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Who's
"they"?
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Ridgely Goldsborough
Alison hopped in her Mercedes to give Heather alias “Miss Feathers”, our babysitter, and her son James, a ride home.
“Pay attention to this car, James,” Heather said. “It may be years before you see the inside of another one of these.”
Alison showcased the tight turning radius in the parking lot, stopped and tossed her the keys.
“You drive.”
In a fluster, Miss Feathers skipped around to the driver’s side, talking a mile-a-minute.
“They say these are the safest automobiles on the road,” she blurted out.
James interjected.
“There go those famous ‘theys’ again.”
"Who’s ‘they’?” asked Alison in friendly banter.
“You know,” James laughed, “’they’—those ‘they’ people.” “’They’, who?”
“The big ‘they’.”
Why do our kids pull guns on each other over name-brand tennis shoes?
Because “they” sold us a bill of goods, five bucks worth of materials for $130 sneakers that wear out in a matter of months.
Why do our kids have guns in the first place?
Because “they” portray it as “cool”.
Why do we upgrade our perfectly operational computer every year, before the warranty on the last model even thinks of lapsing?
Because “they” convinced us of the need for more speed, more space, more bandwidth.
Huh?
Most of us barely tap a fraction of current functionality.
We flit from shark fin pills to cabbage, boiled eggs and pineapple diets to whatever the South Beach crowd declares “in.”
We eat chocolate.
No, we don’t.
Yes, we do.
Caffeine helps.
No, it doesn’t.
Yes, it does—this week.
Says who?
Says “they”. “They,” the almighty “they.” Do we not question what “they” say?
Have we become such a nation of lemmings that we blindly accept and waddle like a gaggle of ducks to Madison Avenue’s latest tune?
No way, Jose.
Not this camper.
Cut the laziness.
Pay attention.
Ask questions.
Demand answers.
Doesn’t it bother you that we get duped over and over by whipper-snapping young sharks that play on our emotions to collect a buck?
Maybe more than one.
I remember the candy debacle—regular versus sugar-free.
We flew into the web like blind flies and still sit there, stuck while the advertising spider sucks us dry.
Oh, that tidbit passed you by?
Let me share the light.
Why does anyone eat sugar-free candy?
Correct—to lose weight.
How does one lose weight?
Correct—by burning more calories than you take in.
So sugar-free must have less calories, right?
Wrong.
Suckers, all of us (excuse the pun.)
Sugar-free simply contains no sugar, NOT less calories.
You can gain more weight popping sugar-free Life-Savers than slurping a regular tropical fruit roll.
Bummer.
You have a right (and a duty) to make decisions based on facts, not hype.
Dig a little deeper.
Don’t assume.
Track the source.
Cross-check the data.
Inform yourself.
Oddly, few of “they” know either.
“They” don’t get paid to know.
“They” get paid to sell.
Have “they” sold you?
I’m snagging a page from James’ book.
I’m on the prowl for the big “they.”
That’s A View From The Ridge…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ridgely began scribbling as soon as his fingers could curl around a pen. So began a love affair, interrupted periodically by schooling, business and any number of self-initiated distractions to mask the fear of pursuing his childhood dream-to be a writer.
The journey took him through Law School, a number of private companies, going public, a large merger and back to his desk, a computer with a keyboard and the daily challenge of following the dream.
Along the way, Ridgely founded and/or acted as publisher for Network Marketing Lifestyles magazine, Domain Street magazine and the Upline Journal along with dozens of books, audio and video materials. He writes several books per year, in addition to The Daily Column.
Ridgely holds an undergraduate degree from The University of Virginia, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law, is fluent in five languages and has spoken to audiences throughout Europe, Southeast Asia, Mexico and North America.
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