Law school is difficult. Law school is very stressful. It takes up your weekdays and weekends. Many reading this may be first year students who did not do so well in the Fall, which means you now have to work harder to make up for it. Read the full story

Tipping is a waste of money. There, I said it.
Shock! Horror! Is it lynching time?

Photo Credit: Marcin Wichary via flickr.com

Now before all you past and present servers, and traditional moralists in general, pick up your pitchforks and march over to the office of  The Commentator, consider this: Tipping is an institution that is having a negative effect on both sides of the employee-customer divide in the U.S., not least of all in California. Read the full story

My alarm rudely wakes me up at 7:30 in the morning. Dragging myself out of bed, I slug toward the shower. Once I come out of that steamy sanctuary, I have to make my way to school. But I don’t mind. I get dressed and walk out my door. My lungs fill with the cool morning air yet to be completely adulterated by the coughing exhaust from every car stuck in traffic. I decide to take Pico this morning. I see shops opening up and people going to work. The old lady is washing the sidewalk in front of her store and sweeping with an old straw broom. I see the restaurants I’d like to go to. Read the full story

OK

I’ve got to read this case

We’re going to talk about it in class tomorrow

So I’ve got to get it done today

Alright, here I go

“Justice Field delivered the opinion…”

Field

that’s a good solid judge name

If I were a judge, I would want that to be my name

No, wait

My last name would be Judge

That way when I meet people I would say

“Hi, my name’s Judge, guess what I do for a living?”

And people would just get a kick out of it

Then of course if I wasn’t a real judge it would just be awkward

I would say, “Hi, I’m Judge”

and they would say in a joking manner,

“Wow you’re name’s Judge, don’t tell me you’re a real Judge!”

and I would say, “No, I’m actually an insurance broker.”

And then there would be an awkward silence.

Ok, focus,

Back to the case

“The plaintiff alleges his insurer, Hawaii State Physicians…”

Hawaii

Remember Hawaiian Punch?

That was a good drink

It was like a sugary version of Kool-aid

It had that small little pasty guy with the crazy red hair and the Hawaiian shirt as the logo

I’ve always wondered,

If he lived in a tropical place like Hawaii,

Why was he so pasty?

Considering the amount of sun they get over there

I would imagine everyone’s pretty tan out there

Maybe he’s a recluse

Yeah

He lives in Hawaii but has agoraphobia,

So he stays inside most of the time

But in order to compensate for his inability to enjoy the tropical scenery

His family tries to bring “Hawaii” to him

And they bring him a Hawaiian shirt, set a fake palm tree in his house…

They get him some fruit punch to boot

Then he becomes so touched by the sentiment he decides to share a little piece of Hawaii

All over the world,

For people who will probably never get to go

And thus the birth of Hawaiian Punch

That’s pretty inspirational

No, it probably didn’t happen like that though

Probably a soft drink corporation came up with it

Distributed it all over the country

But still… Read the full story

There is much controversy over the use of cell phones in public places, and as technology continues to develop, the debate becomes greater. Many restaurants now state in their menus that cell phone use is not allowed in the dining room.

But what does that exactly mean? Does that refer to someone talking on their cell phone, or does that include texting and surfing the internet? While the invention of cell phones has made the world more connected and more portable, many people argue that cell phones have simultaneously made the world louder and busier.

The biggest controversy in cell phone usage stems from people talking on the phone in public places. Many think it is inappropriate for people to talk on their phones during meals or while they are out shopping. Most of us have experienced that slow person in the grocery store line that is so busy chatting away about something exceptionally boring that it takes them five times longer to pay for items than it should. More than one of us has contemplated telling these people: “Honestly, it is great that your friend had an amazing date last night, but ice cream melts, and you are taking forever to get through the line.”

Texting...Texting...123

While talking on the phone in public is bothersome, texting, arguably, is a different story altogether. Texting is quiet and private. It does not disturb the other people around, and it stops people from talking on the phone in public places because they are texting instead of talking. The only time that texting becomes a problem is when someone is out to dinner and instead of engaging in conversation with the party that is actually there, they proceed to text away with people who did not even have the courtesy to come to dinner. It is frustrating having to repeat questions because people are too intent on texting to listen to what you have to say. If the conversation, via text, is that intense or important, then the texter should reserve time in the day to have a conversation instead of sending lengthy, multi-page text messages.

Texting while out in bars, nightclubs, or pubs is something entirely different then texting during dinner. When people are seen texting while enjoying nightlife, it gives the illusion that they could be someplace different, and had they not been convinced into going out with the current company, they would, perhaps, have been someplace better, cooler, and hipper. This can be seen all over LA: people in the corner of a club that has music blasting from wall to wall, texting away. People can text at home. It is not necessarily rude to text while enjoying the nightlife, but it makes it seem as if the person on the phone does not know how to have a good time on his own, and instead must use a cell phone to entertain himself.

In defense of chronic cell phone users, society has fostered the need to constantly be on one’s cell. There was a time that someone would call a house looking for a certain person, and if they were not there, then the person calling would have to leave a message and have that person respond when he or she returned home. Then there were actual car phones that were literally mounted to the car; people suddenly had more of a chance of catching the person that they would like to talk to on the first attempt.
Finally, the current cell phones were released - phones that are portable enough to be taken anywhere. Suddenly, people think that it is rude if they call people on their cell, and the person they are calling does not answer. Actually, it seems that the same people who hate it when people talk on the phone at dinner or at line in the supermarket are the same people who break into pandemonium when they are unable to reach a friend on his cell - the kind of person that will call a cell phone five times in 10 minutes in hopes that the person will finally answer the phone.

While society has fostered the immediacy of calls to cell phones to be answered, society has made all e-mail “emergency mail.” With the advent of PDAs flooding the market, it is not a surprise that now people expect their emails to be answered immediately, like a text message. People feel that because there are PDAs, like Blackberries or iPhones, there is no reason to have a delay in the response. People say, “Didn’t you get my email on your BlackBerry?” While the response to this question may be affirmative, why should someone have to respond immediately to an email just because he or she shelled out the $500 in case a real emergency email comes in? Suddenly people must be on top of their game 24/7. Now, it is not enough to check e-mail every hour; it must be checked every minute.

It is because of the immediacy that society has placed on being able to contact people that there is such a dependence on cell phones. People feel the need to check their phones at all times: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every minute in between. People feel that if they do not quickly respond to the text, email, or phone call, they will fall behind the rest of the world. Today, productivity and efficiency are king. Cell phones are just the jesters that keep the king amused.

Written by Chad Martin, 2L