You Think?

Things I think are messed up:

Economists talking about education reform.
Take the log out of your own eye before pointing out the speck in your brother's eye.

Micromanagement of everything everywhere.
What makes anyone or any agency think they know more about anything than the people who do that thing everyday?

Goals and objectives equated with quality.
How many business quality management programs have we gone through in the last  30 years?
The flaw in the "objectives equals quality" equation is that the quality of the outcome is proportional to the quality of the goals and objectives. Measuring outcomes only works if you are measuring things that matter.

Blame it on the unions.
Hey unions are made up of workers. The auto unions are the people who put your car together in the factory. The teachers unions are the teachers who wipe your kids noses. So you can blame the "workers" in unions all you want but what you are really criticizing are the people who make the world run so that "executives" can pretend that poop, vomit, and snot don't happen. The most important people in the world are the ones who clean up after everyone else goes home.

Blame it on the government.
Again, you are talking about "We the people." Anytime you say "the government" you should substitute  "The American People." The American people spend too much.  The American people are controlled by  lobbyiests. Even better, you could substitute "I." I invaded Iraq. I tortured people who were turned in as enemy combatants by people who were paid to turn them in. I was so angry that I was willing to lock up people and deprive them of liberty for years without a trial.

"Enemy Combatents" and all other euphemisms.
My favorite euphemism is "potentially English proficient." I like to call myself potentially Japaneese proficient. What it really means is "doesn't speak English" and "doesn't speak Japaneese."

Apologies
A fourth grade teacher I know told us on curriculum night that she teaches children that often "Sorry" isn't enough. For example, if you go to  a restaurant and order a steak and the waiter brings you a hot dog, would you be satisfied with an apology? No, you want the waiter to bring you a steak. When you make a mistake you need to try to fix it.
Even worse is the demand for an apology. Demanding that one feel regret and further demanding that this regret be anounced pubically, well that's messed up.

This "Standardization" movement
Here's a great idea, let's sell clothes in standard sizes. It would be great if a size 12 was always a size 12.  That way we could be sure that clothing makers were putting out correct sizes. Of course we would have to keep tailors from making alterations because then the clothing would no longer be a standard size. We should also do away with those pesky size 12 tall and 12 petite that mess with the standards. Designers shouldn't be able to cut the calf wider or shorten the rise on a particular line because that defies the concept of standard and reduces quality.

So for today, that's what I think is messed up.