Gray Matter Musings Archives - Page 10 of 21

Just Say ‘No!’ To Drugs

By Chris Carosa on November 30, 2021

On March 31, 2021, then Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA). According to the official State website, “The legislation created a new Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) governed by a Cannabis Control Board to comprehensively regulate adult-use, medical, and hemp cannabis. The OCM will issue licenses and develop regulations outlining how and when businesses can participate in the new industry.”

What does this mean?

Well, there are several gears in motion here. The first pertains to private use by adults. Here, the State says “The Office of Cannabis Management needs to draft and issue regulations to implement the law before adult-use sales can begin. However, while there Continue Reading “Just Say ‘No!’ To Drugs”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Andrew Cuomo, Cannabis, CATO Institute, consumption, dispensary, Marijuana, MRTA, opt-out, tax revenue

Ode To The Open Road

By Chris Carosa on August 31, 2021

In the minds of many, the fast-approaching Labor Day represents the metaphorical end of summer. Before we take that literary leap, however, let’s spend one final weekend basking in the glory of the sun and the freedom of endless fields of rolling hills, chirping nature, and fragrant wild flowers.

There’s more to it than that, though.

From the beginning of our lives, we’ve come to see summer as a 10-week break. It starts with the calendar of school. Out in June. Back in September. July and August became the Continue Reading “Ode To The Open Road”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged America's First Frontier, Arhcer Butler Hulbert, Articles of Confederation, Beach Boys, British Invasion, car, classic American film, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Endless Summer, Federal Aid Highway Act, Founding Fathers, Great American Novel, hot rod, I-90, inalienable rights, Interstate Highway System, Jan and Dean, Labor Day, lonesome cowboy, Macadmized, Mike Love, Rock & Roll, Route 15, Route 5 & 20, Route 66, summer, The Beach Boys, The Genesee Road, U.S. Constitution, U.S. Highway System, western

The Road All Runners Run

By Chris Carosa on August 17, 2021

The world is an imperfect place. And we are its imperfect inhabitants.

You shouldn’t, as the saying goes, allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. For all our imperfections, we all possess some ounce of good.

Like hating the sin and loving the sinner, it is that ounce of good that we should glorify, amplify, and dignify. It’s what gives us all hope in a world marred by inadequacy and faultiness.

So it was with A.E. Housman, the troubled poet of the 19^th Century. If you’re on your toes, you may have caught that the title of this piece alludes to a line in Housman’s greatest work: “To an Athlete Dying Young.”

While Housman’s works reflect the tragic demons that tormented him, this poignant poem still contains that ounce of good that makes it memorable.

A behavioral economist might call it “reframing.” Us regular folk simply say it’s looking at Continue Reading “The Road All Runners Run”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged A.E. Housman, Behavior Finance, Ben Franklin, courteous, friendly, Giovanni Torriano, Good Samaritan, grandmother, kind, Poor Richard's Almanack

Will Teenage Minimum Wage Hurt The Poor?

By Chris Carosa on August 3, 2021

Talk to any restaurant owner and you’ll immediately get two comments: “Covid was H-E-double toothpicks” and “We might not survive Albany’s minimum wage mandate.”

Of course, both points cover many different types of businesses, but it’s the latter sentiment that impacts businesses that rely on entry level workers to butter their bread, especially restaurants (yes, the metaphor was slyly chosen).

Interestingly enough, up until 100 years ago, the Supreme Court deemed minimum wage laws illegal. In 1923 the Supreme Court declared it “simply and exclusively a price-fixing Continue Reading “Will Teenage Minimum Wage Hurt The Poor?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Law of Supply and Demand, living wage, minimum wage, restaurant, Supreme Court

Hooray For The New Space Race!

By Chris Carosa on July 27, 2021

An amazing thing happened in the course of a week and a half this month. Did you notice it?

On July 11^th, Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic spacecraft, fulfilled a pledge he made decades ago to fly into space. He brought along five others in his rocket plane.

Nine days later, and on the anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, Jeff Bezos took a crew of four to the edge of space in his Blue Origin rocket. Aboard with the Continue Reading “Hooray For The New Space Race!”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries

Here’s Why You Always Ask The Obvious Question

By Chris Carosa on June 1, 2021

How many times does this happen to you?

Someone asks you for help in dealing with another person. It could be a negotiation, it could be to convince them, it might even be to ask them for a favor. You judiciously listen to their plight, absorbing where each party stands and what exactly the person seeking your help wants.

In your mind, you construct a verbal argument carefully built to nudge the other party towards the position sought by your friend. You start by suggesting your associate ask the Continue Reading “Here’s Why You Always Ask The Obvious Question”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged A.T. Poffenberger, marketing, Negotiating, Persuasion, sales

‘There Must Be A Pony In Here Somewhere!’

By Chris Carosa on May 11, 2021

If you’re old enough to remember simpler times, you’ll recall this title as the punch-line to one of President Reagan’s favorite jokes. The gag revealed not only Reagan’s engaging sense of humor, but also a lot about his political philosophy and his outlook on life.

The essence of the story goes something like this. It’s Christmas morning and two young brothers hurriedly amble towards the Christmas tree to discover their gifts. On one side lay piles of wonderful toys for one of the boys. He looked at it and sorrowfully said, “They’ll all be broken in a day or two.” The other boy’s gift, on the other side of the tree, was nothing but a pile of manure. He quickly grabbed a shovel and began to dig, joyfully telling his dour sibling, “There’s must be a pony in here somewhere!”

It’s the age-old tale of the wonders of optimism contrasted with the annoyance of Continue Reading “‘There Must Be A Pony In Here Somewhere!’”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Advertising, Agate Club, attention, Christmas, J.E. Verree, optimism, psychology, Ronald Reagan, Walter D. Scott, Willam E. Mason

The Great American Maxim: Stand Alone And Win

By Chris Carosa on May 4, 2021

“The game was created to demonstrate the futility of individual effort. Let the game do its work… If a champion defeats the meaning for which the game was designed, then he must lose.”

So says Mr. Bartholomew in 1975’s classic film Rollerball. It’s an American tale. An epic retelling of the classic mantra that fills the heart of every red-blooded citizen from the very founding of our country.

Don’t believe me? Just look at some of the most popular books, films, or any other place where a character must confront personal and public obstacles in heroic fashion. The most compelling of those stories are built around a single individual.

No, it doesn’t take a village to succeed, it takes self-discipline, self-reliance, and, ultimately, Continue Reading “The Great American Maxim: Stand Alone And Win”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Batman, entrepreneur, James Caan, Jim Carrey, Jonathan E., Mr. Bartholomew, Rollerball, success, Superman, The Justice League, you

Let’s Start Laughing Again!

By Chris Carosa on March 30, 2021

Everybody loves to laugh. So why don’t we anymore?

This isn’t funny. It’s true.

If you want to know the reason why, go to almost any social media platform. For that matter, read any headline. Whether from the right or from the left, you’re vilified once you stray too close to the shoulder of an ever-narrowing path.

Time was you could walk smoothly in a sea of honest humor. You’d laugh. You’d cringe. You’d get that awkward feeling. But it was all good. You accepted this variety of hits and misses because you liked to laugh. And there were enough hits to keep you laughing which made the trade-off worthwhile.

It seems today people would rather get angry than laugh. They’d prefer to take the easy Continue Reading “Let’s Start Laughing Again!”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged blame, Chris Rock, College, gag, gig, joke, laughter, self-depricating humor, stand-up comedy

How Has Your Workday Changed?

By Chris Carosa on March 16, 2021

It’s been a year. For twelve months we’ve been (or at least many of us have been) working from home. Even those fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough, depending on your perspective) to have returned to the office have discovered there’s no going back to what once was.

If you can take a moment (do you even have a moment anymore) to sit back and consider the evolution of work, it may strike you we’ve come full circle.

Skipping caveman times, let’s accelerate right up to what is known as the “Agricultural Economy.” You remember learning about that in school, don’t you? It existed pretty much Continue Reading “How Has Your Workday Changed?”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Agricultural Economy, Content Economy, Covid, Covid Economy, Industrial Economy, Judeo-Christian, Middle Ages, Office Economy, remote work, Thomas Edison, virtual convention, virtual meeting, work from home, Zoom, Zoom fatigue