Disclaimer: The views presented in the next three sections are not the views of the writer, his employers, or anyone he ever met. They are merely fictional and were created for the sole purpose of bringing out a point. “Talking…
Jim Spinnock turned the corner, and headed down Slade toward his favorite Starbucks. Nothing put a little fire in his belly like a cup of piping hot Colombian magic. Like almost every day of every workweek, his friend John DeMott…
It was 8:30am and Josh already felt like he was buried under two tons of dirt, all his movements slow and belabored. He had been at his workstation since six, and he was scheduled straight through 7 pm. If he…
There are zoos, and there are animal parks. Zoos are built in large metropolitan areas, animal parks rise up in the deep country. Zoos have concrete pathways, food courts, and train rides, animal parks have dirt paths, food trucks, and…
Last week, I had the opportunity to play Mommy and Daddy for five days. My wife had gone to NYC to visit her parents, thankfully taking our six-month-old baby with her, but leaving me alone with five energetic and lovely…
I had always considered sending my children to Duke University, but now I think I may just send them to the zoo instead. A study by Duke researchers indicates the monkeys perform just as well as college students at mental…
Yesterday, I was sent to prison. Not by the judicial system, but by the Aleph Institute, a phenomenal organization that looks after the spiritual and physical needs of a number of isolated populations, most notably: the incarcerated, the military, and…
Life as an American is intrinsically connected to the experience of spending time on the phone with customer service reps. So much so, that when I tried to remember which company I called and had an enlightening experience, I simply…
He cut a dashing figure when he entered any room, a tall regal Englishman dressed in impeccably tailored thousand dollar Chester Barrie suits worn over smart Turnbull & Asser shirts and ties, a slight salt and pepper beard barely hiding…
Imagine you are a miner working a river in California in 1853. When you heard about the gold rush in 1849, you packed up your bags and headed west, looking for fame and fortune. After trekking across the US in…