King makes a perfect point. It's the newfangled walls. Walls behind walls, stupid angles, and varying fence heights which make the homer call much more difficult than it was a decade or two ago.

Look at Fulton County, Three Rivers, Veterans Stadium and Riverfront Stadium. The only debate was whether a ball was fair or foul.

Get the call right.

It really sucks when you hit a bomb and you don't get credit for it.

I've been that cashier. Fast food. "Would you like a side salad with that?" no, "how about a slice of cheesecake". no.

Look, we had to ask. So I would made it clear how absurd these questions were. "Okay, how about another serving of exactly what you ordered?" no, "What about the left side of the menu board?" by then you would get a laugh and every is at ease. I usually just didn't ask (or make a 'suggestive sell' as we put it), because worst comes to worst I would have lost my job making minimum wage as a cashier at a fast food restaurant. Not the end of the world.

As long as 1 person says yes to the suggestion, it's worth it to train people to ask. That's what I want out of the companies I invest in - and you too Andrew.

But you're 100% right about drawing a line with children. Which makes me wonder why the Wal Mart doesn't have the cashier suggestively sell another brats doll to your little girl. They'll do anything, right?

Andrew - you have to let this one go, it's not going to stop.

oh yeah, that was a GREAT line about the commodification of human interaction.

... they have an ex-AL Manager of the year waiting in the wings. Willie just doesn't pay much attention - inexcusable. His only excuse is that his team has played like a bunch of spoiled assholes who aren't as good as they think they are.

right?

But all you morons blaming republicans for the price of oil need to STFU. I'm pretty sure Dick Cheney isn't responsible for the booming oil demand in China and India. I'm pretty sure George Soros, for all his good, has pumped a lot into oil speculation. In other words, get your head out of the clouds. I'm no republican, but sheesh, this republican bashing is so counterproductive.

Has America during the Bush years taken action to increase the price of oil? Yes. Are republicans solely to blame? No.

In other words, find some perspective. For the sake of my sanity.

_________________

Now that I've calmed down, this is a perfect article Garrison. I live in Manhattan, I walk everywhere, I don't own a car. I'm not thrilled about how much it costs to live here, but, it is the greatest city in the world.

I'm wondering how America is going to evolve in the next decades. We all must agree that we cannot continue to live the way we do. OPEC and traders can stop us in our tracks - and they are. The environmentalists in America would rather die at the stake than drill for oil here. They would rather continue to enrich the oil countries than send one probe into the earth to look for oil in America. They would rather not disrupt the mating season for caribou in Alaska - than break our dependance on foreign oil.

I love our landscape. I love our coasts, our rivers, our mountains, our plains, the northeast, southwest, midwest and, yes, I even love the southeast. But I'm bright enough to know when it's time to move in a new direction.

Do we build lightrail to all of our suburbs? (Maybe invest in a company which could ride this wave). No, look at Atlanta. That hasn't worked out so well. Maybe people will embrace these things, but the rich would still rather take Sage and Hunter to soccer practice in their SUVs.

Do we invest in alternative energy? I see no other answer.

So, in the meantime, let's drill here - so we have a fighting chance to make it to the next stage.

And you're 100% right Garrison. Our infrastructure seriously discourages walking. It's sad.

This article is exactly what I was getting at in my Keillor letter this morning. Bravo Mikes Pace. Thanks Andrew for treating these readers to a nice dose of reality. We really appreciate it.

Is the worst starter in Major League Baseball.