Now How Does That Song Go?

Say it LOUD! I'm Literate & PROUD!



                                          Now How Does That Song Go?

                                                                by

                                                                    Jay Agan

      Back in the ancient age of analog, I spent four wonderful (NOT!) years in New Jersey getting an ejmakashun & work experience. Finding pickings a might slim after moving back to Ohio, I found some work through temp agencies.

      As my "chosen field" was office related, I was sent out a few times to, get this, straighten out files. As in alphabetical order. Seems a lot of folks don't know their ABCs.

      To this day I'm still taken aback over the general ignorance/stupidity of people. I have recently viewed an episode of Repo Games, wherein knuckle draggers get a chance not to have their cars towed by answering a few trivia questions. While the "contestants" struggled with the answers, I got most of them right almost instantly (Those cars are rightfully mine!). What I had seen has not given me hope for humanity.

Another kind of ABC.

     
      Back to the alphabet (alpha-beta). How SO many members of the general public can have so much difficulty getting files in order is WAY beyond me. If you can count, "sing that song" & think at least semi-logically, you shouldn't have much trouble getting files sorted. Maybe that "semi-logical" part has them all confused. While chrysanthemum falls somewhere between A & Z, it shouldn't be all that much harder to figure that right comes between reel & ring.

      A notable exception to alphabetising is the word sympathy. While it is rarely found in the real world it can be readily found in the dictionary. Between s-word & suicide!

      Now how does that song go? Oh yeah .....

      ABCDEFG
      How I wonder what you are
      QRSTUV
      Like a diamond in the sky .....

      Uh ..... wait a sec ..... OK, now I gotz it .....

      Twinkle, twinkle, little star
      HIJKLMNOP
      Up above the world so high
      WXYZ
      Now I know my ..... huh?

      Darn! Maybe I'm gettin' old .....

Article copyright © 12-7-2011 Jay Agan

Another alphabet souphead here.

Go to main page here.

DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

This article (only) may be copied in whole or in part. Please cite proper credit & backlink.

Long Ago, Not So Far Away

                                                         
                                                        Long Ago, Not So Far Away

                                                                            by

                                                                               Jay Agan
    
     Returning to Ohio from Jersey back in '88, I hoped to gain employment soon after arrival. Turned out no & I worked through temp agencies for awhile & not in my chosen field as a data systems operator. Three of these brief temp jobs were to exclusively help small businesses sort out their files.

     It's amazing, the number of people out there who can't alphabetize. You'd think with that song being so prevalent (You know. The one that rhymes with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?), most everyone could. Not so.

     A lot of folks can alphabetize only so far. Subsequent letters after the first in a name seem to confuse them. It's reasonable to think they could figure out Wallace comes before Ward or Lowe after Lawrence but they can't. So they throw all the Ws together, Ls in one place, etc. Makes for quite a mess. Shoot. A lot of 'em can't even spell their own names.

     There are other protocols for alphabetizing. If a book/album/movie title has A or The as the first word, you drop it & go the next. Example: The Brain From Planet Arous would be shelved right under B. A Man Called Horse would under M. Some folks don't get that (I just noticed. Neither does the Blogger labels indexer!).

     One mid 90s winter day, I was wandering around the Sawmill Rd. Media Play north of the I270 outerbelt, when I ran afoul of a Trek weenie who worked there. We're talking science fiction when, out of the blue, he decides to try out his mastery of Klingon on me. Out of disgust, I mention how some folks have too much time on their hands.

     He gets this frown on his face & decides not to talk to me anymore (Yay!), when a lady walks up to him with a question.

     "Young man, I seem to be having trouble finding A View To A Kill. Could you show me where it is?"

     I'll give Trek boy some credit. He did leap to his job. Unfortunately it was to the A section.
After a few seconds, I suggested they go to where the V titles were shelved. SHE found it rather quickly.

     Trek weenies .....

                                                       Article copyright © Jay Agan