One Travelocity.com employee has either the coolest or lamest job ever – I can’t really decide. The gnome who appears in Travelocity’s ads has become kind of a Flat Stanley (or the lawn gnome from Amelie, your call), shlepping around the world and having his photograph taken in all kinds of cool places. However, since a lawn gnome is, well, an inanimate object, a Travelocity employee has been deemed his “personal assistant” and is responsible for traveling with the gnome wherever he goes. This could be seen as the most depressing and lonely PA job ever, since the gnome can’t talk to you or hold your spot in line for the bathroom. However, this could also be seen as the best PA job ever, since the job entails traveling around the world – stops so far have included Cancun, Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon – based on the place Travelocity readers select in polls.
So – let’s hear your thoughts in the comments. Is this a humiliating job that requires you to lug a gnome around the world, or a job on par with Australia’s Best Job Ever? What do you think?
I don’t know where Obetz, Ohio is, but I may have to schedule a visit. Recently, a local bartender named Melody Pullen (who owns a “menagerie”) brought a bear cub with her to work at the bar she owns. The bear, whose name is Pooh, needed to be bottle-fed every three hours, which is why Pullen decided he needed to come to work with her. Not surprisingly, the customers loved the cutie, but her coworkers weren’t big fans. Although Pullen has the necessary bear-owning permits and the local police said she was within her rights, other people in the town are trying to harsh her buzz by passing a “no exotic animals at work” law.
I hope this doesn’t affect my chances to get a miniature pony at my office. I want it to carry packages around the office. Come on, how cute would that be? First they come for the bear cubs, then they come for the miniature ponies, and then they come for you.
One of the great sadnesses of my life is that I did not learn about the Eurovision Song Contest until about a year ago because…well…I don’t live in Europe. To fill you in, Eurovision is kind of like American Idol, except that every country gets to submit a song and they all compete against each other. The contest is a beautiful mix of camp, pastiche, satire, and a couple of people who can actually sing. Thankfully, the invention of YouTube now means that Americans can enjoy the hilarity as well. The contest wrapped up last night, but here are a few of my favorites:
Latvia, “Wolves of the Sea” (it has pirates!)
Ireland, “Irelande Douze Pointe” (it has a turkey puppet!)
Azerbaijan, “Day After Day,” (it has gender-ambiguous angels!)
Oh, and the dude who actually won the whole thing, Dima Bilan of Russia. He’s cute and a good singer and everything, but the guy could really benefit from a singing puppet counterpart. Also, try imagining your boss’ latest dumb speech turned into couplets by Latvian pirates. I promise that meeting will go a whole lot faster.
sta reader is drunk at wrok
–Thanks to STA reader “S.L.” for spotting
