An Americanist
Welcome to An Americanist, your go-to solo podcast for a quick and snarky dive into the current events and politics shaping our nation! As a daily extension of the An Americanist blog, I’m here to break down the headlines that matter—Monday through Friday—without the fluff and filler.
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An Americanist
Solo Travel Dilemmas, Road Rage Solutions, and the Menendez Case Update
Friendly Friday musings on travel etiquette, innovative road rage solutions, and criminal justice come together in this casual morning chat that might have you questioning your own reactions in similar situations.
Ever been asked to watch a stranger's luggage at the airport? We dive into the story of a solo traveler who was shocked when someone flatly refused her request for this common courtesy. The scenario raises an interesting question for all of us: would you watch someone's bags, knowing airport security explicitly warns against it? Or would you politely decline, prioritizing security protocols over social niceties? Most commenters sided with the person who refused, though many of us might still feel that Southern hospitality pressure to say yes.
From travel dilemmas to road rage solutions, we explore a fascinating new technology from Chinese car company Xpeng that lets frustrated drivers fire digital emojis at offending vehicles. Think Mario Kart for real-life traffic frustrations! The augmented reality system projects 3D emojis that appear to explode against the cars that cut you off or drive poorly. While potentially distracting, this creative approach to channeling driver anger might be exactly what we need instead of dangerous confrontations.
We also discuss the latest update in the Menendez brothers case, with Eric Menendez being denied parole 36 years after murdering his parents. The California Board of Parole Hearings' decision comes after a 10-hour hearing, though Governor Newsom could potentially still grant clemency. The case continues to spark debate about rehabilitation, justice, and the complex factors surrounding this notorious case.
What would you do if asked to watch a stranger's luggage? Would you use an emoji-firing system to vent road rage? Share your thoughts and join the conversation!
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Hello, good morning, happy Friday. Okay, we have two stories about travel and a story about Eric Menendez. Here we go. First story up Solo traveler was shocked by a fellow plane passenger's response after she asked for a favor.
Speaker 1:I've never been so caught off guard. The gist of the story is she's a solo traveler. She was waiting in an area she had to go dip off to the bathroom real quick. Apparently just steps away, she asked somebody that was sitting nearby, would you mind watching my luggage? And the woman or whoever it was she asked flat out, said no, you need to take that with you, which is kind of the rules of the airport. So she was just shocked that the woman said no. What would you do in that situation? That is the question of the day. If you were waiting in an area and somebody asked you do you mind watching my bags while I go to the bathroom, what would you do? Because you never know these days it could be anything. But I guess if they've made it through security it's not going to be anything horrible. But I don't want to be responsible for her shit either. I don't know, being Southern, being down here in the South, I'd probably say, okay, watch your stupid shit while she went to the bathroom. Oh, okay, one of the trickiest things about solo travel is figuring out what to do with your bag when you need went to the bathroom.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, one of the trickiest things about solo travel is figuring out what to do with your bag when you need to use the restroom. I always take mine with me. I travel if I fly Now, granted, okay, usually I'm traveling with my husband, and so if I have to go to the bathroom, if I have large luggage which I don't at this point if I've made it through security, I'm not taking my bags online. I've checked them, so it's just a small bag. So I will take my bag with me to the bathroom, because I don't take a large carry-on. I just don't want to put it over, ben, I want to be able to put it underneath the seat in front of me and so, or you know, underneath is by my legs or whatever on the floor, and so I don't take a big carry-on bag when I fly, a carry-on bag. So I won't have that problem. I'll take my stuff with me to the bathroom. All right, I've lost my train of thought. I mean, I lost my place here. Where was I. Anyway, that's the gist of the story. You can go on and read that. It's over there on my x file if you want to read the full story and see what happens.
Speaker 1:A lot of the commenters on her post because she posted on tiktok. They said they were with the woman who told her no, they were agreeing, they were with an agreement with her, with agreement with the woman who told her no, and I think I'm with that too. But I wouldn't do it. I would say okay and watch the stupid bag. Okay, car this here is. I only read some of this, so it's the car company creates hilarious tool to channel driver's anger and avoid dangerous road rate incidents. This is from the New York Post, also on my X-File, if you would like to go check that out for yourself.
Speaker 1:A car company in China. I know China has a cartoonish approach to curing road rage. I don't know if this cures it or not, but you know, I think if you have road rage there's no curing that you just got to just not drive. Xpeng has unveiled a quirky new feature designed to subdue angry drivers, though it may also prove to be a distraction. Yes, it's going to be a distraction, because what I've read of it. It is going to be a distraction, but it's kind of cute, but it's going to be a distraction. Suppose you've ever thrown a digital banana peel at an opponent, I'm sorry. Suppose you've ever thrown a digital banana peel at an opponent in Mario Kart, which I guess is a video game. In that case, you might know the satisfaction that throwing something like a digital shoe or an angry face would elicit. The Gongzhou-based car company has developed an augmented reality game called, that allows the user to fire off emojis at the wrongdoer, which will project over the windshield in 3D space and give the illusion of hitting the cars, and they have a screenshot of it. It's kind of cute. I have to say it's kind of cute, but that will be a distraction, I would think. If you want to go look at the screenshot on there, the steering wheel will have a customizable button that serves as a trigger and the system will identify the target through its camera array before launching the emojis that appear to explode against the real car.
Speaker 1:I am going to tell you right now I would use this. I would use this all the freaking time. It would make me feel better. I like it. I like it. You know, when I sold cars, we had a head up. You know the BMW. The new thing for us was the head up display. People always thought the thing. They would never use the head up display and they would never use the backup camera. Then why do you insist on having it If you're not going to use it? The head up display was not distracting at all. I liked it. I used it a lot.
Speaker 1:While they may not be as satisfying as throwing up the middle finger or watching a cup of coffee you hurled splash against your enemy's car window, it could prove the driver some temporary relief from pent-up anger. I would use this. Yes, I would. Okay, I don't flip anybody off. Well, I did last night, I did yesterday. I'm sorry, I did Normally. I try last night. I did yesterday. I'm sorry, I did Normally. I try to just flick them off. You know like, when you take your middle finger and flick, flick us something, I mean, you know like not flip but flick, like you're hitting something. You know with your okay, fingernail, whatever. You know what I'm talking about. Okay, I'm just making no sense at all. All right, so Eric Menendez has been denied parole, Thank God, and now we're just waiting on his brother. However, gavin Newsom could overrule, and he probably will, because he's a dingbat and he wants to get popularity votes Okay, he wants to be popular with the young people. He wants to do something all opposite that Trump would do, because he's a dingbat.
Speaker 1:Eric Menendez should not be granted parole 36 years after murdering his parents. The California Board of Parole hearings has decided, thank God. The decision to deny Menendez 54 parole eligibility for three years came after a 10-hour hearing conducted over video conference on Thursday. It was a crushing defeat for Menendez after a long, winding legal battle in which his attorneys and family members had insisted he had been rehabilitated after more than three decades behind bars, since the 1989 shotgun slings.
Speaker 1:I don't know, maybe, maybe not, I don't know, I don't know, but he shot and killed his freaking parents in cold blood. No, no, no. And I don't believe that shit about him being raped or whatever by his dad. I don't believe it. I don't know. Maybe, maybe not, but you, even if he was, you don't go and kill somebody like that. All right, as much as you probably want to, you just don't do it. All All right, but here's the thing. Here's the thing. Let me get down to the paragraph. Let's see, I'm trying to find it. Bear with me, sorry. Let's see when did I find it. Let me put you on pause while I go find it. All right, I found the paragraph I was looking for.
Speaker 1:As for Eric, not all hope is lost. Newsom could still grant him clemency, despite the board's lack of recommendation. Defense attorneys for the brothers argued that years of sexual abuse by their father, with the abatement of their mother, led the pair to purchase shotguns. Okay, we know what happened, but what does that mean? Newsom could grant them clemency. What does that mean? Clemency? What does that mean? Does that mean Newsom can come in and overturn what the board recommended of not being paroled? I don't know what clemency means. I'm not a lawyer. Okay, and that's basically all I've got for you today. I guess I already posed the question of the day Happy Friday.
Speaker 1:Hopefully the gent and I will be back on Sunday for Brood Awakening. We get the grand cam tomorrow and it's going to be a great weekend. It's going to be great weather, great weekend. Tonight's movie is we're going to start on the Raiders of the Lost Ark series. So we're going to start with those.
Speaker 1:We finished the Lord of the Rings Excellent, except that last movie, y'all. Why didn't you warn me? It was freaking four hours long. We had to divide it up into two nights. Four hours is too long for a movie. Three hours is too long, but four hours but yet we sat through it, although we did break it up, like I said, into two nights. That was insane how long that movie was, and they could have cut out a lot of stuff. And I'm sorry, but Frodo was a freaking wimp. His uncle, Bilbo, was way more badass than he was. All right, but we're going to start the Raiders of the Lost Ark and looking forward to that, yes, we've've seen them all, but it's been a while. Um, okay, that's it. I gotta go. Thanks for listening. Have a great weekend. Love y'all. Bye.
