text now, talk ever?

As we near the big Vday, loved ones will share their status quo of commitment through trinkets, baubles and chocolate. But it is through communication that a successful relationship can thrive. Being single for about 8 months and having my fair share of dates, I have come to the realization that our technological advances are destroying our ability to develop and have quality human relationships.

No place is more evident of this problem than text messaging.


1. Texting is a skill. If you're not good at it, you might send the wrong message e.g., "Hi Andrew. GO"
2. Texting leads to confusion. Just like email, the impersonal method is void of voice tone, body language and immediacy. For example, someone can send you a text message, and depending on when you read it AND the mood you happen to be in at the time, you can completely misinterpret the original meaning.
3. Texting is avoidance. Why text someone when it would actually take a shorter amount of time to speak the phrase you were texting.
4. Texting is the beginning of the end for written communication. In an effort to be pithy, the written language has succumed to alternative means:
u for you. . . ur for your. . .4 for for. . .2mara for tomorrow. . .you get the idea.
5. Texting kills. Those who text while driving are idiots. Unfortunately car accidents often involve more than the driver.

I call for moratorium on text messaging in an effort to save what is natural: to be humans and for the opportunity to fully engage in meaningful communication rather than avoiding it through a series of messages.

Coke: Sniff it, Drink it. You will have it!

Happy New Year! And nothing says that better than a fizzy, syrupy Coca-Cola. I recently had the opportunity to visit the Coca-Cola museum to better acquaint myself with the tradition that is Coca-Cola. WOW! I would just like to say that they are quite proud of their product.

This world-renowned product was introduced in Atlanta, GA back in 1886. Creator John Pemberton claimed that this beverage could cure among other things, impotence. Based on my tour, I am convinced they really do believe they were the first version of Viagra or Cialis.

As my journey through the museum progresses, this becomes imminently clear as my visual senses are over-stimulated with coca-cola bottles. They are EVERYWHERE! All different shapes and sizes covered in different colored labels and of course filled with coke. Not one single can of coke to be found. Nothing but bottles.

But of course this experience comes later in the journey. The first experience is quite entertaining from a marketing and sociological perspective. After passing security, everyone is ushered into a short film. (This seems to be a growing trend – the Civil Rights Museum and the Clinton Library both begin this way.) Although the Civil Rights Museum and the Clinton Library show films to provide the viewer with some background, the Coca-Cola Museum invented the background. A cartoon in the style of Pixar was shown. Clever. What came next baffled me at the moment, but writing this here I finally get it: sex sells. The pixar-like animation had a young girl (not attractive as far as cartoons are concerned) twirling a baton in a VERY short skirt. In addition, she was sucking on a lollipop. (Why not go all the way? Have her suck down a nice bottle of cold coke.) Right, this is a family affair and they can’t be too obvious! Lollipops are innocent. Ha! Now to make matters more intense (better or worse – your perspective) she kept crossing and uncrossing her legs. I kept asking myself, “Isn’t this a cartoon? Aren’t there children here?”

Suddenly, the room filled with a sweet, almost saccharine scent. Being the marketer that I am, I asked the strangers around me if they noticed it. They responded no. I asked them are they now thirsty? They responded yes, but not without the look of surprise and awe. Yes folks, Coca-Cola is on to clever research and marketing—something has had to keep them around for over 100 years. Certain smells make you thirsty. Didn’t know you could be manipulated like that did you? Something to ponder . . . .

So we leave the short film CRAVING a beverage. No water fountain in sight, museum attendees are left to wander until they find their way to the Tasting Room. Here they boast on how you can taste the different cokes of the world. Not so my discerning friends. Different orange, grape and lime flavored sodas, maybe, but no true cokes. For those reading who’ve tasted coke outside the US, you know what I mean. My favorite flavor of Coca-Cola comes from France. Well, it’s really Coca-Light (the diet equivalent). But, it’s not equal. Coke Zero is probably closer in taste, but still not quite there. Coca-Light is AMAZING in terms of having a non-caloric carbonated sweet brown fizzy beverage to guzzle. Could I get my fix? Nope. All I had to chose from were things we Americans will never hear about or see again, oh and of course, all the coca-cola products provided by your local vending machine. However, they do provide you with a parting gift: Your very own tiny glass bottle. I just wish I could have had more than just two sips before I was ushered into the gift shop to make my purchase of the 20-ouncer.

Field trip to the National Civil Rights Museum

I've been holding on to these thoughts for a while now because I haven't really had time to formally express my concern with all that is wrong with what is claimed to be the National Civil Rights museum. Granted Memphis has history. MLK was shot at the Lorraine Motel in downtown Memphis. Using that hotel as a landmark, it was turned into a museum which now claims -- in the very title -- to be a national site for collecting and displaying injustices of those who should be treated equal.

Mission:
The National Civil Rights Museum, located at the Lorraine Motel, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination, chronicles key episodes of the American civil rights movement and the legacy of this movement to inspire participation in civil and human rights efforts globally, through our collections, exhibitions, and educational programs.

Lets begin. Upon walking though the door, I was quickly ushered into a short film. However intriguing, I questioned the museum's claim to fully represent. Shortly after the film, I was herded, with very little organization, into the exhibit area. Crowed around massive texts, the only things to look at were verbose descriptions of historical black events in US history. Although interesting in its own right, I also found it intriguing standing between the heads and shoulders of other whites whose appearance at the museum that day seems to represent more guilt bestowed upon by their forefathers than their true interest in black history.

However there was mention of civil rights to include all types which make up humanity: women's rights, gay rights, etc.? How interesting that they chose the word "inspires" in their mission statement to cover their inadequacies. This museum is nothing more than a historical account of the African-American American history, and NOT that which adequately portrays the civil rights of other injustices within our American culture. Overall, this museum content was good, but the experience was boring and dry. There weren't many exhibits and those that were there (MLK's hotel room) failed to follow through on the global picture of the specific event that took place on the infamous April 4th. Never did the exhibit express or address his shooter or theories on who killed him. Are we not missing the point by displaying his final moments, but then ignoring the key in how we got to that moment? Ah! but perhaps that is the point! The museum wants all who visit to notice the injustices of one culture. MLK represents that culture, his nebulous shooter represents the white man shrouded in white sheets unable to be defined, but something to fear.

This museum title and the careful wording within the mission statement enables the museum to garner more city, state and federal funding than perhaps should be granted under such a premise. If the museum title claims to be national, does that not then imply certain inalienable rights to ALL who live in the American culture? The right for their story to be heard no matter what color their skin may be, gender or sexual orientation?