QUARANTINE BLOG # 583

November 3, 2021

First of all, Happy Birthday to Carey Sisler!  Best wishes for a great day and an awesome year!

Carey and Matt Sisler

👉  Mr. Maguire: “I want to say one word to you, Benjamin. Just one word.”  Benjamin Braddock: “Yes, sir.”  Mr. Maguire: “Are you listening?”  Benjamin Braddock: “Yes, I am.”  Mr. Maguire: “Plastics.”

If you’ve seen The Graduate you recognize that dialogue exchange.  Even if you haven’t seen the 1967 movie starring Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, and Katherine Ross, you know the Simon and Garfunkel sound track.  “The Sound of Silence.”  “Scarborough Fair.”  And “Mrs. Robinson.”

“Mrs. Robinson” was originally titled “Mrs. Roosevelt,” after former U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.  But, according to Variety magazine, “with the film nearing completion, there was still something lacking in its music.  Director Mike Nichols leaped at the chance to use a little tune Paul Simon had written about Eleanor Roosevelt.  And so former First Lady ‘Mrs. Roosevelt’ became ‘Mrs. Robinson,’ and The Graduate acquired its key musical theme.”

As for the other famous name uttered in the song – that of New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio – Simon once explained that his actual favorite Yankee was Mickey Mantle but the number of syllables in his name didn’t work with the melody.  And so, “our nation” turns its lonely eyes to Joltin’ Joe instead.  In 1969 the tune became the first rock and roll song to win the Record of the Year Grammy.

👉  From the archives of the sayings, wit, and wisdom of Captain Mac comes this gem:

Mac’s running conversation as he and his mom drive.  When can I take pills?  When you’re bigger.  I have a big neck so can I take them now.  Me and brother need to start taking gas pills cause we toodle all the time.  I wish my name was Jeff.  Why?  Cause Jeff’s a cool name.  Is there lava on the sun?  Yes.  Man.  I bet the lava comes down and fires California and fires America.

👉  Our selection of vintage toys for today – to increase your bank account – begins with Strawberry Shortcake.  The original Strawberry Shortcake dolls, first released in 1979, were popular thanks to their food-themed names and how the dolls were even scented to match their name.  The doll line continued to grow over time, including Sweet Sleeper dolls, Baby dolls, Blow Kiss dolls, International Friends, Party Pleaser dolls, and Berrykin dolls.  The one pictured here sold on eBay for $85.  The 1981 Kenner Jelly Bear Mini brought $80 and Picka-Berry Circus Huckleberry Finney Clown Doll went for $89. 

The Tamagotchi (Japanese, “Egg Watch”) is a handheld digital pet that was released by Bandai on November 23, 1996 in Japan and on May 1, 1997 in the rest of the world, quickly becoming one of the biggest toy fads of the late 1990s and the early 2000s.  As of March 2021, over 83 million units have been sold worldwide.  The rarest Tamagotchis are considered the white and red ones and have sold for $3,000.  Check your toy box.

👉  Way back in the before time when I managed Taber’s Jewelers (your jeweler with the 100 day money back guarantee) we’d have monthly meetings with all mall managers and we’d see everyone’s sales figures.  Month after month Chick-fil-A would do more business in 6 days than any 2 food stores combined did in 7 days.  I’ve always attributed that to two things: good groceries, and more importantly, a business plan that honored the Lord God Almighty.  When Truett Cathy founded CFA in 1967, turning a basic crispy chicken sandwich into the third-largest restaurant chain by domestic sales in the U.S., he determined that the business would always be closed on Sunday.  

On Monday, Andrew Cathy, Truett’s grandson, started a new job – chief executive of Chick-fil-A Inc.  Mr. Cathy, a 43-year-old father of four who grew up in the business, wants to push Chick-fil-A into the future through delivery, new online-only brands and updated drive-throughs.  He also intends to remain rooted in the company’s traditions and values. He recently sat down with Heather Haddon for The Wall Street Journal for an interview.  Here is a selection from that piece.

WSJ: Do you intend to keep the tradition of Chick-fil-A stores closing on Sundays?

Mr. Cathy: We’ll definitely keep our stores closed on Sunday.  It goes back to how my grandfather started the business.  He knew how hard it is to work.  And so we continued that philosophy of keeping our stores closed on Sundays so that people can go to church if they want to, if they need some time with family.

WSJ: What do you make of the negative views some people have of Chick-fil-A?

Mr. Cathy: You can’t control what people assume.  We should treat everybody with honor, dignity, respect, and we open our doors to everybody.

WSJ: What’s the company’s role when it comes to the national conversation on social issues?

Mr. Cathy: I think the most important thing for us, being in the restaurant business, is that we serve everybody.  My grandfather, he would say, “I’m not right wing or left wing.  I’m the whole chicken.”

👉  For yourself or your favorite senior, here are two more t-shirts:

👉  Jancee Dunn, writing in The New York Times, says the pandemic is changing the way we name our babies.  Popular names now are derived from optimistic meanings – like hope, light and happiness.  Zora, for example, which means “dawn” and suggests new beginnings.  Other hopeful names are Aurora (Roman goddess of the sunrise), Felix (“happy”), and Frida (“peaceful”).  Biblical names, which have been replaced in past years, have also surged.  “For comfort in hard times, people turn to faith,” she said.  “We’re seeing Gabriel, Elijah, Esther, Lilith and even Naomi, which hasn’t trended in a long time.”  Some names are dropping in popularity.  Probably not having anything to do directly with the pandemic, Donald is no longer seen in the top 1,000 names.  And no one is being named “Corona” which is Latin for “crown.”

👉  Another close today, “Knowing God’s Will,” from Max Lucado:

We learn God’s will by spending time in his presence.  The key to knowing God’s heart is having a relationship with him.  A personal relationship.  God will speak to you differently than he will speak to others.  Just because God spoke to Moses through a burning bush doesn’t mean we should all sit next to a bush waiting for God to speak.  God used a fish to convict Jonah.  Does that mean we should have worship services at Sea World?  No.  God reveals his heart personally to each person.

For that reason, your walk with God is essential.  His heart is not seen in an occasional chat or weekly visit.  We learn his will as we take up residence in his house every single day.

Walk with him long enough and you come to know his heart.

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