Rory’s Morning Dawdler — 02/15/23

Fandango

Rory, the king of questions, also known as the Autistic Composter, has come up with a new series of questions that he calls “The Morning Dawdler.” He poses four questions three times a week, questions he says are “inspired by life, humor, conversations and observations, town life, blog posts, writers, gardening, news stories, television, entertainment, and human curiosity, and so on.”

Here are Rory’s four morning dawdler questions today.

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?

I’d be a giant Redwood tree. Why? Because Redwoods are the tallest trees on earth, reaching more than 350 feet high. Nice view, huh? And Redwoods can also live for thousands of years.

Name 5 uses for a stapler other than stapling.

  1. Paperweight
  2. Weapon to throw at a coworker who is annoying you
  3. Musical instrument in the percussion family
  4. To attach things to walls or bulletin boards
  5. In a surgical setting, to join tissue together to close a surgical wound.

Do you believe in tipping for good service received and do you think that tipping makes for a better service?

I assume this question is about financial gratuities and not a tip of the hat or which horse to bet on in the fifth race at the track. In that context, yes, I do tip for good service and I believe that the prospect of a tip can lead to better service.

Do you have a blog to write or do you have a blog to socialize only and which one could you survive without if one was taken away?

I have a blog to write. The socialization aspect of blogging is icing on the cake. I started my first blog in 2005 and until I migrated it over to WordPress and discovered a vibrant community of bloggers, my posts generated minimal social interactions.

As to Rory’s question about one being taken away, I’m not sure how to answer it. If the socialization aspect of blogger were taken away, I would still write blog post with no or limited socialization, just as I did for nine years between 2005 and 2014. But if the writing aspect of blogging were taken away, what’s left? No writing, no blogging, right? Maybe I’m not understanding the question correctly.

8 thoughts on “Rory’s Morning Dawdler — 02/15/23”

  1. Pingback: If I Were a Tree – Writer Ravenclaw
  2. Sadje February 15, 2023 / 5:41 pm

    I agree with your answers Fandango

    Liked by 1 person

  3. The Autistic Composter February 16, 2023 / 1:45 am

    Hey Fandango interesting answers – regarding the blogging question – some bloggers have a blog but don’t write and only socialise whilst others have a blog to write and don’t socialise, others still have a blog to socialise and write whilst others simply enjoy the engagement of people and so comment on other blogger’s content only 🙂

    So if you are a non-writer but have a blog to socialise with as opposed to other media platforms – it goes on that theory – whether writing is more important to you or socialising 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango February 16, 2023 / 2:36 am

      I guess I’m thinking in terms of a personal blog, a blog which is started by an individual as it’s author, who wants to share — in writing — his or her thoughts, ideas, knowledge, personal experiences, etc. with an audience. In that context, I’m having a hard time grasping how a non-writer can have a blog given that writing and posting what one writes on his/her blog is what defines a blog. If you never write and post your writing on your blog, how can you use it for socializing purposes? Sorry I’m being a bit thick — or maybe too literal — on this topic.

      Liked by 1 person

      • The Autistic Composter February 16, 2023 / 4:42 am

        You are not being thick – it always comes down to interpretation is all.

        For instance if the question had been about likes as in writing and not receiving likes as opposed to writing and always receiving likes – you could answer that you would write but not be bothered about receiving likes or you could say that if you never received a like what would be the point to writing?

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Marleen February 16, 2023 / 11:32 am

    Different countries aren’t like the United States. Plus, there are different types of establishments within the United States. If we’re talking about full-service-sit-down restaurants, although I don’t see anything about food in the question, I always (to a fault) tip (in the United States) regardless that it’s not in order to get better service in the future. It’s because I see it as a responsibility to pay workers. When that type of job only pays a guaranteed two-something per hour — a feature which is a hangover from service having been for servants or slaves but which is still reflective of the class goals of capitalism — to have simply gotten what I came there to receive and with no outright bad treatment means I should add twenty percent on the gratuity line.

    (The reason I included saying I tip to a fault is that I once added ten percent when I probably shouldn’t have added any tip or even paid for the food, at least not for all of the food. Bolstering my point of view on that experience, while my wish that I had done something different stands on its own per the tabling of the food along with a metal piece mixed in the vegetables, is the fact that I perceive the waitress to have been part of the owner family and not a paid employee or not dependent on an hourly wage. This was before I had a phone with a camera, so it was long ago. In some combination of regretting how I handled that along with my current impulse to take a lot of pictures, although not often of food, I know I would be different now.)

    There is a restaurant, before the pandemic, in which the owner and head chef liked to serve me (and the person I was with) his choices of what he thought was best that day… then deliver a bill that in no way reflected all he had fed us. The charge would be a fraction of what was commensurate. When the person I was with was going to tip based on the actual charge, I nearly insisted he consider most if not all of what we had in fact enjoyed. The wait staff needed to make a living no matter what was going on with the motivations of this businessman; might’ve been an effort in hope that his employees receive more than they would’ve under normal circumstances. I would’ve felt like a thief (or asshole) to leave a five-dollar tip after all that.

    There are other places (here), though, where I find it rude for an eatery to suggest considering a tip. If I go directly up to you (a person at a counter or window) and this is not a bar where you are serving the drinks, whoever is employing you should be paying a full wage and not hiding his dickishness in not doing so behind some technicality. Meanwhile, other countries (I don’t know exactly which ones but think they include Canada and the UK at least) don’t have our dynamic to deal with. In those environments, sensibilities around tipping have an otherworldly context and will [my perspective] always be expressing gratitude for having gone above and beyond or been especially courteous or friendly or added complimentary product.

    Liked by 1 person

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