The Mason Minute

Have you noticed that there aren’t as many dry cleaners in town as there used to be? I realize, as trends come and go, businesses can be affected by those changes. Years ago, people wore suits and ties to the office. And for those who could dress a little bit more casually, it was a nice pair of slacks and a dress shirt. But those times are long gone. And the pandemic made the change even more fin...

Over the years, I’ve talked about my love of technology. I genuinely get excited about the latest tech toys. They don’t have to be fancy or expensive, but I’m always on the lookout. This week is the annual CES, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Each January, hundreds upon hundreds of tech companies show up to display their latest projects. And I’ve already seen a few news stories about t...

I see all of those TV commercials that remind me I should grow old gracefully. And when I appreciate the spirit, they’re obviously created by young people. There’s nothing graceful about growing old. Of course, it’s essential to pay attention to your health, but it’s the little things that bother us most. For men, it’s bushy eyebrows and hair growing out of our ears. And for both men and women, li...

Would a no-shoes policy at your office make you want to spend more time there? Many office settings continue to struggle as people still prefer working from home. So some startup companies have decided that having employees leave their shoes at the door and walk around the office in their stocking feet, their bare feet, or even in slippers would make it feel more like working from home. It’s not h...

Yesterday, I was talking about foods that aren’t as popular today as they were years ago. Sandwich spreads like Braunschweiger still exist, but are often hard to find. Another favorite from my youth that still exists but isn’t usually carried in supermarkets is Underwood Deviled Ham. Potted meat like Deviled Ham isn’t as popular today. Spam is still easy to find, but things like Vienna Sausages, U...

The popularity of certain foods comes and goes. Sure, there are some foods that everyone wants for a brief moment, only to disappear quickly. But then other foods have been staples for decades upon decades, only to disappear as well. But you don’t realize it because you haven’t thought about them in a long time. One of those foods I grew up on is braunschweiger. Many people know it is liver sausag...

Since the dawn of the Internet, the way we communicate in writing with people has changed significantly. Email communications have replaced letters. We now pay our bills online rather than putting them in an envelope and stamping them. And while snail mail still exists, we don’t use it as often anymore. Most of us don’t even know the price of a stamp these days. But recently, the US Postal Service...

The new year is upon us. 2026 is finally here. But many people, myself included, are worried about what the coming year will bring. The midterm elections will be a primary focus on social media throughout the majority of the year. And it doesn’t matter your politics, it’s going to be very contentious. If you’ve had a hard time being on social media over the last couple of years, I fear 2026 will t...

If you’re a college football fan, you have to be frustrated with all the sponsors associated with the sport. It’s not enough that the traditional bowl games now all have sponsors in addition to the bowl game name. There are also sponsors for the bowl series, and ESPN’s association with the sport. And that doesn’t include stadiums, betting apps, halftime shows, the entire college football season, a...

The time between Christmas and New Year's is one we often use to reflect and prepare. Who you are and where you are in life determine how much time you spend reflecting or preparing for the coming year. These days, I’m always running behind. I didn’t use to be that way, but even with all the excellent tools we now have, I’m still busier than I ever have been. And that means catching up on everythi...

Technically, we’re just a week into the winter season. And the weather here in Middle Tennessee has been strange. Yesterday, our high was in the 70s. Today, we'll be lucky to reach 40 degrees. Last night, right before I went to bed, the temperature dropped 20 degrees in the span of about 15 minutes. The cold front coming through has made me very uncomfortable. Since we haven’t had a hard freeze, m...

Every day as I head into the office, I see a reminder that pro sports is big business. All I have to do is look at the brand new Nashville football stadium to realize how important sports are to our economy. We’ve spent more time worrying about a beautiful stadium than we have about putting a good team on the field. But right now, in football and basketball, they keep focusing more on offense. Any...

It seems like you can’t go anywhere without hearing people complain about Baby Boomers, Millennials, or Gen X. It doesn’t matter what the story is. While we all share some similarities as human beings, each generation has values that are slightly different. Today, we only hear good things about the Greatest Generation, but I’m sure Baby Boomers thought differently as they were growing up. While Mi...

Through the years, I’ve been accused of being a know-it-all. And while I do know a lot of strange things, I learned long ago that knowledge of many subjects can pay off at a cocktail party, especially during a news interview. There are some subjects that, no matter how hard I try, I retain no knowledge of because I genuinely have no interest. One of those subjects is perfume. I guess you could lum...

For many people, most of the planning is over. Everything‘s been set up, and it’s almost time for the big holiday meal. The one thing that young people look forward to on Christmas is the chance to sit with the adults at the dinner table. If you have a big family, you often have to sit at the kiddie table. That can last for years upon years. And most kids don’t enjoy that. I didn't have a big fami...

Have you ever noticed that there is no traditional Christmas dinner? Sure, we all eat. But what? For the most part, turkey is what everyone eats on Thanksgiving. On Easter, it’s ham. But it doesn’t seem that anyone agrees on what should be on our Christmas dinner table. One of my favorites is lasagna. But we’re having that tomorrow. Tonight, I think one of my nephews is making Beef Wellington. Eve...

Have you noticed how the Grinch is more popular than usual this year? Of course, I talked about the McDonald’s Grinch Meal a while back. But I’ve noticed more people dressing as the Grinch this year. We had the Grinch stop by our office last week. One of my nephews wants to dress up in a costume for the amusement of the younger nieces and nephews. There were rumors that they were working on an upd...

What’s your holiday style? With all of the extra parties and family gatherings throughout the month, many of us have to plan our wardrobe. The office Christmas party is definitely one activity where people plan how they’re going to dress. Some prefer fancy suits or dresses. Others go for the Christmas sweater. And some have no designated style, but don’t wanna look out of place. I remember back in...

For the last couple of years, I’ve been curious as to how the world settled on the name Karen to represent a middle-aged white woman of privilege. I remember first hearing it when the internet showed images of a man and a woman in St. Louis holding guns as people marched down their street. Somehow, the Internet called them Karen and Ken, and the terms escalated from there. Well, now, Gen Z has det...

Today is one of those days. I’m feeling old. Now, technically, I guess I can be considered old, but I don’t feel that way every day. Sometimes the aches and pains of living make me feel that way. Other times, there are outside triggers. For example, today is my mother‘s birthday. She turns 86. And I’m blessed that she’s still healthy and living the good life with my father in Florida. But every ye...

What’s the old saying? You can take the boy out of the newsroom, but you can’t take the newsroom out of the boy. Okay, maybe that’s not exactly the quote. But that's what I’m feeling right now. I’ve been watching the numerous news conferences regarding the shooting at Brown University and the murder of the MIT professor. Of course, last night we found out they were both done by the same person. Bu...

It looks like I spoke too soon. Yesterday, I talked about all the year-in-review features coming out. First, it was Spotify, then I noticed YouTube had one too. Plus, I read about the Nintendo Switch releasing one for its users. Well, I was sitting in my office yesterday when I got an email saying LinkedIn had my year-in-review ready. And a friend told me about the Snapchat Recap for 2025. This is...

I know I’ve talked about this before, but as we approach the new year, everyone wants to jump on some sort of year-in-review feature. Spotify has been doing its year-end recap, called Wrapped, for the last couple of years. Many people look forward to it. But have you seen your YouTube Year In Review yet? I didn’t know there was such a thing until it appeared in my dashboard last week. My video is...

Tonight is the night that some office workers love and some hate. It’s our office holiday party. And this year, we were given choices. We could’ve done the downtown Nashville big-hotel party, a smaller yet fancy office party, or what we’ve done the last few years: smaller groups enjoying a night at one of our high-end restaurants. The fancy office party was the winner. From what I heard, the vote...

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. But our world today is very judgmental. For the longest time, many people aspired to be middle class. But today, those who are having a difficult time holding on. And those who want to be, they're losing hope. The rich keep getting richer, while everyone else loses hope. We all want more, but many of us see fewer opportunities to grow our wealth...