Monday, August 16, 2021

Grant, Lewis, and morning sickness

I do read a lot, an assertion which I've made many times over the last few years and with no shame. In fact I've reached the point where it occurs to me that I may use this thing called the Internet, formerly known as the World Wide Web, to seek out books which I've long thought about reading yet am not thinking about buying when I'm in the old brick and mortar bookstores. Yes, they still exist.

Thus yesterday morning found me scouring Amazon looking for titles which I've long known and meant to hunt up for my perusal. One for example is U. S. Grant's Personal Memoirs. They're supposed to be a very good and of course first hand account of his actions in the Army and through his Presidency. Needless to say I found them available, and into the cart they went.

Next I sought out Screwtape Proposes a Toast by C. S. Lewis. Apparently if authors want my attention it pays to use initials, a personal compulsion of which J. R. R. Tolkien certainly took note. Then I brought up William Bennett's America The Last Best Hope, volumes Two and Three, as I have just finished Volume One and enjoyed it so much I want to finish the series. I'll stop with those examples of my search as they demonstrate, basically, what I sought: books of a staid, serious nature. 

Now unless you live under a rock you know that Amazon uses some type of algorithm to aid people in seeking what they desire, suggesting this or that similar product, and I have given you solid examples of what I was after. So imagine my surprise when, immediately after being offered several different styles and versions of the aforementioned books up popped a suggested product called Pink Stork Nausea Sweets. They claim to offer relief from morning sickness for pregnant women.

I am not making this up. Right after a listing for the Bennett books came the idea that I might want lozenges to alleviate morning sickness. After displaying interest in the writings of a historian, an American political and military leader, and an English theologian I apparently must be concerned with relief from pregnancy ailments.

By what inference could Amazon's bots possibly draw that conclusion? I'm at a loss. But if you can successfully enlighten me about it maybe I'll name the baby after you. 


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