The Goodrums

I am at work and should not be writing a blog post, but it is Friday afternoon and the blog has been notoriously neglected for quite some time now and could use a little love. In fact, no one will probably even read this because at this point everyone likely considers our blog left for dead.

Anyway, I was thinking about kudos. Mostly because I just told a coworker kudos to him for both ruining and making my weekend all in one morning. How did kudos manage to become one of those products that just becomes part of cultural vernacular? You know, like Xerox (which is kind of fading out now), or Kleenex, or Carlton Roll, or something. I’m sure that this is the aspiration of all things advertising; be one of those elite products that can replace the everyday name for whatever the product is. Although, in the case of kudos, it’s become synonymous with something akin to accolades for an exemplary job. But the thing that is most puzzling to me is this: Kudos were never really that good. I mean really, the only thing that separated them from a Rice Krispie infused granola bar was some drizzled chocolate and mini M&M’s. That’s not what I have in mind to reward someone for a job well done. When I was a kid, my Dad took us to Dairy Queen if we scored a goal in our soccer games (unfortunately, I played defense). Say what you like about Dairy Queen, but you can’t tell me that a Blizzard or a chocolate dipped cone is not better than a Kudos bar. Maybe we should instead remake kudos into a reward for what is mediocrity at best? Then we could give out more kudos too. Just a thought.