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What Is the Deal With the New York Times?

The Times today ran a front page story on “life’s little annoyances” and how we deal with them, as though it’s actually some sort of breaking news story that people don’t like to be annoyed. Aside from internet references, the entire piece reads as though it was lifted from a Jerry Seinfeld standup routine, circa 1991.

We’re introduced to a young rebel who doesn’t like that Starbucks calls their sizes “venti” and “grande,” so he always orders a “medium” instead. Ooh, he’s so subversive! What will the barista do? Her head might explode! The guy even wears a t-shirt dedicated to his plight- apparently he never considered that maybe he should, oh, go to another coffee shop. I hear non-Starbucks coffee establishments are notorious hangouts for frustrated societal outcasts like him.

We hear from others who… don’t like to be put on hold! And… don’t like registering at newspaper websites! And… don’t like telemarketing and spam! No way! But some people aren’t going to take it anymore. They’re… pressing zero! And using BugMeNot.com! Why, it’s a revolution!

Possibly even literally. We hear about all these anti-annoyance efforts, leading into… this paragraph:

During the Solidarity movement in Poland, people expressed their disapproval of the government-run news media by taking a walk with their hats on backward at exactly 6 p.m. when the state news program started. When the government noticed the trend, it issued curfews, but people then put their televisions in their windows facing outward so that only the police walking the streets would see the broadcasts.

Soviet control of Poland… silly names for the drink sizes at Starbucks. Same thing, right?

Posted by Stephen Silver at March 15, 2005 10:51 PM