8/21/25 - Dumb, Low Paying Jobs, and Men's Hair

Thursday 8/21/25

Celebrate:

National Brazilian Blowout Day

National Hazy IPA Day

National Senior Citizens Day

National Spumoni Day

National Sweet Tea Day (blech)

Poet's Day

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"Psychology Today" has a list of ways we're all making ourselves dumber every day.  Here are the top four . . .

1.  Not treating your brain like it's a muscle.  It's NOT a muscle, but you can train it like one.  Most people think of their brain like it's a fixed thing.  But studies have shown just knowing you can train your brain and improve cognition tends to help make it happen.  If you don't do it, you might just slowly decline.

2.  Not getting enough sleep.  Even just one night of bad sleep can make you dumber.  You can probably feel it when it happens.  But scientists can measure it too by testing things like reaction times, memory, and poor judgement skills.

3.  Drinking alcohol.  You're not just dumber while you're drunk.  Drinking too much . . . and too often . . . can greatly affect brain function long term.

4.  Not having enough structure in your day.  Our brains thrive on purpose and deadlines.  Without them, we're less focused and less creative.  A study in 2021 found procrastinating too much can have measurable effects on brain function. 

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A new study looked at the 50 lowest paying jobs in America.  Here are the Top 10.  The average for all of them is between $30,000 and $34,000 a year when working full time.

1.  Shampooer.  Someone who works at a salon but only washes hair.  It's usually an entry-level job when you're trying to be a stylist.  $30,830 a year.

2.  Fast food cook.  Meaning you only work in the kitchen.  You don't ring people up or work the drive-thru.

(there were many on the list from food services)

3.  Amusement and recreation attendants.  People who run amusement park rides or concession stands.  

4.  Fast food counter workers.  They make a little more than cooks because they have to deal with people . . . and people are jerks.

5.  Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers.  Folks who work at theaters and concert venues.

I question this list since Radio Air personality doesn't show up in the bottom 50. hmmmmm.

See the full list here.

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There's a new survey out on men's hairstyles, and 21% of men say they feel "nervous" asking their barber or hairstylist for a NEW LOOK.  And 23% of men have been afraid to ask for specific cuts, even when they "really wanted it."

The study found the average guy gets their hair cut 10 times per year . . . about once every five weeks . . . and has had the same hairstyle for seven years.

84% of men say they feel "confident" with their current 'do . . . and 55% have "never considered changing it."

The other 45% have thought about it, but that doesn't mean they're up for ANYTHING.

Here are 10 hairstyles, ranked by the number of those men who think they could maybe make it work . . .

1.  Letting it grow out . . . 28% think they could pull it off.

2.  Fully shaved or bald . . . 22%

3.  Middle part, long hair . . . 13%

4.  Getting a hard side part . . . 13%

5.  Spiked hair . . . 11%

6.  Highlights . . . 11%

7.  Greased-back hair . . . 10%

8.  Mullet . . . 8%

9.  Mohawk . . . 8%

10.  A bleached buzzcut . . . 7%

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"CBS News" did a story on a school near Pittsburgh where 70% of students are low-income, but the music program is thriving.  The superintendent knew most families couldn't even afford to rent instruments.  So she started using 3D printers to make violins.

They're plastic but sound decent, and they're plenty good enough for kids just starting out.  Renting a real one for the year costs hundreds of dollars, but she's cranking them out for 50 bucks each.  She's printed more than 200 violins over the past five years.

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Gary Oldman thinks the world has gone to [crap] since David Bowie died on January 10th, 2016.

Quote, "It was like he was cosmic glue or something.  When he died, everything fell apart.  So, yeah, I miss him."

In case you didn't know, Gary and Bowie had a longtime friendship.  He added, quote, "We laughed a lot, a lot.  He was very, very, very funny . . . And we sort of had similar kinds of backgrounds, grew up in similar neighborhoods."

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A man is going viral on TikTok for claiming he's spent months buying and returning 110-pound anvils on Amazon.  It's apparently just a stunt to exploit their free shipping and free returns for Prime members.

They cost more than $225 each. 

Some commenters have been criticizing him, calling him a bad person . . . chastising him for wasting people's time and effort, including his delivery man . . . and even saying he's costing the business that sells the anvils money.

John just laughs at them.

In one video, he even welcomed haters to come by his house to talk to him about it . . . but it wasn't his address. It was Barack Obama's. 

(are we sure it's a man and not a coyote?)

By the way, Coytoe vs. Acme opens next Wednesday at the Movies.

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Today’s Useless Fact of the Day - Instead of "once upon a time," Korean fairytales usually start with "In the old days, when tigers used to smoke."

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