Warning : May contain more than your daily recommended allowance of randomness
It’s just another manic Monday… which I will make better with a new caption contest! This week’s photo goes way back — back into time — to an era when the world was still in black and white, and phone technology was still new. I have absolutely no actual context for this picture, so I’m depending on you to figure out what could possibly be going on here.
(To see the other caption contests, click on the “Say What?” category in the sidebar.)
Do you ever get stressed at work? Or have you ever dreamed of getting paid to play video games? Many people would answer yes to both questions, and now some companies play multiplayer video games at work to bond with each other and to reduce stress — and they get paid for it!
Kevin Grinnell at Grinnell Computers has started such a plan, and it’s a hit. He considers it a team-building exercise, saying:
“We laugh until we cry when we play these games. We can do the thing where we have company dinners, and company functions, but those really aren’t stress relief. At times, they can be more stress than they’re worth.”
That last part is certainly true sometimes. I’ve been to work dinners and outings where you had to pay your way (and didn’t really want to go), or where some coworkers will get drunk and act stupid, or where the company tries to manufacture fun and it doesn’t work and you’d rather be at work than at the “fun” outing.
Not only is that a great way to release stress, but it also causes people to let their guard down, to be themselves. For Grinnell, the gaming is optional, but the option is to either play video games from 3 to 5 pm on Friday with the team, or take the same two hours off unpaid. I think that’s a great style of motivation. You can leave early, which sounds good, or you can play games and get paid for it, which sounds even better!
If you aren’t familiar with multiplayer video games, they are as the name suggests — multiple players in the same game. Often people are on teams in these games, where they work together. There’s also the added benefit of cost — there’s an initial setup cost to get the game, but then there’s no more business expense for it. In a way, it’s like going out to play golf or going to a restaurant with your colleagues, except that there’s no cost, and it’s even more fun.
Here’s the link to the news article about it: Shooting the boss (and getting paid for it). (Props to Turtle Dundee for the link.)
Personally, I think this is a great idea! And as the owner of my own business, I am immediately implementing this team-building exercise at my company. (And before you ask, no, I’m not hiring at this time. Sorry.) Hopefully many other companies will realize the value in this and start such programs. It seems like a win-win program for everyone.
Here at Buffet o’ Blog we usually don’t dabble in politics, unless it’s funny or satire / irony. Today we have an editorial by chief important political correspondent, T. Wayne Ledbetter, Esq. Can you find the humor in this, or at least write something funny in response to it?
In the past few weeks, several U.S. Senators have been holding town hall meetings to discuss the national health care plan, and they’ve been met with some major opposition. Some citizens are quite angry about the idea of a socialism-style health care system, along with the massive cost that will be passed along to future generations.
President Barack Obama is keeping track of all this public opposition, and thus the public’s approval rating is going down in his eyes. Surely Obama sits at his Oval Office desk and sighs all the time at how many people just don’t like his plans. He must be wondering why the average Joe isn’t interested in socialism, when it’s for our own good. “The American people don’t know what they want,” he probably mutters to himself, ever determined to force his plans upon the unsuspecting masses.
It may seem like Obama’s plans will all be passed without question, with the Democrats having a majority in Congress and the economy is a debacle (so people want change), but his future plans are not guaranteed yet. If the Senators continue to meet with the American public and thus hear what people really think, they run the risk of getting back in touch with reality and realizing what their constituents actually expect. And if enough people make their opinions heard, the Senators will be forced to take notice, because what is most important to them is remaining in power. If they fear losing a significant number of votes and thus losing their seat, they will do what is necessary.
The current administration is aware of this danger to their radical plans, so they’ve begun to label the opposition in generalized, stereotyped, derogatory groups, like “right-wing extremists”. They must isolate any public dissension to crazy people. They have even asked for people to call the White House with the names of people who speak out against Obama’s socialistic vision. They must not let this moment slip away, for American is at a crossroads created by a perfect storm of economic distress, an unwinnable war, rumors of man-made global warming and the need to go “green”, and discontent of “politics as usual” by the American people. This crossroads offers the perfect chance to push through extreme legislation, as we have seen with the stimulus package and the omnibus bill and bailouts, which were rushed so fast through Congress that most of our representatives never had time to even read it!
Obama knows the current stakes, and he realizes he must seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take control of America’s future, and he must act quickly. If the great unwashed masses realize he is pushing for European-style socialism, his plans will fail. He must make these changes under the guise of making everything better, and he must proceed with great haste. With the public’s approval rating going down (in his eyes), time is running out. Some of the mainstream media are even beginning to criticize him — even beyond FOX News. Obama sits in his comfy executive chair, perplexed, wondering how mainstream reporters can question his grandiose plans. Isn’t dissent of the President unpatriotic? How could anyone be critical (beyond those crazy right-wing extremists, who only want to save the foundation our country was built on)?
During a moment of brief reflection, perhaps Obama gives pause to his plans of changing America, and he begins to wonder if former President George W. Bush ever felt this discombobulated. But those thoughts are fleeting, because he reckons the situation was irreconcilably different. The media was obviously justified in hating Bush, in denigrating everything about him, in exaggerating the blame that should be cast upon him. It was patriotic for the far-left media to hate on Bush, because he was… conservative. There was nothing historic and momentous about his presidency. He was too experienced, and his election wasn’t anything unique, and he didn’t take America in all these new radical directions. His tenure in Washington was boring, except for all the humor and satire created about him. But Obama, he’s historic, and he has a huge vision of change (even if nobody knew what the change would be during the campaign, it was change, so it must be good). And Obama has the support of most of the mainstream media, so he must be doing things right. Right?
As I wrap up this long piece of political satire, it is now up to you to ponder what was said, to see if you can determine what was satire and what is actually happening. Was I just rambling incoherently, or did I actually have any thought-provoking points to make? Was there any political humor in there, or was it depressing? The end result is up to you. I ramble, you decide. 🙂
I’m enabling a new rating feature on comments. For each comment, you can choose whether you like it or don’t like it. If it doesn’t move you significantly either way, don’t bother clicking on either. This will enable readers to see the best (and worst) comments on a post at quick glance, which could be helpful if they don’t have time to read them all.
Where I see this being interesting is on the caption contests. This way you can vote on which caption you like best. You can vote on multiple entries, so if you can’t pick just one, pick several. So for those of you who participate in the caption contests, you can come back to it at the end of each week (because that’s typically how long the comments roll in) to see if you won.
This post doesn’t say much, so I added a picture. Hopefully the image of Hillary Clinton doesn’t ruin your day. She approves the use of the thumbs up symbol. In this photo, I imagine she saw how well her husband William Bill Clinton used the thumbs up gesture, so she figured two would be even more convincing of her sincerity before the great unwashed masses. Unfortunately (for her), her attempt at it makes her look insincere… and constipated…
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