Jay Likes

January 25, 2011

"Traveling to funerals was once an important family rite, but with greater secularity and a mobile population increasingly disconnected from original hometowns, watching a funeral online can seem better than not going to a funeral at all. Social media, too, have redrawn the communal barriers of what is acceptable when relating to parents, siblings, friends and acquaintances."

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While I am offended by those smart phone addicts who are looking at their screens in the middle of a funeral service, or even worse, tweeting or responding to emails (why even go, I wonder), streaming services is a great idea considering that so many of us are now global citizens with friends and family everywhere.

Private Funerals Now Streamed Online - NYTimes.com

10:15am

January 7, 2011

"NOW that the holidays are over, many disappointed gift-recipients are heading to the mall to return their useless, unattractive or thoughtless presents. Next year, why not spare them the trouble, and give cash instead? It makes economic sense — many economists see cash as the most efficient gift, because it allows recipients to choose exactly what they want. But this horrifies traditionalists, who see giving cash for Christmas as the ultimate commodification of a sacred ritual. Money is acceptable for charitable donations or bonuses, but certainly not for friends or family."

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I so agree, especially as a man. With so much effort that I have put into shopping, I have never been able to impress even my wife with my gifts. At times she has politely smiled and thanked me, on others, she has simply put the gifts away in a closet never to be used or even looked at. I wish we could simply agree that I pay her cash. Actually, it will save so much trouble in the world if we could simply exchange cash as gifts. Thankfully, Amazon has a clever solution to alleviate the problem but it does not solve the problem completely.