Mental Sampler 10
The video of the woman disappearing on live television? She’s on the left side of the screen. I must have watched it 50 times by now trying to figure it out.
Where does she go? And if you watch everyone else, there is no skip in the feed. Spooky.
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Have you heard of the brand Cotton On? I think it’s Australian. I can’t even remember how I heard about it this week, but it brought back memories of the brand Au Coton, which intense Googling has informed me is now defunct. I am so sad for Generation Z and their lack of Au Coton memories.
Do you remember those clothes? The oversized sweatshirts (damn, I wish sweatshirts that covered half your body were still in style) and the sweatpants you pegged and rolled up so they rested over your scrunch socks? One of my happiest memories ever was the day my dad let my sister and I go shopping in Au Coton by ourselves. The store was in Inner Harbour, and while I was a little nervous to make my own decisions because I was pretty crap at dressing myself, it was a heady rush to be around all of that sexy cotton. Just yards and yards and yards of super soft sweat clothes.
I really miss Au Coton. I get the sense that Cotton On is closer to being the Australian Old Navy than a reincarnation of 80s baggy clothing. Anyone else with me? Au Coton, great clothing store or greatest clothing store ever?
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Josh and I have been talking about Adam LaRoche and his decision to retire from baseball and leave $13 million on his contract rather than “dial back” having his 14 year old son come to his workplace. LaRoche is a former National, now a White Sox. But once you are one of my boys, you are always one of my boys.
I get that it sounds sensible in theory from the point of view of the Executive Vice President, Ken Williams. For instance, a lawyer would not bring her child to work every single day. If she did, she probably wouldn’t be very productive, and her child would probably be bored.
But this assumes that all jobs are alike. And they’re not. Some jobs lend themselves better to having kids at the workplace. Baseball seems like one of those jobs.
I’m biased because I often bring the kids with me to work things. I’ve even pulled them out of school if I’m going somewhere special so they can be in that space, too. I think they get a lot out of the experience, and they learn from observation. My kids are naturally pretty quiet in public, so it works out well. If my kids acted differently in public, I would rethink taking them.
But I think my kids act the way they do BECAUSE we’ve always included them in adult experiences such a theater events or dinners with authors. They’ve learned how to comport themselves through observation and stated expectations and the excitement of being included in the adult world.
If LaRoche’s son was not bothering anyone — and it has been stated that no one but management had a problem with the boy being there, and their problem came from the fact that they just didn’t think it was right for the child to spend so much time with his parent — then I don’t see the point in making a new rule. It’s not Williams’s job to tell LaRoche how to parent, especially when LaRoche was upfront during contract negotiations on how he parents.
So, yeah, I totally respect LaRoche for saying family is more important than his job, and if he can’t be the dad he wants to be while being a baseball player, he just won’t be a baseball player.
8 comments
You can see the woman turn to walk as the woman with the trolley goes by so I think she walked with the woman with the trolley but you can’t see her because of how close the woman with the trolley is to the camera – she’s blocked her from view…that’s my best guess!
I ❤️ your use of the word ‘comport’!
I love the comment about informing the Ministry of Magic about muggles practicing magic. Something really does need to be done. Muggles should not be finding portkeys. Carelessness, pure and simple, to have left one laying about.
My parents pulled us from school for important things, ranging from a vacation somewhere special to watching the State Legislature be called in to session. All of it was a good experience.
I’m guessing she walks away exactly aligned with the woman in the foreground. Pretty cool for an accidental illusion.
That is super creepy. There has to be a logical explanation, and I like the ones above where she just turns and walks behind the cart lady, because that’s better than people just randomly disappearing, POOF.
I so remember Au Coton! I don’t think I ever actually got anything from that store, but I remember heavily coveting the slouchy softness. Good times.
What everyone else said! She just is blocked walking away.
I don’t know – later reports say that other players called the issue to management’s attention. Management asked him to dial back the amount his child was in the clubhouse, not stop completely. Most workplaces do not allow children, and most major league teams do not have clubhouses filled with children. But, if spending time with his son is the most important thing, then retiring is the right thing for LaRoche. I’m not sure who made it into a huge media thing – initially I heard that he was retiring for personal reasons. So, while I think management has every right to determine the rules regarding who is allowed in their workplace, the real problem is the reporters making this into a judgement call. (Is it that Williams is telling LaRoche how to parent, or is Williams telling LaRoche that he doesn’t want kids at work at all, but since it’s an out-of-the-ordinary career field, he’s willing to let it happen sometimes…just not all the time? I think, given the dial-it-back reports, that it’s more the second one.)
I remember Au Coton, but here in Canada we also had Cotton Ginny — similar stuff — T-shirts, sweatshirts, leggings, stirrup pants. I used to buy all my socks there. It went under a few years ago but I still miss it.
Yes, Cotton On is Australian, but I don’t know what Old Navy is so I can’t tell you how it compares!