pinprick moments

We all have heard it said--It's the last one or there are only two left or they're going fast, or don't miss out! We all don't believe those ploys but marketers and advertisers all know they work (i.e. they are pinpricks moments). I guess we think, well, maybe they might be true sooo we don't want to miss the opportunity so we but it now. This week's It's Saturday won't be ever done again. Soooo you better jump on it! It's your last chance! Read it while it's hot!

No matter how smart folks are, Costco sample stations for sweet stuff affect folks’ minds and they buy the product; they just can’t resist a.k.a. a pinprick moment. Costco is an excellent marketer, my opinion, they know what they are doing alright. Of course we are all pretty big suckers which helps tooo! hahaha GeorgeTheCrook says--Do we ever notice that most people think they are not average or below average but above average but in reality, many are just average (i.e. we say we would never fall for such a trick)! Da! Just look at the bell curve! 

I have just read the book All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, a historical fiction book suggested by you. I would guess many of you have read it. It has won some awards as a pretty good book written about WWII. It was a pinprick to my mind about how people can be taken advantage of, especially when vulnerable. The book is reality! It is cruel, sad, and uplifting! Are we ever vulnerable? It has many undertones that really made me think (e.g. live life before you die).  A client, who is a sweet, pleasant 84 year-old lady that I drove to the doctor because she had a constant stomach problem. When I dropped her off back at her house, I asked her if her doctor suggested she quite drinking wine--he didn't mention it but I'm going to have my glass of wine at 5 regardless; at my age does it make much difference; I'm going to live my life before I die!

I was told by a friend who has Italian friends that Italians tell their children of all ages how to act and live their lives; it is an accepted custom. Most people won’t accept suggestions in our culture, it appears (i.e. parents want their children to think for themselves) and they do but then they don't like it when they do! hahaha. Maybe that is where the Godfather power comes from. Most younger folks would consider advice a pinprick moment if aging parents would tell their grown children how to act! Such is life.

MyBigSisterOnlyInAge texted me that her sister-in-law died. She said she was Italian and will be remembered by her food she made. Then she asked me if I ever wonder what we will be remembered as/for when we die. I thought about that; maybe we might be surprised! Soooo, who really knows! We might be way wrong! Maybe we think we are better than we are thought of by others and many just the opposite--maybe it depends who is doing the evaluation. Could be! Coach Parcell said--"We judge a trapper by his furs!

Esther of Grace says--When someone comes to mind…is it just coincidence? I like to believe I’m thinking of them for a reason. Maybe I forgot I have a coffee date with them or maybe it’s my conscience reminding me we are hiking the next morning; I better get my bag ready. But many times, I credit the Holy Spirit, and I say a little prayer. I also try to follow up with a text or sending a card in the mail letting them know I’m thinking of them. There have been countless times when I have reached out after a nudge from the Holy Spirit and the person was grateful - in need of a talk, prayer, or a visit.

A pinprick moment: Jon says—"You ever chase apples we never needed? The operative word is “enough.” That’s where the trouble starts and where the solution begins. If we don’t define enough, fear will define it for us. If we don’t choose enough, the world will choose it for us. Enough is a slippery word!” According to the orchardists I got to know, the Valley is suffering from a “shakeout.” They have lost money the last 4 years. AI says—" The economic and business term for this process is an industry shakeout (or simply a shakeout). It happens after a period of overexpansion or overproduction when a glut of goods crashes prices, forcing weaker and less efficient companies to go bankrupt or exit the market until supply and demand balance out again. It is a business cycle.” A Butler County farmer says--That is unless the government subsides the situation. But if we are part of the shakeout, it is serious, more than a pinprick!

I asked an orchardist from the church we attend, whose orchard is in the third generation about this. He is smart and a nice guy. He said--Well it could be the “invisible hand”. That's from the author of our capitalist system, Adam Smith in 1776. It’s a rather cruel system as there was no safety net for those people and resources being moved out by low prices. John Keys developed a theory in the 1930’s that the govt should develop programs to assist those resources and people that had been displaced. That’s kind of how I understand it. But I don’t know much as I’m just old farm boy.

For the extreme rich, shakedowns don’t affect them much, not even a pinprick, for the average person maybe a little more than a pinprick, but for the poor, it is major, like survival. The majority of the population now needs assistance, as I see it, to exist. It would be great if we could get the “age old problem of poverty” figured out but it’s a continuous problem for ever, it's nuttin new.  I wonder if the extreme inequality isn’t worked out, if our country or world can exist. But it has always been. Here in the Valley roughly 84% to 86% quality for free school lunch (i.e. a friend who is close to this says, it’s more like 95%--but now I hear WA has free school lunch for everyone). It seems that many could not have a financial self--supporting life without subsides. I volunteer to drive for the underprivileged who many are poor, and if they didn’t have assistance in many ways, they tell me that they probably would not live. They learn the system very well just to survive. But let me tell ya, these folks are very appreciative for help. That has been my experience. BigShotErnie says--An effective plan to have a good financial self-supporting life is to marry it or inherit it. 

A character in that novel repeatedly was told that she was a brave person. Her last response to the person who said that to her was, I am not a brave person, I am just living my life. That statement could be a pinprick moment to us. Big on the maybe!

PositiveBetty says this pinprick moment--"Remember folks, an unrevealed part of ourself is never understood." One of my clients who I drove to her doctor's appointment was a sweet, pleasant older lady walking with her walker, her chariot as I referred it to her, so I told her she was sweet and pleasant--she said--erv, you don't live with me!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyDeceasedFriendJean said--Hope is necessary in every condition.