Cultural Awareness (or Lack Thereof)

Views of uptown Charlotte from the Seventh Street Station parking garage, Charlotte, North Carolina

One of the many advantages of not being a television watcher is that I don’t have to put up with all the commercials and mindless programming, including the so-called news.  One of the disadvantages of not being a television watcher is that I miss out on a lot of the sayings and expressions that come from both the commercials and the programs themselves.

Views of uptown Charlotte around the Imaginon Children’s Library in Charlotte, North Carolina

Case in point – last week I sent an email to a co-worker about something good that had happened, and he replied, “dilly dilly.”  I was puzzled but figured if he wasn’t making some obscure reference to my name that it was probably something I missed from television.  I get pretty good at recognizing things like that. 😉

Charlotte Transit Lynx Light Rail at the Seventh Street Station in Charlotte, North Carolina

Just today I came across an article about a guy with Charlotte roots who had found recent fame by being the “dilly dilly” guy, and it turns out he is the actor that plays the king in a series of Budweiser commercials where he replies “dilly dilly” whenever someone brings him beer.  Little did I know, but “dilly dilly” is this year’s version of “WHASSSUP?” 🙂

The things I miss.  Sigh….

Views of uptown Charlotte around the Imaginon Children’s Library in Charlotte, North Carolina
Views of uptown Charlotte from the Seventh Street Station parking garage, Charlotte, North Carolina
Views of uptown Charlotte around the Imaginon Children’s Library in Charlotte, North Carolina
Views of uptown Charlotte around the Imaginon Children’s Library in Charlotte, North Carolina

The photos – by the way – are more from 2012.  I took this during an outing with a digital point & shoot class I was teaching.  Although it appears I “cheated” and was using my then-new Canon 5D Mark III. 😉

Views of uptown Charlotte from the Seventh Street Station parking garage, Charlotte, North Carolina

4 thoughts on “Cultural Awareness (or Lack Thereof)”

  1. Interesting to know what “dilly dilly” means. I’m one who does not watch television, either, nor do I have any desire to watch it.

    Love the guys in shorts and the crab legs sign. Perfect!

  2. Someone at work asked me what I was doing for the Super Bowl. When I replied that I wasn’t doing anything for the Super Bowl, she looked at me with the same expression that most people have (that says I’m weird), then of course used it as an excuse to tell me what she was doing!

    The Crab Legs photo was just one of those moments – you’ve had them – I saw the sign, then I saw the guy, then had to wait for the right moment. Voile!

  3. Even though I do watch television, I had no clue what ‘dilly dilly’ meant until visiting here. So see, what a great educator you are! 🙂 Actually my wife and I have been talking quite a bit about cutting the cord of our cable bill. I just need to do a little research on where to get the shows we actually enjoy.

    While I agree much of television is absolutely garbage, it does sometimes provide that entertainment escape. No doubt you can get that elsewhere, until you are hooked on certain shows.

    1. See there, just another benefit to membership! 😉 It’s astonishing to hear how much people pay for cable TV, internet and phone. Add in cell phone service and all the subscription content and it almost adds up to my house payment!

      Every once in a while I come across something I’d like to watch, but it’s so rare that it isn’t much of a bother. My impression of the possible solutions for streaming is that the market is so fragmented there isn’t one “best” solution.

      I’ve been suggesting for years that local TV stations should stream their broadcasts online for free, since they broadcast over the air for free. That would solve a majority of the problem right there. Unfortunately I think sporting events, etc. are controlled by the various leagues, especially in terms of geographic coverage. Choosing something like Roku, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, Apple, etc. to provide the rest of the content might work, but the cost may end up being as much as cable!

      I hope you’re staying warm up there! 🙂

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