All Categories - Jay Evensen

Why are people in Idaho such big tippers?

8/11/2017

People in the wealthiest places in America leave the chintziest tips, while people in modest places leave the most.

Time Magazine just published the results of a study from the payment company Square, which examined credit and debit card transactions at sellers nationwide. Tippers in Hawaii were the cheapest of all, followed by the District of Columbia, Massachusetts and California. These are places with among the highest incomes in the nation.

American football's existential crisis

8/10/2017

If someone just invented football, would we sanction the game?

That’s an interesting question, considering states have, over the last 20 years or so, sanctioned ultimate fighting and legalized marijuana. We seem to have a certain tolerance for risky behavior. But then neither of those things is as tightly associated with culture and school spirit (at least not openly) as is football.

It’s a question worth considering as training camps

World would be move civil if we all dressed better

8/8/2017

I can’t remember the last time I stood dumbstruck in front of my closet, trying to decide what to wear before an interview.

But then, I seldom interview someone like Judith Rasband, an internationally known authority on image consulting and management, a former Deseret News fashion columnist and the operator of the Conselle Institute of Image Management in Orem.

She can size people up in a millisecond and tell

As eclipse approaches, let's remember the last one, in 1918

8/7/2017

Hotels and motels are booked solid for Aug. 21 along the path of the first total solar eclipse to cover much of the United States in 99 years. The Guardian reports, “Never will a total solar eclipse be so heavily viewed and studied or celebrated.”

That statement may be impossible to prove, but it is undeniable that unprecedented mobility, peaceful times and a good economy are combining to allow Americans to flock to the affected areas as never before.

That doesn’t mean Americans didn’t care about the eclipse that crossed the continent on June 8, 1918. Many newspapers from coast to coast reported on the event, but not all. Those in areas not along the path of eclipse tended not to mention it.

And even in places along the direct path, the

Will Americans ditch their cars? Don't believe it

8/4/2017

Ponder your daily driving habits. How many trips would you feel comfortable replacing with an Uber or Lyft ride? How many would you replace if the ride were in a driverless car?

If you’re like me, your week consists of a few quick trips to the grocery store for one thing or another, and maybe multiple Saturday trips to a hardware store because you keep buying the wrong part, or your home improvement project leads you from one need to another.

Don't take away Mayor Biskupski's security detail

8/1/2017

Some musings for a warm summer day:

The mayor’s muscle: People who criticize Salt Lake Mayor Jackie Biskupski for continuing to employ a full-time security detail should think hard.

OK, bad guys, this time the politicians mean business

7/31/2017

OK, drug lords, you’ve been warned. This time, the politicians are serious. No more crimes in Salt Lake City’s Rio Grande neighborhood, or else.

The only people who know what “or else” means are the few who were allowed in a secret meeting Wednesday with Gov. Gary Herbert, House Speaker Greg Hughes and a few others, and they’re not saying.

You aren’t likely to find a bigger advocate of open

Don't overreact by removing the elected recorder's office

7/25/2017

The Deseret News has been dogged in reporting on Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott, and for good reason. His apparent inability to perform the duties of his office because of possible dementia is important information. Voters have a right to know such things, just as we have a right to know whether his closest aides were trying to keep his condition from the public to protect their own jobs.

But why compound that pain by reacting with a legislative sledgehammer?

Regular folks, not politicians, will solve our problems

7/12/2017

Few news stories are as inspiring as the one that broke Tuesday about 80 or so strangers along the Florida coast who quickly organized a human chain to rescue an entire family caught in a dangerous riptide.

Now imagine this: What if, when that family began screaming for help, the only people on the beach had been members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats on a beach excursion?

Would they have formed a bipartisan human chain, or would whichever party thought of that solution have faced instant opposition from the other side?

I hope they would have acted much like the diverse group of beach-goers in Panama City, who didn’t bother to ask about each other’s views before acting.

Are we 'prime(d)' for changes in how we shop?

7/11/2017

My shopping experience last Saturday, for good or ill, turned out to be a sign of how the world is changing in the early 21st century.

I wanted a new pair of shoes, so I did what people have done for more than a century. I went to a store — a large local mall, which shall remain nameless because it could have been any one of them.

I had a particular brand in mind. The first store I visited had a limited selection, and the sales staff

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