RedState’s Water Cooler – January 21, 2019 – Open Thread

Good Monday Morning!

A Millennial With Very Bad Manners!

While standing in a checkout line at Walgreen’s recently, a bubbly 20-something said, “Mam, I can take you over here!”

I quickly moved over to her line. “Great. Thanks!’

She looked at me and a bright smile appeared on her face. She said, “you look like you might be eligible for our senior citizen discount!”

Oh, FFS! Didn’t her mother ever teach her any manners!

Apparently, it was senior citizens Tuesday at Walgreen’s.

Upon recovering from this indignity (!), I managed a smile and said, “Well, no actually, close but not quite.”

“Oh, close enough, I’m going to give it to you anyway,” she winked at me conspiratorially.

Oh, marone!

It would be fun (and would offer me some comfort) to hear about any similar encounters our readers may have experienced!

Increased Airport Security Measures

Anyway, to soften the blow of this upcoming milestone, my husband and I have embarked on a trip to New Zealand.

I was surprised by the country’s rigorous security practices, additional steps that might not surprise a traveler arriving in Israel, or any other country where terrorism is a major threat.

I was surprised to find that NZ’s Aviation Security Service has been officially recognized as being among the best of its kind in the world.

All baggage was x-rayed before leaving the airport.

All travelers were subject to security interviews which is standard procedure prior to boarding a plane. Some of these exit interviews, which varied in length according to the passenger, appeared to be quite in depth. Mine was very quick.

A woman directly ahead of me in line, apparently a medical researcher, was asked “What sort of research do you do?” This led to a number of follow-on, more specific questions about her occupation.

Following the interview and the x-ray machine, I was done.

Not so fast. A security official making the rounds with what looked to be a beagle approached and the dog became very interested in my carry-on bag.

Off to the search area. An agent, who was very friendly, asked if perhaps I was carrying any meat! I had not.

Did I carry meat in the bag recently?

“You’re kidding me, right?”

Upon inspection, the item of the beagle’s interest turned out to be two chocolate chip cookies wrapped in a napkin I had forgotten about. But the nose knows.

In today’s open thread, I would be interested to hear about any unusual encounters our readers have experienced with airport security personnel.

The Far More Entertaining Explanation of How the Australian Accent Evolved

I find the Australian/New Zealand accent to be absolutely delightful. (Yes, I know there are differences.)

There are several theories about how this variation of the British accent evolved.

Wikipedia offers the following explanation:

Australian English began to diverge from British English after the First Settlers, who set up the Colony of New South Wales, arrived in 1788. By 1820, their speech was recognised as being different from British English. Australian English arose from the intermingling of early settlers, who were from a great variety of mutually intelligible dialectal regions of the British Isles, and quickly developed into a distinct variety of English which differs considerably from other varieties of English in vocabulary, accent, pronunciation, register, grammar and spelling.

But, here’s the one I find the most entertaining.

The Australian accent developed because so many early settlers were drunk and slurring, an Australian academic has claimed.

The first British arrivals to the country were such big drinkers that the distortion to their speech caused a verbal hangover that persists to this day, according to Dean Frenkel, a communications expert at Victoria University in Melbourne.

Proud Australians may be offended by the claim, which comes on top of the unavoidable truth that Australia began its modern life as a penal colony for our criminals.

Please click here for more details and a history of the Aussie accent.

Delight of the Week:

President Trump’s cancellation of Nancy Pelosi’s taxpayer funded trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan when she and her colleagues were on the bus heading for Andrews Air Base.

RedState’s Streiff describes the scene here and here.