Brickbats!

My flashlight sucks! I carry a flashlight on my trips. (Remember, Mr Pack-heavy.) Left my trusty _________ (don’t remember brand) at home. Picked up a Garrity in Boston before I left. Arrived in Dubai. Batteries dead. Problem: CRAPPY DESIGN! It’s nice enough looking, but the sliding on-off switch can be jostled into the “on” position while passively nestled in a duffel bag. Boo!

Trash sucks! I actually love Heathrow (sometimes, as of late, I damn near live there—shades of Terminal), and despite ever-longer security lines, I think BAA (British Airports Authority) does a decent job in tough circumstances of running the joint. But I noticed (it shouted at me) as I boarded my plane for Dubai that the jetway was … filthy. Not “filthy,” but … FILTHY. DIRTY. FOUL. DISGUSTING. A stunning amount of garbage, etc. Sure, it’s BA/British Air that maintains the Rolls Royce engines that will propel me skyward … but paddling through Filth on the way into the plane is not a confidence builder! Boo!

Microsoft … ! I avoid the “sucks” here not out of fear of Microsoft, but because I may be wrong. In my hotel room in Dubai, I can’t get into AOL via high-speed access. Hence, I’m using MSN Internet Explorer. But when I access AOL via MSN, there are a hundred easy, normal things I can’t do when I’m on AOL directly. Could be AOL’s fault. (They’re 100 miles from faultless.) On the other hand, believer in conspiracy theories that I am, I tentatively point the finger (#3?) at the Beast of Redmond for making sure my life is complicated because I normally “default” to AOL. Boo … somebody!

Tom Peters posted this on November 30, 2004, in Excellence.
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