9 Comments
User's avatar
Susan Corbin's avatar

Your post reminds me of the ending of "The Good Place," in which the characters discover that it is impossible to get into the good place due to how complicated the world has become.

Expand full comment
Ben Ulansey's avatar

I think you might have fully convinced me to press beyond the first season of that show! It's been on my list for a while and I never seem to get back to it.

Expand full comment
Susan Corbin's avatar

I hope you do. The show's premise got more philosophical as the characters and their goals changed from one season to the next. It is one of my favorites. The first couple of episodes put me off because they were so ridiculous. Get past those, and it gets better.

Expand full comment
Untrickled by Michelle Teheux's avatar

I’ve literally never gone to chick-filet (their spelling is weird, too!) and it’s not any sort of hardship. I can’t imagine why anyone would go there. It’s dumb fast food. There are a hundred alternatives.

I do feel conflicted about the work of various talented monsters.

But a bland chicken sandwich? Why? Why go there?

Expand full comment
Ben Ulansey's avatar

At best, I've felt like "Okay, this is a clear winner over the other main fast food joints." But at worst, I've accepted, "This is fast food at the end of the day" lol. They can be pretty good. I'd argue they definitely have the best milkshakes and sauce!

And also there's the acceptance that I don't really know how the big fast food corps spend their money, but I can reliably bet I wouldn't condone it. So it's just about picking your poison sometimes I suppose.

Expand full comment
Linda Blatnik's avatar

I agree. I already wrote about this on your note earlier. I will say that none of the businesses we frequent can bear scrutiny on all their processes without finding problems. It's just our wants and needs versus what they're up to.

Expand full comment
Ben Ulansey's avatar

It's maddening to really think about all the things our money supports indirectly. It doesn't mean we should be thoughtless, but we can't hold ourselves to impossible standards either. Thanks for reading, Linda!

Expand full comment
Kathy Minicozzi's avatar

Richard Wagner was a narcissistic, antisemitic asshole, yet he wrote some of the 19th Century's most glorious music. When I listen to it, I don't think of what kind of man wrote it, only that it's great.

Expand full comment
Ben Ulansey's avatar

And I'll never hear in "Imagine" the words of a someone who abused his wife and kids. Art is transcendent.

Thanks for reading, Kathy!

Expand full comment