Kids today. The jig is up, apparently.

[via waxy]

I found a year of your life in a digital camera memory card left behind in a taxi, so I’ll post the contents on the internet and tell stories about the real/imaginary people in the photos.

In other service industry news, and updating an earlier post from this week, all charges have dropped against the man jailed for not leaving a big enough tip.

Apparently, the “automatic tip” is only enforceable when it is labeled a “service charge” or “surcharge.” Though I don’t think I would quibble with the manager at a place called Soprano’s Italian and American Grill. You might be asking for more than just a sneezer with that one.

I’m ashamed to say, I’ve misbehaved.

I was a bad customer (sorta), and I (kinda) admit it.

But after a month of moving and all the complications that have ensued, I’d had it. After getting a retarded amount of run-around to cancel our stupid little Earthlink DSL service (because they couldn’t transfer our EXISTING service to our new phone number for 30 DAYS!) and after being told that – for my own protection- I was going to have to call the office and get four kinds of super-secret numbers from our cantankerous accounts manager, (because you know everyone’s going around with our account number, invoice number, and order number just trying to undue our accounts)

Well, I lost it.

I quietly told her I’d have to call her back and then I proceeded to slam the phone’s receiver down over and over on it’s base.

When I called back with my information she nabbed me. Evidently they can hear that sort of thing. She proceeded to scold me for doing such a disrespectful thing and told me she expected more professional behavior from me. I tried to explain that if only she had been through what I’d been through and fallen prey to the ridiculous amounts of bureaucracy that I had lately that surely she’d have done it to. She wasn’t buying it.

So now I’m stumped. Do not-very-nice-in-the-first-place-pain-in-the-process customer service representatives get to scold people for something they didn’t even think the aforesaid customer service rep would even *hear* or was I really wrong in need of the scolding? So I took it.

I did not bang the phone again when I hung up despite my dire need to show her that she wasn’t the boss of ME. But I was too shamed by it all. Did I back down too soon? Should I send her a note? Take my favorite (and probably much more talented) customer service pal out to clear my karma?

All I know is that I feel yucky and I never want to move, schedule, cancel, call or interact with anyone in any way that has anything to do with telecommunications again – EVER.

(except of course the aforementioned super professional pal that I have to believe will forgive me on behalf of her industry – Viva Verizon!)

A must-read booklist for the fall from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

1. I Am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe

2. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

3. The Plot Against America: A Novel, by Philip Roth

4. The Grim Grotto, by Lemony Snicket

5. Chain of Command: The Road From 9/11 to Abu Ghraib, by Seymour M. Hersh

6. Devil in the Details: Scenes From an Obsessive Girlhood, by Jennifer Traig

7. Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, by Paris Hilton

8. Runaway, by Alice Munro

9. The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, by Kitty Kelley

10. The Double, by Jose Saramago

Writer Christopher Kelly explains each of his choices as selections that will “intimidate both good friends and complete strangers at our very next cocktail party.” (He even offers mini-cliff notes appropriate for idle chit-chat.)

Hmmm. Can’t see how many people will be dazzled by my thorough knowledge of Paris Hilton’s “memiors” or Kitty Kelley’s trashy expose. But I’m definitely planning on picking up Roth’s newest novel–Kelly hits it on the nose when he calls Roth the greatest living novelist.

Also another one I give a thumbs-up to, the new Lemony Snicket book, which comes out next week. If you aren’t familiar with the Unfortunate series, check it out. The snarky tone of the books makes for interesting reading. Like Harry Potter, it’s not just for kids.

Here’s a picture of Hurricane Ivan as seen from the International Space Station. (Too big to link inline here, but holy cow, you should see that thing.)

An article on Slate gives a shout out to E.W. Scripps, the namesake of OU’s J-School and the Cincinnati-based media company that is a current and former employer for more than a few fellow alums.

Apparently, the company’s stock price is outpacing other media giants, including Dow Jones, Time Warner and the NYT.

Nice to hear something positive about a media company, for a change.