Pay it forward also works with plastic
A strange thing happened to colleague Taryn Hecker last week when she stopped to get her mocha fix at the Starbucks drive-thru on Highway 41/Post Falls. Seems she was ready to pay for her mocha and coffee cake – a total of $5.99 – when the clerk said that the customer ahead of her had already done so. In fact, the pass-it-forward goodwill had gone on all morning – the customer in front paying for the one in the next vehicle. Taryn, thought that was a good idea. So she handed the clerk a $10 to pick up the tab for the motorist behind her. Only to discover that the bill was $11.45. So she had to pull out the plastic to pass the goodwill forward because she didn’t have another dime on her. Only in America can you be charitable and not worry about it until the credit card bills arrive.
Out, damn snow
Dunno how you felt when you saw it snowing last Thursday morning. But my Berry Pickers reacted strongly to snow so late in March. Thirty-one of them completed the following sentence online: “When I woke up this morning and saw that it was snowing so hard that it was sticking to the street, I … “Knew it was old man winter reminding our southern guests that their decision this winter to move back was the correct one” (In The Know). I, said others, “… Heard another 100 Californians boarding up their condos and heading south (Cabbage Boy). “… Mashed my fists into the table and cried why God why” (Truly). “… Rejoiced that I was no longer a Californian” (LynnS). “… Thought how great spring skiing is going to be, if spring ever arrives, that is” (John Austin). “… Ran out and finished my last minute Christmas shopping” (CoeurGenX). “… Told both the cats how lucky they are that they don’t have to go anywhere, except back to the couch for another 8 hour nap” (Pia). “… Thought “… Damn Al Gore! I want my carbon credit offset money back!” (Dr. Chuckles). … T.J. Tranchell/UIdaho Argonaut summed up things best. When he saw the snow, T.J. said, I “… Remembered that it is still March and this is still the Inland Northwest.”
Huckleberries
In a recent Unda’ The Rotunda column/Boise Weekly, Nathaniel Hoffman sez an unscientific survey of legislators yielded the names of two North Idaho reps when he asked which solons are viewed as social butterflies: Repubs Eric Anderson/Priest Lake and Bob Nonini/CdA. When asked by Hoffman why other solons say he has an active social life, Anderson replied bluntly “because I have one” … I knew Duane Hagadone had a few bucks in his bank account but was surprised to read the KTVB Web site headline re: state approval for his 177-foot Casco Bay dock: “Appeal for billionaire’s dock approved.” Billionaire? Do the folks at Forbes know about this? Or are the Hagadroids exaggerating again? … Kerri Thoreson, the gimlet-eyed Post Falls councilwoman who posts the blog, OnLocation North Idaho, spotted an interesting sign on CdA’s Seventh Street last week: “Warning: Flying Hound Dog Ahead” … Former lawmaker Gary Ingram found two surprises on his doorstep Saturday morning – a winter dump of snow and a leaflet advertising for a local lawn service.
Parting shot
In the “Adding Insult To Injury” Department, Time Warner sent me a letter last week threatening to cut off cable TV service because I hadn’t paid my March bill. Only I did. Three weeks earlier. Via online. And I had a bank statement to prove it. Time Warner, however, hadn’t received the e-check. So I spent an hour Monday afternoon enduring phone trees and talking to guys with only first names to fix the problem. I couldn’t help but think that I put up with Time Warner through the KAYU flap, missing the Fiesta Bowl, the Major League Baseball all-star game and other major sporting events. Yet, TW was ready to drop me the minute it thought I’d missed a payment. Sheesh.