Style Invitational Week 1501: Try a little 'kindness'
Tell us ways to be ‘helpful’ that, well, wouldn’t be. Plus the winners of our what-if contest.
Cartoon by Bob Staake for The Washington Post
“Whenever I see a car with a ticket I chuck it in the bin so the driver doesn’t have to pay.” — GraharG on Reddit’s CasualUK
Or: “Whenever there’s a meeting on a Friday afternoon, I like to ask lots of questions at the end so no one else feels embarrassed about the stony silence.”
Inspired by GraharG’s challenge to fellow Redditors: “What act of kindness do you do for strangers?” Style Invitational Week 1501 asks the same (in American English) of the Loser Community, with the same cheery “helpful” ideas. Deadline is Monday night, Aug. 22.
And we have the results of our wide-ranging “what if” contest, Week 1497, featuring dozens of musings like:
What if all peppercorns were white? My beard would be described as “salt-with-black-hairs-in-it.”
What if sharks could vocalize like whales? They would go ahead and do that “Jaws” music themselves.
In my supplementary column The Style Conversational, I talk about this week’s contests and results, and note the passing of the reins of the Losers’ website and its many, many stats and other nerd’s delights from Elden Carnahan to a whole team. And we’re honoring Elden at a just-scheduled brunch on Sunday, Aug. 21!
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LINKS TO …
This week’s Invitational column, Week 1501
The same column for non-subscribers (but do sign up — there are always great promotions going on!)
This week’s Style Conversational column
Paywall-free entry form for Week 1501
Still running -- deadline Monday night, Aug. 15: In Week 1500, make up a word or phrase whose letters add up to 15 points in Scrabble. Paywall-free entry form for Week 1500.
More ways to enjoy The Style Invitational and be part of the Loser Community:
Join the Style Invitational Devotees group on Facebook and the Devs will anagram your name every which way.
Also on Facebook, the Style Invitational Ink of the Day page presents one classic entry as a colorful graphic that's easy to share. "Like" the page to get it regularly on your news feed, or to scroll through the archives. bit.ly/inkofday.
And we have two seasons’ worth of the You're Invited podcast, half-hour episodes with host Mike Gips and various Invite luminaries. Catch all 18 episodes at bit.ly/invite-podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
— Pat Myers, Empress of The Style Invitational, pat.myers@washpost.com (or just reply to this email)
*That's Loser with a capital L; named for the runner-up prizes emblazoned "LOSER," the community of regular Style Invitational entrants now proudly calls itself the Losers. If you enter the Invite, you're a Genuine Loser. But not (necessarily) a loser.