Scott Adams implies Dilbert was “cancelled” in 77 papers for taking on “woke” corporations. But the papers also dumped Blondie, Mr. Boffo, The Family Circus, and Ziggy

I agree, the Dilbert TV show was better than the strip. More focused, and that great theme song.

And I remember the mud of Elbonia

(Spoken like an Elbonian immigrant in a nostalgic moment)

@Crip Dyke:

Two words: ad blocker.

@various:

It seems that it’s World Capitalist Bullshit Week or something, though I was never notified. But all of the following have happened recently, involving deceptive practices by large business entities, most of which don’t make a whole lot of sense:

1. Today I encountered at least two instances of TV stations using deceptive means to draw attention back to the TV before an advertisement. One was a false “This program contains scenes of violence (or whatever). Viewer discretion is advised.” followed by an ad rather than a segment of show. The second was similar: a false “This program is available with described video for the visually impaired.” People react to those by returning from the kitchen or putting down their phone Solitaire game and paying attention to the TV again, and they exploited that dishonestly.
2. Several TV stations are likewise mislabeling reruns as “new” this week in a presumed dishonest effort to goose ratings. On Tuesday one aired a repeat of last season’s “Superman” season premiere and labeled it as “New. Season Premiere.”; it was actually the season 2 premiere, not as implied the season 3 premiere (which either I’ve missed or it hasn’t actually aired yet); today, one aired last season’s CSI season finale as “New. Season Premiere.”
3. The cashiers at the grocery store here persist in asking if you want a bag, and then starting to shove the scanned items into one of theirs even if you said “no”; why ask the question if they’re going to ignore the answer? They also always prompt you if you want air miles, as if there was still a large middle class and J. Random Customer was probably getting on planes every few months for various purposes. I don’t know if this is just inertia (hey, it’s not the 1990s anymore, maybe 5 to 10% of the people can afford to fly and/or have jobs that fly them places now, and a solid 80+% not only can’t afford to but have no realistic prospect of ever affording to!) or if there’s a sinister propaganda purpose behind it (e.g. gaslighting everyone into thinking it’s just them who’s poor, and therefore it’s because of a personal failing that they have no use for air miles, don’t look at us or our multi-billionaire owners). It’s harder to explain the bag thing that way, though. Note: This item isn’t unique to this week, but it has continued into it. The deceptive element is asking one question as if the answer might affect anything, when they have every intention of simply ignoring it, and asking another the mere asking of which implies things about the economy that haven’t actually been true since 2008, if not longer still.
4. A fast food place near here had, in essence, a fake cashier. There are three registers, of which two were not in use and there was a young man standing behind the third, facing across the counter. I of course walked to this one and began to order a meal, only for him to say nothing that made any sense in response. I repeated myself and he gestured at a headset he was wearing — he was not just wearing a hands-free phone but, apparently, using it. Instead of serving customers. While standing behind the only open register. It’s not like they were even short-staffed; the place was full of employees, if anything an excessive number bustling around in the kitchen and between it and the registers. Phone Guy should have been elsewhere (even outside on the sidewalk if necessary to make room for the rest) and someone else should have been operating (not just standing at, but actually operating) at least one register. There was no need to have that one guy multitask — and indeed he wasn’t, as I never saw him take anyone’s order at that register. Eventually another employee noticed the problem, opened a second register, and took my order there. Until then, not only did it look to customers like Phone Guy’s register was open (and, moreover, the only one open), but it must have looked like that to the other employees too, and it wasn’t hugely busy, so they must have thought there was no need to open a “second” register … This deception seems thoroughly counterproductive even from a greedy-capitalist standpoint, so it’s probably a mistake that stemmed from some sort of cost-cutting measure that backfired on them, compounded by a clueless employee picking the worst place to stand while yakking on the phone likely due to obliviousness to his surroundings. Clearly the workforce was poorly coordinated, given they didn’t seem to realize that for a good ten minutes no one was actually accepting customer orders at the registers at all, smack dab in the middle of dinner hour. That’s got to have cost them a few actual orders and rather a lot more customer goodwill. The same place had an even more bizarre screwup a couple of weeks ago where one employee, or person in an employee uniform, locked one of the two customer entrance doors and stood near the other proclaiming the place to be closed, even though the place was full of customers and the drive-through was turning a brisk business and it was seven- or eight-something and their stated hours are 10 am to 10 pm. The other employees were acting as if it was business as usual, and served anyone who ignored the one and strolled in through the unlocked door. It’s like they were in a state of disagreement among themselves regarding what time of day it was and furthermore made no effort to get on the same page at all (say, by consulting a clock?) … I’m wondering where I’m going to eat (other than at home) now, as that place is clearly going to hell in a handcart, the KFC down the block still hasn’t reopened its dining area post-COVID, and the good-burger joint is a bit more expensive and a significantly longer hike to reach so I can’t go there at all often. Sadly, the one whose management and workforce are increasingly incoherent is also the best-fries one in town …

Incidentally, is anyone else getting a lot of phantom new-mail notifications lately, only to find their inbox empty when they actually pull up the relevant window?

I don’t remember the Dilbert show much tbh except for its opening theme, and I already *have* the soundtrack to Forbidden Zone!

@ surplus

compounded by a clueless employee picking the worst place to stand while yakking on the phone

I’m very much on the side of the employee in circumstances like this. Whilst it’s always nice to get efficient and pleasant service, staff are often treated so appallingly, especially in things like fast food franchises, that I don’t blame them for swinging the lead a bit.

Customer facing jobs can be awful. I find myself thinking that I could solve a lot of client issues with a shovel, some quicklime, and a watertight alibi. So if you’re on minimum wage in one of the places that treats you like a Victorian mill before the introduction of the Truck Acts, it’s a bit much to expect you to actually give a shit.

It’s perfectly appropriate to blame the owners, but when it comes to staff I’m totally with David Mitchell on this one.

I could solve a lot of client issues with a shovel, some quicklime, and a watertight alibi

You gotta WARN a gal before you do this kind of thing, Alan. I nearly choked to death laughing, and the international tort case would have been a complete headache, just addressing jurisdictional issues alone!

@Alan: Is quicklime really the best option, in today’s world of Better Living Through Chemistry? It doesn’t really work.

http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief-notes/31-body-disposal.html

Also, your alibi needs to be air-tight, not just water-tight.

Liberals don’t decide what cartoons to dump in newspapers. The money guys decide that.