That Must Have Been a Memorable Staff Retreat

Just another random mental image from the subway...

Coming home on the subway, I was sitting across from a guy who could have passed for Paul McCartney. Seriously. The only thing that made me realize that it wasn't the ex-Beatle, was that I was on the subway, and he was headed to Bay Ridge.

He was reading Carl Hiassen's Nature Girl.

But what struck me most was his tote bag, issued by the Office of English Language Learners, which bore the inscription:

"There is no I in Team"
OELL Staff Retreat
September 10-11, 2001

That just struck me as a heck of a memento from what must have been a very memorable retreat.

Paul McCardney

Hmm. Well, of course I grabbed one at my local Starbucks this morning. It's cool, right? Further evidence of the total commercialization of someone who once was the gold standard of not selling out. I guess with the divorce and all, he needs the extra money.

Crazy enough, ladies and gents, the card I grabbed was free, in a stack, as all unbalanced Starbucks cards are, but as of this early posting, 8am EST on June 5, 2007, there are currently 38 of these "rare" items for sale on eBay. As ludicrous as this Brit listing it at $89.00, unsold--go figure, to this auction where the current high bid is $20.75.

And in the end........the soul you sell....is equal to the latte......you smell.........