WhyTheHeck

Next to “plastics” the most famous line in The Graduate might have been where Benjamin announced to his father that he was going to marry Elaine Robinson.  Mr. Braddock firsts proposes congratulating the Robinsons (who Benjamin says haven’t been told), then Elaine (ditto) and finally asks:  “When are you going to pop the question?”   Benjamin [...]

People should be allowed to post Ghostbusters-type stickers (walking fingers with clash through them) to prohibit yellow pages companies from leaving their books on your doorstep.

In choosing to invest in a balanced portfolio of stocks most investors are electing to invest their available capital in the wealth potential of our (or the global) economy. In fact, many of us have inadvertently placed up to 40% of our funds into situations that have little to do with wealth creation and more [...]

Government sanctioned home ownership, while encouraging paying off mortgages.

The author is my sister-in-law (I am widowed; she is talking about her late sister, my wife). She proposes that the Yankees sell Lou Gehrig’s #4 jerseys with proceeds going to ALS. When I saw that idea, I thought, the team must already be doing that, but no. They sell those jerseys the same way they sell their others. I recommend reading this posting to learn much more than you knew about Gehrig and his ALS, and then bombarding the Yankees with requests that they do exactly that. I can’t imagine they’ve made a conscious decision not to do this. I just think no one has suggested it to them.

Why don’t hotels have no-frills “green rooms” ? Here’s how it would work. First, instead of those little disposable bottles of shampoo and conditioner and body lotion (who the hell even uses the body lotion?), they’d have a dispenser. Second, if you want changes of sheets and towels you’d pay extra. In fact, maid serivce [...]

How hard is it to load an airplane?  Far easier than a frequent flier would assume, as it turns out.   But do the people who run these airlines ever fly them?  Or are they always in the front cabin and never venture back to coach to see what happens with the rest of us?  Well, [...]

The title says it all. It is legal in most states to resell tickets, but why is it even necessary? Why don’t venues (teams, concerts etc.) do it themselves, like the airlines do? The extra money that they would make by selling tickets above face value for those who don’t want to buy way in advance or stand in line (”convenience pricing”) could go to charities if the teams don’t want bad PR. Better to charity than to a bunch of middlepeople and scalpers.