Rothacker Reviews

Who are you voting for?

"Hello, I am Frank from USA Today. What is your name? Who are you voting for today?"

"I am voting for candidate X."

"Why are you voting for candidate X David?"

I was approached by the above USA reporter as I went to vote in last year's presidential election. Five minutes before he asked me who I was voting for, I learned who I was going to vote for. It was the same person who Rosemary was voting for. Why? Because it was who she was voting for. Fortunately I had asked Rosemary why she was voting for this candidate. I simply repeated verbatim to Frank, Rosemary's answer.

I have never felt like a bigger idiot in my entire life.

It's a darn good thing Frank didn't ask me who the vice-president of the United States was on that day. I read over one-hundred non-fiction books per year. I read two to three newspapers per day, subscribe to ten magazines per month (down from an average of twenty for twenty years), and spend more time than I care to admit reading on the Internet. And that doesn't include the roughly four-hundred hours per year that I invested in career education - for twenty-five years.

I tuned politics and government out however, like a TV commercial. Years ago I had put both down to an over-infested, insincere lot of lier's and cheats. To me, these people smiled, shook your hand, told you what you wanted to hear and then did whatever was in their best interest. 

I lost my job nine weeks after the election and in doing so, stepped off of the hamster wheel. Suddenly, life began to come into my face again. I read a political article in the newspaper and remembered back to that embarrassing day in November. I thought, "dude, there's a reason that you can vote, speak in public and bear arms - matter of fact, there's hundreds of thousands and they are dead now. And there are tens of thousands more over seas right now, all fighting for and protecting our freedom"

So I decided to tune in. The first thing that came to mind was President Obama and how he got elected. I've always had this habit of noticing something like this, and then backing out for a wider view. So before I even had time to contemplate Obama's platform and viewpoints, I became infatuated with the circumstances that drove a cause to rally people online and then move them to vote.

I made a mental note that it didn't necessarily have to be a political cause for people to rally around and take action. But this was really about my lack of civic knowledge and I needed to do something about that. I am now on that journey. My goal is to be more educated on a civic level and to be a more responsible citizen. In case you are interested, here are a few resources that I'm beginning to use:

Learning About the United States

Center for Civic Education

America the Owner's Manual by Bob Graham. A quick note on Bob's book here. Although I've just begun to read it, I have a really good feeling about it. At this time it's just a gut perception, but it seems to be chipping away at my stone cold armor, the one that says,  "What's the use? I can't make a difference."

On this Thanksgiving Day in the year of 2009, I am thankful for my family and the privileges that we enjoy because of the men and women of our country who have sacrificed their lives and those who continue to fight for our honor and our freedom.

Happy July 4th!

Photo by Ladybugbkt - flickr

Kevin Skinner: Spellbound

Kevin Skinner is America's Susan Boyle...hopefully.  Hopefully Kevin isn't a ringer dressed down to look like Susan Boyle.

Don't we all love underdogs?  Why is that?  Because most of us didn't roll out of bed with a silver spoon in our mouth, we didn't do private school, Harvard and roll into some cushy CEO gig without breaking a sweat, we didn't roll into Hollywood and instant fame, we didn't go from garage rock band to the big time, we didn't go from garage geek gig to big time tech company founder.

Underdogs are like us, are us and we want to see us succeed.

So that's one attraction to the Kevin Skinner's of the world. 

Here's another.  Kevin turns embarrassing laughter into sweet, spellbound anticipation.  Take a good look at the two girls at 1:52 of the video.  Then take another look at them at 3:05.  A dollar bill can't produce that look.  A million bucks can't either.  Drugs can't produce that look and neither can alcohol.  Kevin Skinner's performance grabs hold of these two young girls' hearts, stops their world and mesmerizes them.

You can't buy that look, but it is sure is worth a million bucks! 

Video direct from You Tube

It's Not About The Money

People are losing jobs.  Pricing is undercut.  Houses are not selling and in foreclosure.  Companies are going bankrupt.  I get that times are tough.  Heck, I lost my own job.  But I absolutely refuse to buy into the media sky is falling message.

In tough times people dig deep to help others.  As a couple who have been fortunate enough over the last twenty years to help others, it has been a humbling experience for Rosemary and myself to accept help ourselves.  It inspires us to get out of our present hole and back to being in a position to help.

In tough times people help others with advice and stories of comfort and hope.  With an over abundant love and enthusiasm for methods of self-help, I am especially sensitive to this type of counsel.  There are words of supposed wisdom however, that I cannot stomach.  Actually it's not the words.  It's the people who are puking them from their gold-lined mouths.

It goes like this:  Millionaire dude in the midst of his opulence says, "It's not about the money."

This makes as much sense as a poor fellow extolling the virtues of a Lamborghini sports car. 

I realize there are many well intentioned, financially well off people who for them it isn't about the money.  Whatever it is, I think we'd be better off seeing them out there demonstrating, teaching, helping, doing, whatever...just don't tell us it isn't about the money.

Donna Byrne: 21st Century Cowgirl

Donna Byrne: "I'm worn down.  But I know cowgirls don't cry.  Ride, baby, ride.  But with Jay's death, it really took a toll on me.  I'm just tired."  From reporter Lindsay Peterson's article today in the Tampa Tribune.

Donna lost her job in Arcadia, Florida, back in February and was on her way to Amarillo, Texas, in search of work.  No big deal, right?  Many people are losing their jobs these days.  And they are moving to where ever they can find work.  The problem is that Donna's mode of transportation, Jay, died.  Jay was her horse.  Donna was making her way to Texas from Florida via horseback.  Here are some pictures of Donna and her horses.

The local media here in Tampa, has done a great job of chronicling Donna's progress and these folks have as well.

Donna is such an inspiration.  Her trip has nothing to do with publicity.  She is doing what she is doing because she must do it.  It's like a code that has been burned on the hard drive of her soul.  Donna is about grit, determination and the American way.  I think we can all learn something from this 21st Century American Cowgirl.

The Economy: Doom or Boom?

Well, clearly we are not in a boom economy.  To a degree however, I believe that a perception of a doom economy is a mindset. 

Media:  "The sky is falling.  The sky is falling.  The sky is falling.  The sky is falling.  The sky is falling".

"Hey Jack, is the sky falling?"

"Yeah, the sky is falling."

A couple of weeks ago, Rosemary and I visited three bicycle shops in the area.  The sky clearly wasn't falling.  We were in each store an average of fifteen minutes.  In that time the clerk who waited on us mentioned, unprovoked, how busy they had been before and after Christmas.  This registered as very significant because obviously this was what was on their minds. 

Note to bike shop owners:  We ended up purchasing our bikes from a person who, in spite of the crowd, was friendly and helpful (more on this shop in another post).  In one New Tampa shop, whose name I will not mention, Rosemary and I stood directly in front of the counter, only to watch the clerks wait on two people who came in after us.  I didn't notice one person working there that day who I thought wanted to be there.

Also, an acquaintance of mine mentioned how he and his wife had shopped in a large Orlando hobby store and it was wall to wall people.  The person who waited on them had commented how slammed with business the store had been.

Finally, in one last unscientific observation - there was a RV show at the Florida State Fairgrounds last week.  Newspapers reported how unusually brisk traffic was and that quite a few RV's were selling each day.

Undoubtedly were are not in the best of economic times right now.  I choose to remain positive however, and not buy into the media-induced hype of a bad economy. 

Trends: Trendwatching

Do you have unopened e-mail newsletters in your inbox?

"Well, errrr, yeah dave, I do."

And those are the ones that you allow into your inbox, aren't they?

"Yeah man, I just don't have time to read them.  But you know, I do pick one or two off every so often."

Do you use Google's GMail?

"daaaaave, I see where you're going with this...."

I let approximately ten e-mail newsletters through my front gate each week and a half dozen more per month.  I read one.  I need to prune two or three from this list. For the balance though, I lean on Google's search capability in my GMail account. 

"dave, that sounds good on paper dude, but how often do you really bring up old e-mail newsletters?"

Not often.  But let me tell you about how a person at a company that sends these newsletters broke through the din of white noise marketing and helped me out.  Michell Zappa, a trend analyst at Trendwatching.com, sent me an e-mail.  Her company noticed that I hadn't opened up their Trend Briefing monthly newsletter for quite a while.  Her concern was two-fold.  One, perhaps my junk mail folder was scarfing up the briefings and I wasn't getting any, and two, perhaps I really didn't want to receive them anymore.  In that case I could opt out and they wouldn't bother me anymore.

Now, of course Michell didn't personally send me this e-mail.  But the thought and gesture pegged out the dave "that's different" meter.  It was so Amazonian.  It meant enough for me to reply back and thank them for their concern.  Janna van Hasselt, from client services did personally reply back to me and thanked me for my note.

Guess what.  A few days later I opened the latest briefing and read it.  Man am I  glad that I did!  If you appreciate knowing what makes consumers do what they do, the pulse of business today, the various economy-related cultures and design (because their briefing is of most excellent design), then sign up for a Trend Briefing of your own today!