Hey, Mom! The Explanation.

Here's the permanent dedicated link to my first Hey, Mom! post and the explanation of the feature it contains.

Also,

Showing posts with label things that suck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label things that suck. Show all posts

Saturday, June 27, 2026

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4149 - SoD Reprint from 2016 - GRAMMAR POLICE: THINGS THAT SUCK #3 - The sign at Burger King


A Sense of Doubt blog post #4149 - SoD Reprint from 2016 - GRAMMAR POLICE: THINGS THAT SUCK #3 - The sign at Burger King

Today's reprint: one of my favorites.


LOW POWER MODE: I sometimes put the blog in what I call LOW POWER MODE. If you see this note, the blog is operating like a sleeping computer, maintaining static memory, but making no new computations. If I am in low power mode, it's because I do not have time to do much that's inventive, original, or even substantive on the blog. This means I am posting straight shares, limited content posts, reprints, often something qualifying for the THAT ONE THING category and other easy to make posts to keep me daily. That's the deal. Thanks for reading.

BLOG VACATION #1 - 2026 - Taking a blog vacation for a couple of weeks, until at least June 26th, 2026. Mostly reprints. A few simple shares (not that simple shares are out of the norm) and THAT ONE THING. Need time for other things.


Link to the original post I am reprinting below:

Sunday, June 12, 2016


Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #341 - GRAMMAR POLICE: THINGS THAT SUCK #3 - The sign at Burger King

Hi Mom, I like to take pictures of signs out in the world and question their accuracy and meaning.

I did two of these posts in the early days of the blog. Here's the links to those posts:

THINGS THAT SUCK #1: "Receipt Desired?"

THINGS THAT SUCK #2: "Please Prepay in Advance."


And so now, after a long hiatus, I have found another sign that really makes no sense. The picture above (and left) shows a sign on the fast food window at my local Burger King.

Now, look at it closely. You know what they want to communicate. People always want extra sauces. Burger King does not intend to give away extra sauce for free. So Burger King has a policy to levy a charge for sauce not normally included with the order. If an order of chicken nuggets comes with one container of sauce for dipping, and a customer wants three extra packets, then he/she will have to pay extra for those packets.

But this idea of paying extra for those three (or however many) packets is not really communicated by that sign. The sign reads: "There will be an additional charge for sauces that are not included with the item ordered."

Think about the wording of that message.

Aren't all the sauces in their box of sauces under the counter not included with my order? So, by following the sign's logic, shouldn't every customer be levied an additional charge for all the sauces in the building that have been included with the order? Actually, all the sauce packets owned by the corporation, would potentially be included in the concept of "sauces that are not included with the item ordered." Truly, all the sauce on the planet might be considered part of that group of "sauces not included," but it seems fair in this case to restrict the set to sauces owned and housed by this particular Burger King franchise as charging for sauces outside the building seems a bit unfair.

Then what about the passive voice of "there will be an additional charge" as if the charge just happens, and it is quite out of their control?

"OH, no, there's that charge for sauce again," random Burger King employee observes as the POS system rings up another sauce charge. "It just keeps happening. We can't do anything about it. After all, 'there will be an additional charge.' It will be. What can we do about what is determined "to be" by its very definition?"

No, that's just normal passive voice for the bad news in the business world. It would be much more negative , hostile, and off-putting to have a sign that reads: "We must charge you a fee of .25 cents for each additional sauce packet you request." This language would be more direct and clear, but it's too aggressive for the customer service world. People might be offended.

Possibly this phrasing would be better: "An additional .25 cents will be charged for each sauce packet requested beyond those included with the menu item." Or even, ".25 cents will be charged for each extra sauce packet requested." Because isn't it assumed that "extra" and/or "additional" implies a number beyond what is normally included?

Then what about the wording of "the order"? Not "your order." THE order. This implies the one single order. Not "this order." Instead it's "the order." It's an abstract and general case. But does it apply to "your order"? We don't know. We don't know what "the order" is because "the order" may not be "this current order, your order."

Also, the language of "the item ordered" reads in that passive voice mode, leaving YOU, the customer, out of the equation. But that's the non-personing of the customer service industry that is supposed to be dealing with persons, especially the rubber-stamped, homogeneity of the fast food industry.



"An additional .25 cents will be charged for each sauce packet requested beyond those included with the menu item."

This message seems to be a huge improvement over the one stuck to the Burger King fast food window. Is it longer? The one in the picture is 16 words. My rewrite is 19 words, but it includes the additional information of the cost per sauce packet, which is essential information if you're a customer planning to spend extra money on some sauce. And would an extra three words be a burden for clarity? The sign is already pretty large. The phrase would fit with maybe only a slight increase in sign size.

Obviously, the writers Burger King hired should take one of my classes. :-)

Reflect and connect.
Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.
- Days ago = 343 days ago
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1606.12 - 10:10
NOTE on time: When I post late, I had been posting at 7:10 a.m. because Google is on Pacific Time, and so this is really 10:10 EDT. However, it still shows up on the blog in Pacific time. So, I am going to start posting at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time, intending this to be 10:10 Eastern time. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom. But I am not going back and changing all the 7:10 a.m. times. But I will run this note for a while. Mom, you know that I am posting at 10:10 a.m. often because this is the time of your death.
PS: I think I am going to tag John Scalzi when I post this as I think he will find it amusing. We shall see.
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2606.27 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 4013 days ago & DAD = 667 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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Friday, May 22, 2026

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4113 - The FCC Wants to Rate LBGTQ as Obscene!


A Sense of Doubt blog post #4113 - The FCC Wants to Rate LBGTQ as Obscene!

Just this today.

Really, really awful crap just seems to keep happening or is proposed for action.

Let's hope this does not become new policy.


https://www.patreon.com/posts/158807062

The FCC Wants to Rate LGBTQ as Obscene

This is going to be shocking to anyone born in the past decade, but back in the 2010s, one of the rightwing’s favorite things to complain about was “trigger warnings”--simple statements at the top of a piece of media that warns people about upsetting topics within that might cause psychological harm to those with problems like post-traumatic stress disorder. As I pointed out in 2015, many of the same people who were furious about trigger warnings were equally furious at anyone who failed to use “spoiler warnings” before discussing the plot of popular television shows.

The right doesn’t discuss trigger warnings anymore, because ten years later, they’ve essentially won: they no longer need to try to police blog posts written by those who care about victims of violence and other disadvantaged people, because now they are happily, legally perpetrating violence upon disadvantaged people. Who cares if a YouTuber warns her audience that she’s going to discuss rape, when actual rapists are serving on the Supreme Court, running the Department of Defense (sorry, I mean “War”), and tottering around the Oval Office like an overgrown toddler? Trigger warning/spoiler alert: the worst fucking people on the planet won. For now.

The rightwing chuds have won so completely that not only do they no longer bother complaining about private individuals using trigger warnings, but they have moved on to demanding the federal government itself institute trigger warnings–not for depictions of graphic violence, but for depictions of trans and nonbinary people just, like, existing. I know. Terrifying.

This issue involves a committee called the TV Oversight Management Board, or TVOMB. Back in 1996, Congress decided that they needed to set up some regulations to try to control and censor “obscenity” on the newly emerging internet, as well as help parents protect kids from indecent things on network television. They made a deal with the major broadcasters, promising to not actually pass any regulations against them if they would form their own board to voluntarily label tv shows and movies with, well, trigger warnings: a rating that recommends content for all children, children over the age of 7, suitable for all ages, inappropriate for younger children, inappropriate for kids under 14, or mature audiences only. That rating is then further described with a sub-rating that indicates that the content contains “suggestive dialogue,” adult language, sexual situations, or violence/fantasy violence.

That system has been in place for the past three decades with no change or complaint. Parents who worry about what TV shows and movies their kids are watching have a quick and easy way to see what might be appropriate and the rest of us don’t give a shit and unlike rightwing pussies of the 2010s, we don’t complain about being forced to see a little warning before It’s Always Sunny comes on.

But Trump’s FCC has decided that this system is no longer working for them. Last month, they released a public notice announcing that they would like to force the TVOMB to change their ratings. Why?

“Recently, parents have raised concerns that controversial gender identity issues are being included or promoted in children’s programs without providing any disclosure or transparency to parents. Specifically, the industry guidelines that parents rely on are rating shows with transgender and gender non-binary programming as appropriate for children and young children, and doing so without providing this information to parents, thereby undermining the ability of parents to make informed choices for their families.”

That’s right: parents somewhere are scared of their children simply seeing TV shows with transgender and nonbinary people or characters, and so now the federal government is stepping in to protect them by forcing the industry to adopt trigger warnings.

Now, you may wonder, what’s the big deal? Didn’t I just finish saying that trigger warnings and content warnings are fine and people can just choose to ignore them? Yes, when they are being put on content by private companies and individuals who want to put them there. I have absolutely no problem with Fox News adding a warning on an interview with Caitlin Jenner so their braindead viewers can steel themselves before they are forced to gaze upon an actual transgender woman, even if she is “one of the good ones” who can maybe have a private cell in the concentration camp when next they come for her.

But this is the federal government pressuring those private companies for the first time in their existence to specifically label a PERSON EXISTING as being equally offensive as graphic violence. And as you already know by now, even if you don’t care about transgender and nonbinary people, it’s not going to stop there. They’ll move on to the other things extreme rightwing fascists find offensive, like gay people, immigrants, people who aren’t White, and women with opinions. NCs, for those who have read Bitch Planet. By the way, you can read the first issue of Bitch Planet for free on Image Comics’ website but first you have to see a warning that it contains “mature content” and say you’re 18 or over, or else you have to “go back to Bitch Planet.” I thought that was funny. Anyway.

The other issue with the federal government categorizing a human being as “obscene” is a little thing known as the V-chip. The same Congressional bill that led to the creation of the TVOMB also demanded that all televisions produced after January of the year 2000 have a chip installed that allows the user of the TV to block content based upon its rating system, with the primary intended use to be for parents to automatically filter out content rated as more mature than they’d like their kids to see.

So far, so not a big deal: broadcasters have a board that applies ratings to shows, and consumers can choose whether or not they want to filter out certain ratings.

But what Trump’s FCC is now doing is putting the government’s finger on the scale, which means that in the near future, people who do use V-chip may unwittingly prevent their kids from seeing shows and movies that happen to have transgender or nonbinary characters, and in the slightly more distant future, gay or otherwise diverse characters.

Right now, surveys suggest that most parents don’t use the V-chip, possibly because they don’t even know it exists, but the FCC notice indicates a desire to change that: “Is the general public aware of the ratings system and how to provide feedback to the TVOMB? Is the general public aware that the V-chip can be used with the ratings system to block unwanted video programming from reaching children? Do descriptions of the content provide a sufficient basis for parents to make informed decisions concerning viewing decisions for their family, including when gender identity themes are discussed or displayed?”

It’s yet another way that Republicans are attempting to erase LGBTQ people from public life–to declare them obscene, and to drive them back underground.

If you’re watching this video when it comes out, you can do something small to help. GLAAD is asking concerned Americans to submit comments to the FCC expressing their disapproval, and that form is open until May 22nd of 2026. Will they listen? Who knows, but it takes only a minute and will probably annoy them, so I suppose it’s worth doing. Just note that the FCC does retain the right to make the information you include in that form public, so please be cautious with what information you share. That’s something I would say regardless of who is in charge of the FCC, but with vicious transphobic fascist bigots in charge, it’s doubly important to take precautions. Stay safe, and be sure to keep fighting for our marginalized friends and family.


VIDEO








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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2605.22 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3977 days ago & DAD = 631 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2026

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4054 - See ya Xander: Nicholas Brendon RIP


A Sense of Doubt blog post #4054 - See ya Xander: Nicholas Brendon RIP

Absolutely wrecked to hear of Nicholas Brendon's death and at such a young age, much younger than I am.

I liked ONE RIP post in Instagram and suddenly it showed me nearly the entire cast from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Tough to pick a photo for up top, but I chose this one shared by Alyson Hannigan because it seems to embody what people who knew him said about Nicholas Brendon.

So sad.

But once again, material shows up in the world and screams to be shared.

Thanks for tuning in.


From Charisma Carpenter



From Emma Caufield















Buffyverse Forever




Nick and David



From James Marsters



Xander and Willow



Xander and Willow part two



Sarah and Nick

“They’ll never know how tough it is to be the one who isn’t chosen. To live so near to the spotlight, and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes, because nobody’s watching me” I saw you Nicky. I know you are at peace, in that big rocking chair in the sky.




David and Nick




https://ew.com/nicholas-brendon-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-star-dies-at-54-11931445


Nicholas Brendon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Criminal Minds star, dies at 54

Brendon played the lovable underdog Xander on the teen vampire drama.

By 
Raechal Shewfelt
 
 
Updated on March 20, 2026 9:38 p.m. ET


Nicholas Brendon, the actor known for playing lovable sidekick Xander Harris on all seven seasons of TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has died at 54.

His family confirmed his death in a statement posted to social media Friday: "We are heartbroken to share the passing of our brother and son, Nicholas Brendon. He passed in his sleep of natural causes. Most people know Nicky for his work as an actor and for the characters he brought to life over the years. In recent years Nicky has found his passion in painting and art. Nicky loved to share his enthusiastic talent with his family, friends and fans."

The family said that Brendon had been "passionate, sensitive, and endlessly driven to create. Those who truly knew him understood that his art was one of the purest reflections of who he was."




The family appeared to allude to the actor's previous health problems. Brendon had explained in 2023 that he'd suffered a heart attack. He had also been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and had several spinal surgeries related to another condition. Additionally, he struggled with substance abuse and mental health.

"While it's no secret that Nicholas had struggles in the past," the family statement said, "he was on medications and treatment to manage his diagnosis and he was optimistic about the future at the time of his passing. Our family asks for privacy during this time as we grieve his loss and celebrate the life of a man who lived with intensity, imagination, and heart. Thank you to everyone who has shown love and support."

In addition to his everyman role on Buffy, Brendon played computer expert Kevin Lynch on seven seasons of Criminal Minds.

His other screen credits included TV's Kitchen Confidential, Without a Trace, and Private Practice, and films including Psycho Beach Party, Demon Island, Unholy, Big Gay Love, and Coherence.

In the wake of Brendon's death, his frequent Buffy scene partner Alyson Hannigan shared an emotional tribute on social media. "My Sweet Nicky, thank you for years of laughter, love and Dodgers," she wrote. "I will think of you every time I see a rocking chair.  I love you. RIP."


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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2603.24 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3918 days ago & DAD = 572 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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