Whether triggered by a letter, a TV commercial or an encounter with a fast food worker, here’s a glimpse into some of the random thoughts that have occupied my mind recently — sometimes for just fleeting moments.

Nextdoor app

My husband and I recently received a letter from someone in the neighborhood inviting people to use the Nextdoor app. To entice people in joining, it indicated its a place to share community news, help reunite people with their pets, share local business recommendations “and so much more.”

It seems the premise behind the app is to create a sort of virtual neighborhood watch/coffee klatch. It might be helpful in regards to knowing if there’s been an increase in crime in the neighborhood, if someone spotted Fido or if you need to borrow a ladder. However, John and I quickly determined that the pitfalls far outweigh the potential benefits.

At the bottom of the letter, the organizer indicated there were already more than 800 posts in our neighborhood’s Nextdoor. The last thing I need is a micro-Facebook where people feed off their neighbor’s complaints about so-and-so’s lawn, the dog barking all night long and you need to move your kid’s portable basketball hoop because I literally got a tape measure and it’s sticking out more than 18 inches in the street.

I envision multiple complaints about people driving too fast in the neighborhood. Then, the random posts about vehicles driving too slowly, followed by, “Did anyone see the white van, they might be casing the neighborhood.”

Just like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” you need to drive just right or you’ll end up on the neighborhood Nextdoor.

Look Ma, no hands

I’m a bit concerned with some of the technology in vehicles. A commercial for the Buick Envision has a woman showing off to her friends while squeezing her big rig into a seemingly small space by using the automatic park assist feature.

Maybe I’m old school but if you can’t parallel park, I think you need to practice more, find a bigger space or get a smaller car. My worry is getting sandwiched tightly between a pair of auto-parkers and I don’t have the advantage of technology to help me get out. I guess I could always put it in four-wheel drive and rock crawl over their bumper.

More training?

At times it seems wearing masks has impacted our ability to understand people. However, that wasn’t the case during a recent encounter my husband and I experienced in the drive-thru at a local fast food restaurant. When the young person at the window asked if we wanted any sauce, I turned and looked at John. From the passenger side he said, “What are my choices?” The gal couldn’t hear him, so I said, “What kind do you have?” Her response, “Any kind.”

John and I just looked at each other — insert facepalm emoji. Really, what do you say to that?

It reminded me of some phone calls I fielded while the on-call administrator at area group homes for adults with developmental disabilities. Some of the issues were beyond a need for additional training — they were more about a need for common sense.

While still asleep early one Sunday morning, I groggily answered the phone. The staff person said the menu called for waffles but she couldn’t find the waffle iron. “Make pancakes,” I said.

Vaccine hesitancy

It seems you can bring a vaccine to the people, but you can’t make them roll up their sleeves.

When defending former President Donald Trump’s actions in response to the novel coronavirus, some supporters point to Operation Warp Speed. They say the initiative, which resulted in the development, manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in record time, was an amazing accomplishment.

Indeed it was. With a target of making initial doses available by January 2021, that was surpassed in mid-December 2020 when the first shots were injected into the arms of frontline health care workers.

The ironic thing is many of these same people aren’t getting inoculated because they’re uncomfortable with getting a vaccine that was developed so quickly.

Don’t tell me what to do

While working on this column, a message popped up on the screen of my laptop:

“Your battery is running low.

You might want to plug in your PC.”

Or maybe it’s just time to shut it down.