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It also Happens

Hello Friends,

So, last week I said I was going to take a break from this newsletter. And that brief email got more opens and new subscribers than I've ever received in one week. Plus, I received many responses asking that I don’t stop (which I deeply appreciate). Other friends said they were sad for my pause.

I guess the lesson here is that all you really need to do is give yourself permission to do (or not do) something—perhaps that's all that is required to find the inspiration (and joy) to keep going.

So, here it goes. I will keep writing this as long as people care to read. I may not hold myself to every Thursday, but we'll see. For those of you who were happy I was stopping, you can always unsubscribe. I don’t judge. And, of course, for you others, if you want, you can click a link at the bottom and buy a book.

Anyway, enough of that. Turn the page.

… meanwhile …

I live in a town, probably like a lot of towns, that has a long history of residents feeling entitled and justified to do what they want. The sentiment rings a lot like: it's my town—go back to your town if you don't like it. No matter how inconvenient it is to others. It's the way it's always been done.

For example, one local citizen posted an image and a message on the social media site Nextdoor. The photo showed a car parked in the crosswalk, blocking the handicap access to the sidewalk. The poster asked: why do people do this? Particularly, considering it is not only illegal and anti-social, but unwieldy to anyone needing to use the way.

Created with Canva AI - but you get the idea.

The post received dozens of comments. Most of the responses were actually angry towards the poster, overwhelmingly supporting the unlawful driver who was "probably only running into the store for a few minutes." The fact that the image also showed many empty legal spots close by had no bearing on these criticisms.

The negative commenters' sentiments expressed: "Suck it up. Life is hard all over" and if someone needs a pack of smokes or some beer, they are entitled (by some ridiculous social norm) to abuse their neighbors for their own desires. This is ingrained in many community’s population since birth—this is how we do it here.

The other day, I stood at the entrance of a crosswalk while a city vehicle approached. The driver did not stop (as state mandated), and, as he was speaking into his cellphone, which he held an inch away from his mouth, probably didn't even see me. He zoomed right by.

Drivers are supposed to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. And, they are supposed to use hand-free technology when using their cellphones—calls or texting. All phones have this software and functionality and most cars do, too.

A city employee, talking on the phone while driving, not using hands-free technology, not stopping for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

This was not a remote part of town. It was an area often occupied with elderly folks, children walking to school, and families with strollers.

I'm not just complaining about people's inconvenient behavior—I have 3 comments:

First, be nice

At this moment, there is so much vitriol in our society, it's disgusting. Hence, my desire to quit this newsletter last week. It beats us down. It makes us mean and rude to each other. It's distracting and exhausting.

But we shouldn't let it be an excuse for acting uncivil to each other.

Fuck you if you don't want to park 30 feet away—don't be a dink and block the handicap ramp—there should not even be a happenchance for a discussion about this. Recklessly following some stupid social norm is simply annoying and ignorant. Try being more considerate.

Second, people are always watching (you learn this as a parent)

As amazing and indestructible as you think you are, you still can't drive safely talking on the phone. You just can't. Don't do this, especially if you are driving around town being a role model for your society. You are going to hurt someone. And, you can't go back from that—it's not worth the risk.

We are obsessed with watching each other perform senseless tricks on social media. Any spare moment finds us whipping open our phone and scrolling TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, etc. We are a society of watchers. Maybe we could come up with more intelligent content?

Third, be more human than artificial intelligence

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but AI is getting very good—both assistive and generative. Last week, in an effort to gauge how good AI has gotten, I built a website using AI tools. In the past, by comparison, I would have paid human developers to do this work.

Working with human programmers and designers on similar projects would have taken me weeks, if not months. It would have cost thousands of dollars, and I would have had to endure excuses, miscommunications, compromises, and missed dead-lines. I know this—it has been my career for over 30 years.

By the very fact that, until recently, there has been no other alternative to human developers, the professionals in the field have slowly devolved, creating an atmosphere of lowered expectations and reduced quality—it has become a sad norm, much like parking in a crosswalk.

The website I made with the AI tools wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. It took me about 2 hours, cost me nothing, and dare-I-say, was not only less frustrating than working with humans, the experience was almost enjoyable.

The argument against using AI for creative endeavors has been that software cannot replace the human-ness of creations and innovations. It was essentially the same argument used for replacing analog vinyl records with digital CDs.

Now, you find more people with ear buds listen to digitally produced music than without when you walk down the street. It got good enough.

In the end, consumers don't care. The convenience outweighs the quality. A good AI controlled self-driving car wouldn't park blocking a handicap access ramp or become too distracted to stop for someone in a crosswalk (unless a human programmed it to do so).

These days, these times, more than any I can remember, people suck.

In the past, that maxim was a joke—bumper sticker fodder. It's no longer a pin on a punk's studded black jean jacket.

It is us.

And AI is about to eat our lunch. (Maybe we don’t care…)

Created by Canva AI…

It's time to step it up and be better humans and demand better from each other.

Happy humaning,

David