Rants – Page 2

Thank God it’s Friday… Oh God it’s Monday

06.26.2007 by Marc Chernoff // 6 Comments

between monday and friday I heard someone mutter the latter yesterday morning and it got me to thinking… Does the general popularity of these phrases have anything to do with a society-wide deficiency of aspirations and lack of motivation? Each phrase by itself seems innocent enough, but when placed next to one another it draws a bigger, darker picture depicting an endless cycle of empty progress.

Are we just wishing life away? Nothing groundbreaking usually happens on the weekend that ultimately changes the order of the following week. It makes more sense to live life between the lines of Monday and Friday by accepting things the way that they are, but simultaneously making proactive steps forward. It is about not getting completely hung up on the past or the future, but dealing with the present situation in a way that moves you closer to your ideals. Although, I suppose that would take a lot of self discipline.

Popular Infidelity: We Are All To Blame

06.08.2007 by Marc Chernoff // 5 Comments

Sexual infidelity is widely regarded as one of the most dishonorable assaults against the sanctity of an intimate relationship. Yet, we all seem to be mesmerized by it. Infidelity makes a love story more intense, a song or poem more passionately tragic, and forms the foundation for which the immensely popular celebrity gossip industry firmly holds the attention of millions worldwide. If infidelity is so appalling, then why are we all so consumed with the notions of the act?

A moment of infidelity At some point in time everyone involved in an exclusive relationship experiences a momentary thought of infidelity. It’s the flirtatious glimmer in your eye that indicates a brief superficial curiosity for someone of the opposite sex, the simple act of wondering. For that split second your values misalign, placing shallow emotion ahead of your true moral character. This momentary shift is a direct reflection of your instinctual emotion splitting away from your moral values. When your sound moral values and your fickle emotion are disconnected, your mind is divided and thus your judgment is muddled. Most people’s acts of infidelity are innocent, left hanging to expire in brief, insignificant moments of thought.

It is the strength of our character that realigns this momentary disconnect and prevents innocent thought from transgressing into an act of infidelity. Reliability, honesty, and trustworthiness can be directly measured by one’s strength of character. When the act of infidelity occurs, it has nothing to do with love; it is solely related to the shameful weakness of one’s character… weakness that is driven by senseless emotion.

People whom have never actually taken part in the act of infidelity would probably also deny the allegation of ever experiencing a momentary thought of infidelity. This can be attributed to the fact that the thought never actually enters the conscious mind, but instead lingers in our subconscious. The thought process is a natural instinct, and although we may be oblivious to it, our minds are instinctually aware of it. It’s the combination of this subconscious awareness and our general human curiosity that will continue to foster the mass market interest and popularity of infidelity.

I’ll wrap it up with a quote from one of my favorite artists:

Everyone here is wondering what it’s like to be with somebody else.
Everyone here’s to blame, everyone here,
Gets caught up in the pleasure of the pain.
Everyone hides shades of shame,
But looking inside we’re the same, we’re all the same.
And we’re all grown now, but we don’t know how
to get it back to good.

– Rob Thomas

Corporate America Asks Questions Without Wanting True Answers

05.14.2007 by Angel Chernoff // 1 Comment

Have you ever felt momentarily suspended in a complete void of productivity because someone just asked you a question that you knew they did not want an honest answer to? I am not referring to a situation where you are intentionally deceiving a loved one’s trust by hiding information that could emotionally hurt them. The situation I am referring to involves a professional environment where multiple individuals in a strict business relationship disregard the truth in favor of delivering the ideal lie. In other words, these business people ask their associates questions that already have a presumed answer regardless of whether that answer is true or not. Frustration in Corporate America

For instance, if the regional director Bob of Spazz Inc. asked John, one of his small branch managers, how the brand new employee training system was functioning, would John be honest with his boss? Without any knowledge of the company structure, maybe he would. But what if John knew that Bob had a lead role in convincing the president of Spazz Inc. to pour 25 million dollars into designing the new employee training system. If the training system was truly a faulty disaster, would you expect John to be upfront about it with the director project, whom also happens to sign his paycheck

Situations like this create an absolute void of productivity and efficiency. Unfortunately, this sort of thing occurs in corporate America on a daily basis and companies of all sizes suffer from it. This is not just an isolated management dilemma. The problem starts at the root of executive company administration and spills out to every facet in the chain of command. The source of the epidemic correlates directly to a shortfall in the company-wide team building process. When an employee does not feel comfortable with the management, a lack of trust sets in, at which point they will tell their boss exactly what they think their boss wants to hear. And sadly enough, many times this is exactly what the boss desires.

Our Justice System is An Illusion

04.18.2007 by Marc Chernoff // 7 Comments

Without descending into the depths of a lengthy narrative covering the vast insufficiencies of our social and legal justice systems, allow me to vent out some excess bitterness.

You are alone out there. That’s the bottom line. Nobody will be there to save you from your own stupidity. Likewise, nobody will be there to save you from someone else’s inanity. The mere act of traversing your daily routine places you evenly on a fine line between absolute triumph and utter defeat. Freedom in life is a fragile privilege resting gently on the edge of muted detention. Thus, our reasoning and rationale may fall on the deaf ears of those we employ to save us. All the laws of society are only 50% assured at any given moment, so plan on uncertainty and injustice ahead.

Sorry about the negative rant. My buddy was beaten in the face a couple days ago by some drunken college-age asshole. He was attempting to break up a fight outside of a popular downtown watering hole. The SOB left a large bloody gash across my buddy’s broken nose after he swiftly head-butted him for no reason other than for telling the drunk guy that fighting some other guy was foolish. The cops detained the jerk for about 10 minutes, wiped their hands clean of the mess, and let the guy walk. My buddy received a police department case number, followed up by a phone call the next day. The policeman said that after a thorough investigation, there was no criminal fault made by the other party involved. It was simply a quarrel between two parties that resulted in an injury.

Thorough investigation… my ass! I guess the fact that my buddy never laid a finger on anyone is just an extraneous detail. Oh, and assault and battery must be legal nowadays. I witnessed this injustice firsthand… and it makes me sick to my stomach.

Who do you want at your wedding?

03.21.2007 by Marc Chernoff // Leave a Comment

With our “big day” just 72 hours away, the level of excitement and anticipation is rapidly building. Family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances keep asking me how things are going, to which I reply… “Just a lot of “T” crossing and “I” dotting.” One nagging question that seems to be on the back of a few people’s minds is: Why didn’t we invite more guests to our wedding? I assume this question has arisen due to the fact that Angel and I capped off our wedding guest list at around 110 people and didn’t invite many of our current colleagues. So while our wedding party is rather large (20 people deep, including the bride, groom, parents, and grandma), our guest list is rather small. Why not invite more colleagues and acquaintances? I guess that’s a valid question.

Most people probably think the obvious; cost must have something to do with it, right? Sure, but while cost is always a factor, it’s not exactly a good reason to leave someone important off your wedding guest list. We intend to get married only once, so this certainly isn’t an affair we plan to be frugal with. Which brings me to the foundation of our reasoning: This is an intimate affair. The people who we invited are thought of as family, whether we are related by blood or not. These are the people we trust, respect, and love. These aren’t just the people that we hope would be there for us in our time of need, these are the people we will immediately rush to assist if they ever find themselves in a time of need. In other words, we assembled our wedding guest list based on invitations sent only to our best friends and family.