Right at the outset, I'll say this -- I don't care about football. American football, especially. I mean, how can you even call the sport played by the Green Bay Packers "football"? The players' feet don't connect with the "ball" (if you can call a non-spherical object that name) on a regular basis.
Still, regardless of my thoughts on the matter, an event known as the "Super Bowl" took place this evening, which despite my general indifference toward organised sport, is a very good day for The Mind's Rubbish Bin.
Millions of people across the United States bought unnecessarily large televisions in anticipation of this occurrence, as well as purchasing in bulk soft-drinks, beer, crisps, and pizza (the backbone of America, yes?). The show was viewed by tens of millions of people, many of whom do not regularly watch network television. Collectively, advertisers spent enough money on the filming and airing of commercial announcements to give everyone in the world $3.47. The energy expended in shouting various phrases, figures of speech, and epithets at television screens (LCD and CRT) could have powered a small city for a day and a half.
Now, traditionally, the Monday immediately following the airing of the Super Bowl is the least productive day for American business. 25% of the entire workforce will not bother to show up for work -- of those who do, a further 15% will do very little, if any actual work. This equals a 40% decline in productivity on post-Super Bowl Monday, which is less than any other individual day of the year.
I think that's all...
