I like people who are blunt, and just say what's on their mind. Today before Mass, an unscheduled Server showed up. There were only a few minutes until Mass was set to begin, so I told him to "robe up", since the second scheduled Server hadn't yet arrived. The first scheduled Server-- a high school-aged girl, who was already robed and ready for "go time"-- matter-of-factly called me out: "This is the second time you've gone against the schedule." She was irate, and I appreciated that she told me so.
And indeed she was correct: we had three Servers appear one time, and I sent away the nearly eighteen year-old scheduled guy, who had shown up very late indeed, deciding to prioritize giving the younger and very eager unscheduled fellow-- who had gotten there early and was ready to rock and roll-- more experience and confidence. The girl had been annoyed by that decision even after my explanation, and made her opposition vocal at the time-- but the older Server agreed with me, and very cordially confirmed my plan: "Cool idea-- I'm off the hook this weekend, thanks!"
This, in contrast to people who don't say what's on their minds. Their frustration is still there, but instead it manifests in dysfunctional ways-- like cold shoulders, snarky comments, deliberate undermining, badmouthing to other people, and so forth.
In a way though I understand why people become passive-aggressive: some other people would have taken offense to the girl calling them out-- after all, I'm easily old enough to be her father, and I could see some others reacting with, "Who is this upstart to tell me what to do?" Whereas in my view, I treat feedback from young people as equal to that of adults: feedback worthy of evaluation on its own merits, regardless of source. And the young people always rise to the occasion, having been shown respect. You'd be surprised at what even very young children are capable of.
Alas, I've never understood why people are so sensitive to the words of others. The girl was forthright, firm, assertive, and respectful all-in-one-- the perfect combination. I wish everyone was like that.
Velocity of EBT
If too much of a currency is chasing too few goods, price inflation will occur. This is obvious to me in terms of fiat currencies, gold, and so forth. What I had never considered is that EBT cards could be the cause of rising prices, as appears to be happening! It makes sense, I just hadn't ever contemplated the notion before.
In another moment of modern-day reflection, it's dystopian how people sitting in stadia watching a ball game wind up getting shot, because in places like Chicago there as so many stray bullets that it's dangerous to just be! In my old Murderapolis neighborhood, there were two drive-bys right on my block. A friend of mine from work owned a few different Murderapolis homes, which he variously rented out, and would sometimes find bullet holes in the walls, lodged into his stereo, and so on.
Even if I Ask, the Sparrow!
This had me absolutely busting a gut last night, I must have watched it ten times in a row. I've always really liked Neil, I've been watching his channel for years. If I ever wind up in England for anything, I will go out of my way to visit and tell him in person how much I appreciate his work.
In other gaming news, I backed this game on Kickstarter quite some time ago, and it's looking good overall so far. I'm not a huge fan of the music, which seems totally forgettable. I also don't get why pixel art games have to be so self-aware and ironic-- the "bag opening" animation is so hipsterish and inauthentic it makes me physically cringe. But quibbles aside, having a multiplayer, "Hi-Bit" Elder Scroll-style game was so enticing, that I bought the "two copies" tier just so I could play it with my wife when it eventually comes out.
In any event, an hour and a half until Lazio-Genoa, and I still need to hop on the exercise bike.