Beauty

"The test of beauty is whether it can survive close knowledge.  This is as true of persons as of places. the dancer,  dazzling behind the footlights, may in ordinary living be so dull, so unkind, so fractious, that her smooth limbs and lovely face are lost in the immediacy of her spiritual unloveliness.   On the other hand, a very plain woman or an ugly man may receive a deep devotion, because  the known qualities of mind and spirit are beautiful, and this familiar beauty lies like a soft veil over any physical inadequacies."
                                    Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings    Cross Creek
           

Walmart Chaos

One Sunday afternoon recently I ran some errands at Walmart.   As I entered, no carts were available and the standard greeter was missing.    Carts were all over the parking lot in random places and shoppers were going out to find one.    I did my shopping, joined the long lines at every check-out only to find my cashier was a novice who was having difficulty with every aspect of closing out customers.    When I got home I realized I had someone else's groceries.  

Returning to customer service, I saw plastic grocery sacks piled up behind the counter.   The customer assistant looked at my receipt and searched through bags for my items.    When she returned my goods to me, she said, "Sorry.  We've had a bit of a moment."

Definition

ultracrepidarianism:   the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge or competence"          With the internet, we have become "entrepreneurs of error".

                                       Think Like a Freak  Steven D Levitt  and  Stephen J. Dubner