Bob Hayes Online

Empty desktop. Right click on background, select “New Word document”. Rename it, but forget to type “.doc” at the end of your filename. Bam, operating system forgets that it’s a Word document. Come on, guys. Make the leap of faith that if the user has asked for something to be done, that’s probably what they wanted to have done. I don’t want a generic file of unknown type, I want a G-D Word document. You know how you could have figured out that I wanted a Word document? By the fact that I just asked for one!

If I don’t type in “.doc”, it’s not because I’ve come to this wildly devious method of creating a generic file of unknown type. It’s because I’ve typed the name of my file and I’m ready to go on. You’re the operating system. You’re the one that needs to know that Word document = “.doc file” and you’re the one who needs to make that happen.  (Yes, I am yelling at an OS. I’ve yelled at stranger things. Go away.)

ASSUME THE “.DOC”.

Please, my former cow orkers at the house Bill built, please – put some thought into these things.

What do you call it when someone attributes a common human failing – one that is universal or nearly so – to a particular group? I’m not thinking specifically of stereotypes (“Mexicans are lazy”, “white people are uptight”, “guys named Robert Hayes are amazingly handsome and witty”) which may or may not be based on observed behavior. Rather, I’m looking for something a bit more conceptually general – “Conservatives are hypocrites about their moral claims” or “Liberal politicians are dishonest and corrupt” – where the objective neutral observer notes gently that most EVERYBODY is a hypocrite about their moral claims and that pretty much all politicians are dishonest and corrupt. You could call it the “my side is full of saints and the other side is full of evil fallacy” but that is a bit wordy.

Name that fallacy and you’ll receive a plastic rocket and a pony. I swear. I’m a conservative, and we always keep our promises, unlike those lying liberals.