A Case Of The Yeah Buts

Lately, it seems like I have been dealing with a lot of people with yeah buts. No, that isn’t something anyone needs to see a doctor about, but that doesn’t mean you have to share them with me. Let me give you a couple of examples.

A few days ago, I posted about boxing with my Oculus Quest VR headset. Somebody asked me what if I was really hitting someone, two of us being in the same room or something. I explained that I was boxing with a virtual character who was hitting back, even though I couldn’t feel it. She replied that she is totally opposed to any kind of physical violence and couldn’t stand the idea of something like that, and that the very thought of hitting someone, even in make-believe, turns her stomach. Fair enough, to each their own.

Then she floored me when she told me how much she enjoys my Big Lake mystery series but added she wished I would kill off Chet Wingate, the obnoxious former mayor. I had to do a double-take on that one. I couldn’t resist replying, asking her why it was okay to kill off a character in a book but not to hit a virtual character in a boxing match. Both are violent, right?

She replied, “Yeah, but Chet doesn’t really exist. You can’t see him like you can see the character you are boxing with the headset on.” Are you kidding me? I assure you that Chet and Sheriff Jimmy and Robyn and all of those folks in Big Lake are very real. They talk to me all the time.

Then there was the author who asked me to help him with a plot issue in the thriller he is writing, where the police department loans a private detective who is working on a kidnapping case with them one of their police cars, a machine gun, and a K-9. I replied that contrary to what you see in the movies and on television, and in a lot of popular fiction, over 99% of the work private detectives do are things like divorce cases, insurance fraud, and fake workers’ compensation claims. Police in the real world don’t work with private detectives, and if one tried to insert themselves into a case, they would be told to back off, and if they didn’t, they would find themselves sitting in the back end of a police car going for a ride they really don’t want to take. I also replied that no police department is going to “loan” a civilian one of their vehicles or a weapon and that K-9 officers and their handlers go through extensive training together and work together as a team. They don’t just allow somebody to take a K-9, not even another officer, let alone a PI. And if they did, the PI would not know how to work with the dog, and the dog would not know how to work with them.

His response was, “Yeah, but that doesn’t work for my story.” I’m sorry, my friend, your story is flawed. But what the heck, it’s probably not any worse than a lot of other stuff floating around out there that has no basis in reality
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One more example of somebody with yeah, but; a couple contacted me asking about places where they can dry camp in the Florida Keys for a few days without going to a campground. I replied that except for people authorized to use the military famcamp at Key West, there is no place they can do that. Real estate is precious down there, and the economy thrives on tourism. I have known more than one RVer who has broken down alongside the highway or in a business parking lot, and while they were waiting for a tow truck or mobile repair person have had the police stop many times to tell them they needed to move along.

Their reply was, “Yeah, but we’re self-contained, and we don’t want to spend the money on a campground.” I’m sorry, but you don’t have any choice. I don’t want to spend money on groceries, restaurant meals, or gas for my car, but so far, I haven’t found anybody who is willing to give any of that to me for free. If you want to dry camp, go out to Arizona. You will find thousands of places in the desert where you can do that with no problem.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you are the pilot.