It has always been a bit awkward anytime someone would refer to the previous decade (2000-2009). When referring to past decades, it was much easier. You had the roaring 20s and the turbulent 30s. We had the birth of rock and roll in the 50s. The 50s gave us Elvis while the 60s gave us the British invasion with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. The 70s had disco and punk and the 80s gave us new wave. In the 90s we had grunge. So what exactly do we call the years between 2000 – 2009?

According to Wikipedia, it’s called the 2000s. However, that seems more likely to reference the century than the decade. What about the Ohs (00s)? Back at the turn of the previous century, they referred to the 1900s as the aughts. (ought-1, ought-2)

So how should we refer to the previous decade? And which word sums up the decade?

The other day I stopped in Starbucks and ordered a coffee and a muffin. My muffin was packaged in the bag above. I read the copy printed on the outside of the bag. I almost couldn’t believe it. I read it once … then again. It read like it’s written by an 8 year old kid!

Here is the copy as it appears on the bag:

Hi,
We’re making a change. Using simpler
recipes and taking out artificial
ingredients. So your food not only
tastes better, it is better. It’s a good
start. But we think it’s a good one
Hope you do too  Enjoy.

Your Friends at Starbucks

P.S. More to come.

Missing punctuation, capitalization errors and overall – it lacks style!

Everybody looking at the photo above instantly recognizes exactly what it is. The big difference is what people call it. I listed a few examples – basket, buggy, cart – for starters.

I have to tell you it drives me crazy when I’m at the grocery store and I hear someone refer to it as a “buggy.” A buggy? Isn’t that what parents use to push around their little baby as in “baby buggy.” Just the other day at the grocery store I heard a little old lady ask her husband rather loudly.. “ARE YOU GOING TO GET A BUGGY HENRY?  HENRY, THE BUGGY, GET A BUGGY HENRY!  I had this horrible expression of disgust on my face. I can’t really say why it bugs me so much but apparently it does. Of course the loud screeching voice didn’t help matters.

On the other hand, I don’t really mind the reference – Basket.  Although I don’t personally use the term, it doesn’t really bother me. I can sign off on basket. It seems to fit. But not as well as cart. I like the term cart. Let’s face it, you’re shopping on the internet, do you click the buggy button. Uh, NO!. It’s called a shopping cart. And that’s just the way I like it!

What are some of the names you have called it?

According to Stimator.com that is. After four years of blogging and I can cash out for an unbelievable $6,174! Wow, really?

Here are a couple of other sites I checked:

Mashable.com – 18,276,753

Techcrunch.com – 15,105,868

Check it out a site for yourself here.

Clearly not all airlines are created equal. Flying Continental Airlines is something else. Sitting up straight in my seat with my knees jammed into the seat in front of me is absolutely no fun. I guess once you fly jetBlue or Virgin American, the others just don’t stack up!