ask for $10k in compensation from Gibson. Think about it – I won $10k worth of gear fair and square, but since they refused to give it to me, shouldn’t I be entitled to the same value in cash? ESPECIALLY after the treatment I’ve gotten from their rep?

Clearly, they have no intention on doing that either. Which is why everyone’s still in the dark about it. Maybe they thought I’d just “go away”. WRONG. It shouldn’t matter if I rap, played a spoon or did acapella like Bobby McFerrin – They OWE me, PERIOD. I hope the everyone reads this and sees how they tried to weasel their way out of this, and how they tried to play me cause I’m a Hip Hop artist.

So to be fair here, we don't know Gibson's side of the story.  I've emailed a request for comment to both Mr. Pitt's e-mail address and an address listed on a Gibson press contact list. I'll let you Google those addresses yourself.   I'll also let you know what, if anything I hear back.

If this thing catches on, it sure seems like it would be worth it to Gibson to make this right just to eliminate the bad publicity.  Read the comments both here and here to see how the story is already starting to agitate the customer base.

Show Support for Long Haired Kids! Hooray for Matthew Lopez-Widish

Update 3:

I took my fight for Matthew to KRON4 television in San Francisco today:

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Update2:

I just wrote Matthew through his MySpace to congratulate him on getting to transfer.  With his permission, I'm quoting his response to me.

Thank you Brian. Even though I am attending another school that will allow me to have my hair down, or up, which ever I prefer, I will still fight against Kerens. What they are doing is wrong. There is a prison in Texas that allows prisoners to have long hair...Kerens has stricter rules then a prison. To me, that's down right wrong. Teachers and admin. are supposed to show us how to accept different people, not tell them "Your different and because of that, you won't be as successful in life." I had a teacher who I really liked, I was helping direct the play, and was the lead in it, the teacher told me if I didn't conform to what Kerens wanted, I wouldn't get any recommendations for scholarships or colleges because of all this. Nice to see how people can turn. I thank you for your support Brian, I will continue to fight for the right that us kids and adults deserve.

I have a feeling we're going to be hearing good things from Matthew in the future.  Good for him.

Brian

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UPDATE:  Happy Ending!!!

From the Dallas Morning News:

Matthew Lopez-Widish, one of five students suspended from Kerens High School for not cutting their hair, has transferred to another high school that will allow him to wear his hair down.

After a disciplinary hearing at the Kerens ISD campus today, Matthew will attend Trinidad School, which is in another school district and about nine miles east of his current high school in Navarro County.

"They actually said he could wear his hair down," said Linda Lopez, Matthew's mom.

Whatever punishment Kerens ISD hands down, Trinidad School will have to honor all or part of it, Mrs. Lopez said. Kerens ISD Superintendent Kevin Stanford said last week that the students could face alternative school until they cut their hair.

Another student who was suspended, Derek Divetta, said he was thinking about following Matthew to Trinidad School. He still was considering the decision with his dad Wednesday night.

"I'm going to say that there's a good chance that I will transfer," he said.

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Okay, here's a story that's really making me mad.  Have we really not accomplished anything over the last 40 years when guys are still getting suspended from school for having long hair?

We need to start a movement to show support for Matthew Lopez-Widish and his friends in Kerens, Texas... not too far from Corsicana, home of the world's largest fruitcake factory.  I ain't makin' this up.

From the Dallas Morning News

KERENS, Texas – Matthew Lopez-Widish hasn't cut his curly brown hair in four years, and he doesn't plan to despite an ultimatum from high school administrators.

Matthew Lopez-Widish was told by Kerens officials to cut his hair before returning to classes, per the policy that forbids male students from having hair that extends past the collar.

A few days before Christmas break at Kerens High School, about 15 miles east of Corsicana in a tiny town known as the birthplace of Big Tex, the straight-A student and at least four other students were called into the principal's office.

Cut your hair by the time you return to school in January or be sent to alternative school, be removed from all extracurricular activities and risk not graduating, Matthew said the principal and assistant principal told him.

Classes in the Kerens district resume today.

"I told them that I'm not going to cut my hair," said Matthew, 18, whose hair, when uncurled, reaches the middle of his back. "It may seem kind of stubborn, but to me, it's part of who I am."

Matthew says that his rights are being stripped and that he's going to take his concerns to the school board meeting Monday.

"I just want the school board to notice that just because I have long hair doesn't mean I'm going to quit learning or obstructing people from learning," Matthew said.

There's some excellent video coverage of this from KXAS

From his Myspace Page, it appears he's an AC/DC fan.

If you think this sucks as much as I do, contact the Kerens High School District. at:

Kerens Independent School District
P. O. Box 310, 200 Bobcat Lane
Kerens, TX  75144-0310
Telephone:  (903) 396-2924
Fax:  (903) 396-2334
webmaster email admin@kerens.k12.tx.us

Seriously folks, of all the challenges facing American education today, why are we even talking about long hair other than schools are still more about power play mind games with kids than about actually educating them.

GPS Run Amok on Small English Country Roads

I love my GPS but recognize that it could lead me astray.  Fortunately, I don't live in a town with roads built for horse and cart.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

With its winding country lanes and parish church, its 18th-century cottages and sleepy allotments, life is gentle and agreeable in this bucolic southeast English village. Or at least it was until the truck drivers started coming through.

First there was the Slovenian driver en route to Wales with a load of paper who took an improbable detour and ended up wedging his juggernaut into a tiny lane. It was stuck for two days.

Then there were the 10-wheelers that wheezed their way up Butcher's Lane, a thin ribbon of a road constructed with horse and cart in mind. One made a mess of the roof on Ena Wickens's cottage, which lies flush to the lane. No sooner had it been repaired than another truck snorted its way up the roadway and crumpled part of the roof again.

"It's such a worry," says Ms. Wickens as she putters around the garden behind her cozy Jane Austen cottage. "This last time, it was lucky I was in, otherwise he would just have driven off. There is a sign at the bottom of the road saying 'Unsuitable for large vehicles,' but still they come."

Why, exactly, do they come? The answer is to be found in the satellite navigation kits (satnav for short) that are handy for getting motorists from one location to another, but not always judicious in selecting the most appropriate routes.

(snip)

Satellite navigation has turned one country lane in Wales into a virtual gill net, ensnaring almost every truck that comes along: One could only be set free recently by knocking down a stone wall. And last month, a Lithuanian lorry driver was stuck for four days after his vehicle became wedged on a rural roadway more suitable for sheep than trucks.

Obama's Paranoia

It doesn't appear you can embed this player but take eight minutes and watch this and then tell me what you think about Obama's new style of politics.

Obama's Paranoia from the Guardian Online:

Sweet Child of Mine - Sitar Style

I was never a big Guns and Poseurs fan... but this is a lot of fun... a promo for a new Indian MTV clone:

From Sepia Mutiny:

Part of the reason why this video— which is actually a wonderful commercial for Indian MTV-rival Channel V— jolted me like a quadruple-shot-latte was because none of the things I associate with Sweet Child o’ Mine are brown. High school, my friends from it, the TG parties I grimly attended with all my pledge sisters at UC Hippie…not brown. This video? Brown, and fabulously so.

This song has serious staying power. It went from being my bete noire twenty years ago to what I was giddily shouting the lyrics to a few months ago, at the National Geographic Halloween party. Upon observing how unanimously thrilled everyone aged 21-61 was the second those unmistakable, evocative first notes blared, I think I drunkenly decided that SCoM would be on my wedding reception play list, should I ever resolve my fear of adulthood and move beyond the existential crisis of “nomenclature for feminists”, i.e. “Do I take his name?”.

So without further Achoo... er I mean Ado...

Feel Free to Call Me at 415-637-7389

Yeah that's really my phone number.  I bet a lot fewer people want to call me than want to call Robert Scoble.  Still every now and then someone gets surprised when they find out they can call Robert with the number right there on his blog. 

Robert feigns surprise at their surprise:

What’s ironic is that I’ve shared my phone number for more than two years on my blog and on my Facebook account. Hey, feel free to give me a call. If I’m open, I’ll take the call.

I’ve actually had people be irate at ME for posting my phone number. There seems to be this weird idea that if you post your phone number you’ll have your identity stolen, or worse.

Sorry, can't resist the urge to re-post my profile of Robert from last summer:

Wouldn't It Be Cool if China Invaded North Korea?

Well, they may be thinking about it... if only to keep us all radiation free:

From a fun little rag called Space War: the World at War publishing an Agence France Presse story.

China has contingency plans to dispatch troops into North Korea and secure nuclear weapons in the event of instability in the hardline communist state, according to US experts who have talked to Chinese military researchers.

Any intervention by Beijing would be done as far as possible after consultations with the United Nations, but unilateral action was not ruled out, the experts said in a report published on the websites of two US think tanks.

(snip)

A spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry on Tuesday said she was unaware of any Chinese strategy to send troops into North Korea to secure nuclear weapons, but did not outright deny that such a plan existed.

Sleep tight...