More Stupidity

David J. Danto

Travel thoughts in my own, personal opinion

eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD on

More Stupidity (Not Just Planes) - April 2025

I was watching a baseball game the other day that went into extra innings. Unbelievably, Major League Baseball still hasn't abandoned the pandemic-era rule where teams start extra innings with a "free runner" on second base. Think about how absurd that is – you play two or three hours of intricate, strategic baseball, calculating pitch locations, defensive shifts, bat weights, and swing timing, only to then essentially decide the outcome by playing a game of rock-paper-scissors because some idiot thinks it’s taking too long. It’s like meticulously preparing a gourmet meal only to pour ketchup all over it at the last second because you’re really hungry.

This got me thinking about some of the other truly absurd things we encounter daily. I usually reserve this space for travel hints, experiences and yes, frustrations – and trust me, there’s plenty of stupidity in travel – but today I'm granting myself permission to vent about some universal annoyances.

Let’s start with bad drivers. (Honestly, I could end the list just with that.) We could start with drivers that drive way under the speed limit in the highway’s fast lane, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. How about drivers who pull into parking lots and immediately halt on the ramp, seemingly lost in thought about which way to turn. Meanwhile, five cars line up behind them, hanging precariously into traffic lanes. How difficult is it to simply move fully into the lot and then decide where you want to park? How stupid do you have to be to forget that yours is not the only car on the road?

Escalators share a similar plight. At the top, some people inexplicably pause as though planting their flag atop Everest. News flash: the escalator isn't stopping for you to contemplate your next move. Even if everyone behind you was willing to politely wait, it's physically impossible to halt the mechanical march forward. How oblivious must you be to not realize you need to keep moving once you get off at an escalator’s top or bottom?

Next up in my Hall of Fame of Stupidity: passwords. I understand the necessity of securing online accounts, but when a website dictates that my personal, memorable password must contain sixteen characters, one uppercase letter, a number, an ancient rune, the symbol formerly used by Prince, and a hieroglyph from an Egyptian tomb – it ceases to be "my" password. Instead, it becomes an impossible code that requires writing down, completely defeating the purpose of having a unique identifier only I remember. Now anyone who finds my notes has full access – genius, right?

And speaking of genius, can someone explain the logic behind proving I'm human by identifying traffic lights, bicycles, or crosswalks in blurry images? When exactly did "human verification" become a test of my eyesight and patience? I never read about bridges or traffic lights in the Turing test literature.

Here’s another gem: certain places, particularly medical facilities, proudly offer "free Wi-Fi" – but to connect, you need a verification code texted or emailed to you. If I already had reliable internet to receive a message, would I even be bothering with the Wi-Fi?

I could keep going indefinitely, but I’ll stop here because my smart watch says blood pressure is starting to rise. On that note, I recently ditched my overpriced and insanely over restrictive Apple Watch for a $24 knock-off from Amazon. Funny enough, it measures my blood pressure just as accurately and looks so identical that everyone I tell is shocked. In this scenario, who’s the stupid one now?

This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions.

All image and links provided above as reference under prevailing fair use statutes.

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