Daily Dose of Common Sense

The fastest growing group on Facebook is the 35-54 set, which can lead to sticky situations with real consequences for many people. Therefore, who you friend is as important as who you don’t. As an example, a survey out this week found that 56% of people believe it’s irresponsible to friend your boss on Facebook. Seems there are more categories to be considered as well. So, here’s our common sense list of “To Friend, or Not to Friend.”

Should you friend…

…your boss? As the survey lends us to believe, it’s probably a bad idea. Not only are you possibly exposing awkward photos, status updates, and Wall posts, but your boss can actually SEE if you’re on Facebook at any given time. (The “Friends Online” feature reveals who is logged into the site.) Unless you plan to do all your Facebooking after hours (ha!), then let the boss actually think you’re working. Also, it’s hard to claim a “sick” day when you post photos of your impromptu trip to Six Flags the next day.

…your parents? This is tricky. It really depends on your parents. Are they the judgmental type? Do they disapprove of your lifestyle, job, or friends? If they’re the easy-going, we-love-you-just-the-way-you-are parents, then you’re probably safe. However, you don’t want to become the black sheep over your online revelations. Plus, if you connect to your folks, you might learn more than YOU want to know. (Be prepared for a barrage of Farmville.)

…your kids? As we just talked about, you might learn more than you want to know. Are you invading your child’s internet privacy? Or, are you just trying to stay more connected? If it’s the later, that is certainly a noble reason. Just don’t expect them to appreciate it. More than likely, you’ll just embarrass them.

…your ex? Before you try to maintain a friendship (albeit an online one) with an ex, ask yourself if you’re ready to hear about his or her new relationships. If you can handle seeing vacation pictures of he and his new girlfriend in Bermuda, then it’s probably OK to be Facebook friends. But, if hearing about how happy he or she is without you sends you over the edge, it’s not worth it. Also, if you friend an ex just to keep tabs on him or her “just in case” (or worse, for some revenge plot), then that’s just wrong.

…randoms? If you can’t remember the person from high school, then why stay connected to them on Facebook? Ditto for a friend of a friend, or someone who was blindly suggested by Facebook. Yes, you can hide friends from your News Feed. But, if you friend someone knowing that you’re just going to hide them, why friend them in the first place?

Facebook isn’t just about collecting as many friends as you can. It should be about interacting with a network of people you’re interested in. Don’t let the friend requests bog you down. When in doubt, IGNORE!

Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• The city of Boston dismissed thousands of tickets and tow fines for people who were issued violations while preparing for a storm that never came. The city had declared a snow emergency in expectation of the big storm cutting up the eastern seaboard. Stay classy, Boston.
• A 5-year old girl in Indiana called 911 when her dad experienced chest pains. She remained calm and stayed on the line for nearly ten minutes. She is now credited with saving her dad’s life.

And, some did not.

• Southwest Airlines kicked Kevin Smith off a flight for being too fat. Smith claims he fits between the two arm rests, which is the test of whether a person is too large for their seat. Huge PR nightmare for Southwest Airlines because Smith is a celebrity. I ask why the airlines even let him board in the first place, instead of kicking him off once on the plane?
• New toy: Fisher Price’s Bigfoot the Monster. It’s cute in a Muppet-gone-bad kind of way, but do we really want to encourage children to believe in this nonsense?

If you live in close confines, chances are your neighbors hear you having sex. Most walls just aren’t that thick.

A group of New Yorkers were polled, and…

According to the survey, the most common sounds heard through the walls were thumping (60 percent), moaning (56 percent), screaming (28 percent) and “other” (23 percent).

But just 12 percent of New Yorkers said neighbors ever complained about their lovemaking, and only 24 percent said they went out of their way to pipe down.

So, you can assume that your neighbors hear you getting it on, but the good news is that you won’t receive many (if at all) complaints about it. Pretty good news the day before Valentine’s Day, huh?

[Via PatsPapers]

Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• Time Magazine did a profile on They Might Be Giants‘ kids album called Here Comes Science. Glad to see a great band getting some props. Kids need smart music!
• Too broke to fly home for Uncle George’s funeral? No problem. Some funeral homes now begin to stream funerals live on the Web.
• A Texas family cut their grocery bill in half by planning their meals a year in advance. A lot of work, I’m sure, but knowing what you need to buy down the road allows you to wait until it goes on sale, etc.

And, some did not.

• A TSA agent planted fake drugs on a traveler as a gag. Nice, huh? Agent no longer employed by TSA.
• A New Hampshire man called the cops to complain that he paid for sex and did not receive it. Clearly not a student of the law. He and the woman were both arrested (shocker!).
• Detroit shoplifters ran over and killed the Kmart employee trying to stop them. Now they face armed robbery and homicide charges. The shoplifters were making off with $400 of CDs. That’s worth going to jail for, don’t you think?

PETA finds ridiculous ways to grab headlines. “No publicity stunt too low” should be the group’s motto. In true form, PETA members have taken their nonsense to an elementary school in Florida. In protesting the pending arrival of the circus, PETA arranged for a person in a bloody elephant costume to walk around at the end of the school day. Yes, an elephant with a bloody ear. Not surprisingly, the article says the elephant wasn’t a big hit with the kids. (You think?)

PETA’s issue is the treatment of circus elephants, which Ringling Brothers denies:

“We have never been found in violation of the Animal Welfare Act, which overseas the care and treatment of animals including, the Asian elephant.”

Really, PETA? Is traumatizing the children who might attend the circus the best way to accomplish your goal?

[Via MomLogic.com]

This story lacks common sense in so many areas that it’s hard to know where to begin.

A Connecticut mother left her two small kids in the car while she ran an errand. Big deal, right? Well, what if I told you it was in freezing conditions and the car was off? Bad. Really bad. Has this woman never heard of frostbite or hypothermia?

We can assume she left her 3-year old and a 1-year old to freeze their buns off in the car while going on a SUPER, IMPORTANT errand. Perhaps picking something up at the store, dropping of a letter at the Post Office, paying a bill, or maybe bringing peace to the Middle East.

Nope. She had to go sit in a tanning bed. Yep, getting a fake tan was that important.

Guess she hasn’t heard of skin cancer either.

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Some residents of Big Spring, Texas didn’t appreciate one man’s holiday decorations. The man has a statue of Michelangelo’s David in his front lawn. For laughs and holiday cheer, he dressed David up in a Santa hat and beard, which caused some parents to complain. They claim their kids were asking “Why is Santa naked?”

After complaints, the homeowner covered the statue’s bait and tackle with boxer shorts, which you can see here in this photo.

Parents can’t explain to kids that it’s not really Santa and that it’s a replica of a famous statue? Come on, people! Lighten up.

You know, living in a place called BIG SPRING, these townspeople should have appreciated the joke.

[Via PatsPapers.com]

Photo: BETSY BLANEY/The Associated Press

From the Huffington Post, here are 15 toys to avoid for your kids this holiday. Some of them are weird, some disturbing, and some just plain wrong.

Enjoy!

Turkey gets a bad reputation as the cause of post-Thanksgiving “food comas.” This is where you’re so sleepy that you can barely function once the last bite of pumpkin pie has been swallowed. A myth has long been perpetrated about tryptophan, an enzyme in turkey, as being the cause for sleepiness. Well, that is just plain wrong.

Yes, tryptophan can cause sleepiness. But, here’s how it does it.

Tryptophan also can be metabolized into serotonin and melatonin, neurotransmitters that exert a calming effect and regulates sleep. However, L-tryptophan needs to be taken on an empty stomach and without any other amino acids or protein in order to make you drowsy. There’s lots of protein in a serving of turkey and it’s probably not the only food on the table.

Also, the concentration of tryptophan in turkey is the same as the amount found in beef and chicken, and even more tryptophan is contained in cheese and pork.

So, why are you so sleepy after all that turkey dinner?

Overeating is the culprit in this myth. Ingesting an excess of food can slow blood flow and oxygenation, which makes you feel tired. Many people are led to believe it’s the turkey that specifically makes them long for their pillow, but in reality, it’s just the quantity of dinner.

Don’t blame the turkey if you have to go to bed early tonight.

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Not everyone relishes the quality family time provided by the holidays. If you dread the upcoming moments with your kin like a Michael Jackson seance, here are some tips to get through it all in one sane piece.

At family gatherings, don’t talk about:

• religion
• politics
• the lack of seasoning in the food
• your lesbian experiment in college
• the inheritance

More tips:

Don’t expect to share a bedroom with your boyfriend/girlfriend if your hosts are conservative in this area. Just accept that you’re sleeping apart for a few days in exchange for some free grub. Better yet, offer to stay in a hotel nearby.

Just smile and nod any time your mother picks on comments on your _________________ (insert most sensitive topic here). Because she WILL mention it.

Make sure to keep taking your medication. Whether it’s Prozac, Ambien, Johnny Walker or chocolate cake, don’t try to go cold turkey around Turkey Day.

Pack a bag with snacks. That way, if you don’t like the food, you can sneak away for a Snickers bar later.

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