Category: Auckland

Yesterday, I was in the supermarket looking for some fresh bread to have for lunch. There were lots of different kinds of bread, and I couldn’t decide which to buy.

I like soft, fresh bread, so I finally chose a bag of four croissants. I was holding the bag up, looking at the date they were baked, when I heard someone talking to me.

I didn’t hear anyone coming up behind me, so I was a bit surprised. I turned around and saw a supermarket employee holding up another bag of the same croissants. They were fresh out of the oven, and she said to me, “Would you like some fresh ones?”

Of course I said yes, and thanked her. I said to her, “You’ve made my day!”. She liked that. She smiled at me and said I was welcome.

On the way home, I was thinking about that woman. She didn’t need to do that, but she decided to do something nice for a stranger. I must try to follow her example.

This is an eye-catching advertisement at a bus stop. Ads want to attract your attention and make you look at them. When you look at the ad above, what’s the first thing that grabs you? I don’t know about you, and I can only speak for myself, but the first thing that caught my eye was the colourful birds near the bottom … the white cock, the brown hen and the little yellow chicks.

Another thing that drew my attention was the 2^O logo in the bottom right-hand corner. There are many different internet providers in New Zealand, and that company is one of them. This ad is trying to get you to give them your business.

But maybe you’re asking yourself this question right now: “What have farmyard birds got to do with a telecommunications provider? What’s the link? How are they connected?”. Well, the answer is in the white words in ALL CAPS at the top of the ad.

There’s a saying in English that goes like this: Birds of a feather flock together. Everybody knows that proverb. It means that people who believe a certain thing, or people who like a certain thing, for example football fans or music fans, usually stay together.

In this ad, the company changes the word flock to save. The company is saying that it saves money for many people, and you should join them. You should flock to them and save money by getting good rates.

Is it a good ad? Maybe yes, maybe no, but when you stop to look at it, or when you question what it’s about, the ad has done its work. It has successfully attracted your attention.

SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT

There’s a famous song by Simon and Garfunkle with the same name as today’s post. If you don’t know it, you can listen to it here.

But why am I telling you that? Well, after my swim this morning, I was sitting in the sauna with my eyes closed, enjoying the heat and the silence.

Then I heard the door opening as someone came in, but I didn’t open my eyes. When this person sat down next to me, I could tell by the way the bench moved that he was a big guy, but I still kept my eyes shut. 

He didn’t speak, but now and again, I could hear a very small noise. It wasn’t all the time, just on and off. It was like a small fly was trapped behind the wall and was beating its wings trying to escape.

The noise wasn’t loud, but it was loud enough to annoy me, and it was annoying me because I couldn’t figure out what it was. So I decided to open my eyes.

I looked at the big guy next to me, and he was wearing waterproof headphones like the ones below in the sauna. I don’t know what he was listening to, though. It wasn’t music, so maybe it was a podcast.

Life today is very noisy: traffic, people having conversations face to face or on the phone, TV, radio, advertisements, muzak in supermarkets and lifts, the list goes on. Nowadays, it’s very hard to find silence unless you actually go looking for it.

Personally speaking, I like the silence in the sauna, but that’s just me. It calms me and helps me clear my mind. But if other people want to be different, that’s OK. The noise wasn’t a big deal, so live and let live is what I say.