the watch of time

There is a famous long-standing saying that ‘Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it’. Sadly, there is anecdotal and other evidence this is true.

When reflecting on this, many will tend to focus on larger, national and international episodes, some on personal experiences. It applies to instances of daily life, little events or communiqués which slip by in newspapers or on newscasts, subjects varying from actual life to advertising poseur.

When Jay Leno was host of the iconic (at least until his departure) Tonight Show, one of his regular features, usually on Monday evenings, was ‘Headlines’. During this segment, he would display a range of actual newspaper headlines, as well as ads or other similar excerpts, whose framing provided wry or humourous response; there might be double entendres, blatantly ironic misspells, sloppy or dumb visual images, etc. Evidence for another familiar expression, ‘you can’t make this stuff up’.

Do such examples from those ‘Headlines’ years still serve as banners for human idiosyncrasies today? I suspect so; here from the era of the late 1990s…

– “People whose parachutes don’t open are at a greater risk of dying” (headline)

–  Eight-week old puppies for sale; mother German Shepherd, father from good neighbourhood (ad)

–  Earn up to $1,000 in one month working 22 hours per day (ad)

–  Firefighter previously fired for abuse of sick leave has been reinstated with back pay; his first day back he called in sick (story)

– “’Mother of Eight’ Started as a Hobby” (headline)

– Car dealer ad: pictures of autos for sale – fully or almost completely, snow covered

– Jobs ad: employee benefits include free peanuts

– Restaurant chain offering ‘lightning lunch’, 14 minutes or it’s free; in small print advising this does not apply to medium-well or well-cooked entrees (ad)

– Poison in lake study: ‘Dead fish which usually remain still are more easily counted’ (story)

– “Senator claims cleaner air could hurt state” (headline)

– $4,275,000 apartment – comes with washer & dryer (ad)

– Booze Mart: “Do it for the children” (ad)

Truly, ‘It takes all kinds’.

More to come…