Althouse: "Next time, hon, just go to the gas station on Walnut and spare us your gaping incredulity at real life."

October 26, 2009

"Next time, hon, just go to the gas station on Walnut and spare us your gaping incredulity at real life."

Oh, my. They are talking about me at the Isthmus again.

(Isthmus = the free local tabloid here in Madison.)

75 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...: Composting ain't "real life", it's a version of it with shit added.; 10/26/09, 12:06 PM
former law student said...: Regrettably inevitable whenever one exposes one's private life in public.; 10/26/09, 12:10 PM
John Stodder said...: Does "gaping" really modify incredulity? I've seen it used to modify "ignorance," metaphorically referring to the big gap in one's knowledge. But incredulity is more of an emotional reaction. Could you have "gaping" sadness? "Gaping" anger?

You might want to retort: "Next time, hon, don't strain at cleverness by mixing metaphors in your headlines."; 10/26/09, 12:11 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Chicken coop? I thought you said it was a co-op? Did you bump into Hardin?; 10/26/09, 12:14 PM
Roger J. said...: geez professor--grow thicker skin--this is some inside madison thing and no one really gives a damn

your starting to look like the female andrew sullivan here; 10/26/09, 12:15 PM
former law student said...: Does "gaping" really modify incredulity?

Here it implies the professor had her mouth open in astonishment.; 10/26/09, 12:16 PM
Peter Hoh said...: I can't quite convince myself to spell "co-op" as "coop."

There's an interesting language issue alluded to in the comments of the linked article. Fourth comment: Title edited to reflect that there's more than one food coop in Madison.

Is it proper to say that Althouse walked into a co-op or the co-op.

Does it matter that there is more than one of these establishments in Madison?

Later today, I will go to the grocery store, even though I will pass a grocery store on my way to the grocery store.

While I am a big fan of compost, I don't expect to see it collected at the cash register.; 10/26/09, 12:16 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Roger I have a thick skin. I just wanted to expose some Madison bullshit.; 10/26/09, 12:17 PM
Roger J. said...: Professor--ya gotta rise above it--as you advise your readers re trolls! no sentient human being doubted there was the petty BS that goes on in university towns! you keep doing your thing. that is what really drives them bonkers--to be ignored.; 10/26/09, 12:24 PM
Peter Hoh said...: I have a suggestion for the commenter at the Daily Page:

Next time, hon, try not let loaded gender-based language creep into your comment about comments.; 10/26/09, 12:25 PM
Jeremy said...: Good lord, what's next?

Ann taking a shit and complaining about the toilet paper not being up to snuff?

*Maybe The Chipper Head can take some cute shots for the gang, too.; 10/26/09, 12:27 PM
Shanna said...: Next time, hon, try not let loaded gender-based language creep into your comment about comments.

Amen, peter.

These people are bizarre if they think people should expect to see a bag of compost sitting by the checkout counter.; 10/26/09, 12:27 PM
former law student said...: I just wanted to expose some Madison bullshit.

Yes. You would think people old enough to write for alt-weeklies would have gotten past the "she's not one of the kewl kids" tone of that post: "Of course co-ops keep bags filled with slime at the register. Where were you raised?"; 10/26/09, 12:28 PM
Anonymous said...: I still have a sneaking fondness for "coöp". Less new-agey, more heavy metal.; 10/26/09, 12:28 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "I still have a sneaking fondness for "coöp". Less new-agey, more heavy metal."

And there it is again.

You guys really are clueless to this, aren't you?

Why not just call the place your "Indoctrination Station" and let it go at that?; 10/26/09, 12:32 PM
Titus said...: Last weekend during dindin my husband bitched at me for applying butter to my bread.

It became a huge fight.

No more butter for Titus.

I told him I don't even have butter in my house but that didn't suffice.; 10/26/09, 12:33 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I just wanted to expose some Madison bullshit.

But its still a great place to raise your kids!; 10/26/09, 12:34 PM
Titus said...: I guess the moral of my butter story is marriage is hard work.; 10/26/09, 12:34 PM
Roger J. said...: Titus: a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do--be strong; 10/26/09, 12:35 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Many young retail employees think they are at work to socialize with their co-workers.

wv = foing; 10/26/09, 12:39 PM
Titus said...: Fellow republicans I do need to "debunk" the Madison is liberal crap.

Madison is liberal between the Capital and the Campus.

The rest of the 95% of Madison is not some commie place. There is the West Side, North Side, East Side, South Side. All middle America and totally boring. It is filled with Strip Malls, Chain Restaurants and Stores and Minor League sports.

So enough with Madison is like Cambridge or Berkeley. It is not.

It is very spread out and very non descript. As much as it desires to be fabulous it is not.

Hello, fags run away in droves to larger more fabulous metro destinations.; 10/26/09, 12:40 PM
Henry said...: That would organic Madison bullshit, yes?

I still want to know if the compost was for sale or if it was just there because someone got distracted..a; 10/26/09, 12:42 PM
Titus said...: On the other hand, Cambridge, where I live is condensed, people live on top of each other and pay outrageous prices for their mortgage/rent and walk everywhere.

As a result we are one of the thinnest cities in the US.; 10/26/09, 12:42 PM
John Burgess said...: I don't know whether it's the callowness of youth or the uber-piety of the co-op crowd, but boy, they've some growing up to do!

I suspect the compost bag at the register is so that people can toss the unsightly, possibly bug-ridden outer parts of their produce before it's rung up.

WV: Dreatabl... the deadly sin of pride is both dreadful and untreatable.; 10/26/09, 12:42 PM
chickelit said...: Last weekend during dindin my husband bitched at me for applying butter to my bread.

Holy Cow!; 10/26/09, 12:53 PM
chickelit said...: All I can say is that Althouse's link overloaded poor Isthmus's server.; 10/26/09, 12:54 PM
Titus said...: I know chickenlittle it was devastating and provoked a major fight that is stil with us today.

Try being married to a vegetarian who eats rice cakes and carrots for "treats". It can be hell.; 10/26/09, 12:54 PM
MadisonMan said...: It's hilarious (to me) that they thought you were talking about the Willy St. Coop, as if that's the only Coop in Madison.

Pretension, thy name is Willy Street Coop. Let's all drive there and back up traffic on Willy Street!; 10/26/09, 12:56 PM
Titus said...: His rationale behind the "don't eat butter" comment was that it was bad for you not that he was being judgmental.

I was like yea sure, fuck u.

And I am not even fat and don't eat much.; 10/26/09, 12:56 PM
Brian Hancock said...: Maybe they will learn a thing of two about reading you blog? Probably not.

Haven't read the Ithmus for years, I guess their "guilt trip" covers made me finally want to punt.

I do miss Kent Williams reviews.; 10/26/09, 12:57 PM
Rich B said...: "For what it's worth, although I come from a composting family,.."

-Thusnelda

Would that be protestant, reform or fundamentalist? Thusnelda? Thus, Nelda or some Norse goddess?; 10/26/09, 12:58 PM
howzerdo said...: I thought the point of the post was that the cashiers were laughing at Professor Althouse?

I suspect the compost was there because the produce in co-ops typically isn't in a bag, and leaves etc. fall off at the register. I don't understand why it was in easy reach of the customer, though.

I'm into composting, buying local, like independent co-ops, markets and farm stands a lot, and take my own cloth bags when buying groceries (which are superior in every way to the plastic or even paper ones that stores use), but I thought the workers' antics were unprofessional and very rude.

I confess that I thought yesterday's post was kind of funny, though.; 10/26/09, 1:01 PM
traditionalguy said...: Commie posting is for pink hippies at the Daily Kos. Here our Professor gives us crisp business like postings. There is nothing worse than a limp and out of date posting.; 10/26/09, 1:15 PM
Synova said...: "You guys really are clueless to this, aren't you?

Why not just call the place your "Indoctrination Station" and let it go at that?"

I don't know how the new super ideological co-ops are run but I grew up with co-ops. Old fashioned agriculture related businesses. *The* co-op was, of *course*, the creamery in town. (Town is 200 people.) Once in a great while we'd even get a little bitty dividend check along with the other dairy farmers. But the place was run efficiently and professionally. It *was* after all, processing FOOD.

I don't know about "indoctrination station" but I do know about "poseurs."

;-P; 10/26/09, 1:18 PM
Original Mike said...: but I thought the workers' antics were unprofessional and very rude.

Ah, cut them some slack. Saving the planet is grueling work. They needed to blow off some steam.; 10/26/09, 1:24 PM
Wince said...: Titus said...
"No more butter for Titus. I told him I don't even have butter in my house but that didn't suffice."

Try telling him this line:

Wait a minute, Jack. I'm not a complicated man...

I enjoy simple pleasures like butter in my ass and lollipops in my mouth.

That's me -- call me crazy, call me a pervert, but this is something I enjoy.; 10/26/09, 1:35 PM
Synova said...: Oh, and it's become apparent to me that Althouse's notion of "sanitary" far exceeds my own. Heck, I don't even carry hand sanitizer. (Strong immune systems is my motto!) But that is Okay. (I do agree that touching the rest room door handle after carefully washing and drying hands is gross.) And Althouse is hardly an outlier as far as germaphobia goes. Many people are much much worse. In any case, I'd probably be pretty annoyed at sticking my hand in slimy vegetable waste *too* and I can imagine Althouse applying sanitizer at least three times afterward.

It's bad business on three counts as I can see. First, because people walking in for the first time to a new situation aren't made welcome by making procedures and customs as clear as possible. I'm betting that a clearly labeled "Compost Bag" wasn't the only thing that regulars take for granted and new customers are baffled by. This is like saying, "We only want customers to return who pass the test." Secondly, because Althouse is not an outlier in the realm of cleanliness this is going to put off a whole lot of customers who simply leave quietly and don't return. And Third, of course, is the workers reactions. At the very least, laugh later. Customer service and customer care means people return again to shop.; 10/26/09, 1:37 PM
Peter Hoh said...: Titus, I have a doctor friend who believes that butter is a lot better for you than the fake spreads.; 10/26/09, 1:37 PM
Synova said...: Titus, I hope eating habits don't cause a big problem in the long run but usually the little complaints that turn out to be a big deal (toothpaste squeezing, toilet paper hanging, etc.) are about something else all together.

Perhaps someone is feeling sort of lost at the moment.

(Butter isn't unhealthy at all, but that's an argument for some other time.); 10/26/09, 1:40 PM
AllenS said...: I'm left wondering which one of them has to remember to put the toilet seat down.; 10/26/09, 1:41 PM
former law student said...: I'm thinking Mr. Titus is a EVOO and balsamic vinegar type of guy, while Mrs. Titus's dairy state upbringing manifests itself in butter-eating while out.; 10/26/09, 1:47 PM
traditionalguy said...: synova...I expect that Titus's betrothed is not happy with any consumption of Cow products. His motto is probably "Eat More Chicken".; 10/26/09, 1:52 PM
Titus said...: Thank you Synova for your butter comments.

I just spread on a tiny piece of butter on my bread and it indeed became a big deal.

It was talked about at the restaurant, on the walk home, in bed, the next morning, the call the next day.

I was like WTF? Can we move on?

The butter wat tantalizing. It was scooped out like a piece of ice cream. How could I not indulge?; 10/26/09, 1:56 PM
Moose said...: Since when are food co-ops in college towns considered "real life".

Crikys...; 10/26/09, 1:58 PM
chuck b. said...: People who shop at co-ops want to see compost prominently featured. Laughing at the strays who came in expecting to find Whole Foods is part of it too.; 10/26/09, 2:03 PM
Shanna said...: "I still have a sneaking fondness for "coöp". Less new-agey, more heavy metal."
It just sounds like the chicken coop.
"For what it's worth, although I come from a composting family,.."

-Thusnelda

We had a compost heap growing up (we used to pull worms out of it to go fishing); does that mean I come from a “composting family”?; 10/26/09, 2:03 PM
Big Mike said...: I just wanted to expose some Madison bullshit.

You did. Twice! LOL; 10/26/09, 2:04 PM
Michael Haz said...: On the plus side, we can thank Isthmus for introducing "hon" into the commenter lexicon. As in:

And you, hon, a law professor!

Anyhow, the bag of compost was probably just a sack of rotting Obama promises, kept nearby to be thrown in the face of any unbeliever.; 10/26/09, 2:11 PM
Titus said...: FYI-I never shopped at a Coop.

It sounds so poor and too crunchy to me.

Give me namebrand and fabulous anytime before "Coop".

Sorry, I don't find Coop fabulous.; 10/26/09, 2:12 PM
Triangle Man said...: I am curious about a dynamic between a pseudonymous critic and a public target.

Does Althouse wonder or care about the identity of the author behind Thusnelda's sophomoric comment? From a rhetorical perspective, I can accept that the person and motive behind the words should not matter, only the idea. Yet, I kind of wonder who Thusnelda is and why the comment was written.; 10/26/09, 2:26 PM
Oclarki said...: Titus,

I thought one of the best parts about being gay is that you didn't have to deal with a nagging wife. What kind of dude nags another dude about what he is eating?; 10/26/09, 2:31 PM
Dan from Madison said...: "the female Andrew Sullivan" - don't we already have one of those?; 10/26/09, 2:42 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "and I can imagine Althouse applying sanitizer at least three times afterward"

Actually, when I arrived at home I had forgotten about it. I only remembered *after* I had eaten the lovely chicken sandwich my adorable husband made for me. One really ought to wash hands before eating. Who knows where those hands have been?

As for hand sanitizer -- it is a product I have never even considered buying.

BTW: I have had a cold -- and only a mild one -- twice in the last 15 years.; 10/26/09, 2:48 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "the female Andrew Sullivan"

Over in the Isthmus forum, we stand accused of homophobia for that... as if the only quality AS has is his homosexuality. Ironically, that assumption is homophobic. Ha ha. Add that to the sexism of "hon" and you have a big noxious bag of compost.; 10/26/09, 2:50 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: AJ Lynch-

Many young co-op employees think they are at work to socialize with their co-workers.

Fixed that.; 10/26/09, 2:54 PM
former law student said...: What kind of dude nags another dude about what he is eating?

A picky gay dude, apparently. Titus is gonna have to spend extra time in the gym, till that butter burns off.; 10/26/09, 3:05 PM
Moose said...: ...would that be thru physical exertion or friction?; 10/26/09, 3:09 PM
reader_iam said...: But I'm kind of gobsmacked that she's never had this experience before.

I find that gobsmacking. I've never had that experience in either of the two co-ops to which I belong (one since the '70s) or any of the many others I've shopped at on occasion when visiting other places.

**(making mental note to avoid a particular co-op in Madison, Wisconsin)**; 10/26/09, 3:19 PM
Synova said...: Well, I apologize then, for over estimating your general germ awareness. :-)

One of my kids ended up with N1H1 and home sick for three days and a week end. We kept the other "in school" child home because she had minor symptoms and we wanted to be responsible about not spreading it. Husband worked from home for the same reason. But no one else of the six of us actually got sick, and I think we would have by now.

The one who did was the "can't stop for a minute" constantly on the run 17 year old vegetarian. (Okay, so maybe the vegetarian part isn't relevant, but maybe it is, too.); 10/26/09, 3:20 PM
reader_iam said...: People who shop at co-ops want to see compost prominently featured.

I'm your atypical co-op shopper, then. I don't want any such thing. We do compost, but it's not something we make a big deal about or want to spend time gazing at, especially inside, much less at check-out counters.

wv: exedipi; 10/26/09, 3:28 PM
reader_iam said...: Can I quibble, by the way?

IMO, compost is what you *do* or *get*: the input is known as *scraps*, or, more descriptively, *garbage*. Who the hell would think it's normal, much less kewl, to expect to stick your hand in a bag of garbage at a check-out counter?

Isthmus posters, I guess.

wv: toxica (Oh, come ON now, Google. *Snort*); 10/26/09, 3:32 PM
Original Mike said...: BTW: I have had a cold -- and only a mild one -- twice in the last 15 years.

Yeah, me too.

Then I got the flu last week.; 10/26/09, 3:44 PM
traditionalguy said...: The NiQuil extra strength is one way to forget your troubles. The German word for having a cold is to be Cranky.; 10/26/09, 4:17 PM
mariner said...: Synova,

I hope your teenager is over the flu.

I've been wondering about something, and maybe you can help shed some light on it.

Did the medical folk do special tests to diagnose H1N1, or did they just assume the flu was of this type?; 10/26/09, 4:50 PM
Synova said...: They just assumed it was that type based on a symptom list.

I wondered about that, too, because who is going to test people with flu to see what sort they have? And how expensive would that be? I can't remember where I heard it or read it but I heard that they're counting all flu as swine flu and not seasonal flu because there really hasn't been any seasonal flu outbreaks yet. I suppose that sort of makes sense.; 10/26/09, 4:59 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Did the medical folk do special tests to diagnose H1N1, or did they just assume the flu was of this type?

I know in some places they had been testing to see which strain people had, but stopped when they found that 100% of the cases were H1N1. They probably still do some spot checking to see if the plain old seasonal flu picks up any steam.; 10/26/09, 6:16 PM
J. Cricket said...: Sorry Althouse, you don't have thick skin. You have an ugly pink sweater.

The female Andrew Sullivan. Great call!; 10/26/09, 7:26 PM
kentuckyliz said...: Ann is not obsessed by compost garbage bags at checkout counters, as AS is obsessed by Sarah Palin's birth plumbing.

His crazy theories are easily debunked.

Garbage at the checkout is not even denied.

WV afflara
the first name of a rich princess; 10/26/09, 9:04 PM
kentuckyliz said...: Ann, those comboxers called you fat and pasty.

You didn't *deserve* to be at the coop.

Such sensitive feminists, those Deep Green Wackos.

WV cropsta
gangsta agriculture
4H kids with jeans hanging off their azz
yo yo yo yo!!!; 10/26/09, 9:06 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @kentuckyliz Liberals are so sure they are the good people. They don't even think it shows when they are sexist.; 10/26/09, 9:11 PM
careen said...: The comments were pretty amusing, actually.

One commenter might not have Althouse tagged, but he does have my number. I DO hate Coops because I have to engage with, not my "neighbors" exactly, but ... the kind of people who go to coops. The accent alone drives me crazy - that piping, chirpy white co-op dweller tenor voice. That and the produce is scraggly.

Whole Foods amuses the heck out of me because it's an expensive, capitalist corporation that has, er, co-opted the veneer of the co-op.

Ha ha ha.; 10/27/09, 1:15 AM
careen said...: Now Trader Joe's...that I love. That's been around in SoCal since I was a child. Completely different feel than the co-op or Whole Foods.; 10/27/09, 1:17 AM
Many Faces Of NORIK said...: Love TJoe's, but if I find there a compost bag next to a counter I'll skip even them.; 10/27/09, 2:31 AM
reader_iam said...: I'll say it upfront: So, shoot me.

Truth be told, the comments thread there, as it stands as of this writing, reminds me of more than a couple-so (several-so) comments threads here, not just now but in the past. And it even made me laugh (at least briefly), as some specific ones here, in the past, did.; 10/27/09, 2:45 AM
Keith said...: After Obama gets a hold of the dollar they'll be putting the compost directly in the cash register. (I just had to); 10/27/09, 5:09 PM