The Daily Valet. - 3/4/21, Thursday

✔️ What's In a Name?

Thursday, March 4th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I think I missed the memo, but now’s the time to buy a new car.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

What’s In a Name?

They were given names like Rona, Karen and Alexa at birth. Now, they mean something very different.

It’s been a tough year for Ronas. Ever since the coronavirus spread around the world and upended all our lives in significant and shocking ways, people named Rona have also been hit with a series of silly microaggressions and jokes related to their names.

Last year introduced a slew of pandemic-related words to our daily lexicon—think “social distancing,” “quarantine,” or “lockdown,” reports BuzzFeed News. But people quickly grew tired of saying such clinical terms as “the novel coronavirus” or “COVID-19” and invented colloquialisms and slang. Soon, the deadly virus became known as “the ’rona.”

A San Diego Union-Tribune story noted this “rona” phenomenon in the U.S. as early as March 25, 2020, while the Daily Mail had five days earlier credited Australians with coming up with the word in keeping with the Aussies’ penchant for abbreviations.

But that’s not the only name causing trouble. Karen is now defined as a “pejorative slang term for an obnoxious, entitled, and often racist middle-aged white woman who uses her privilege to police other people’s behaviors.” Personally, my best friend’s name is Karen and she’s a fun-loving, vinyl-listening liberal who enjoys the occasional weed gummy—pretty much the antithesis of these problematic women.

She’d be the first to tell you the connotation is unfair. Seeing her name used as a randomly selected label for racist, privileged white women behaving badly is soul-crushing. And she's not alone.

But I guess it could be worse. Your name could be Alexa. A fine name, don’t get me wrong. But it’s now forever inextricably tied with Amazon’s virtual assistant. And simply saying the name out loud triggers the digital maid to come to life. Every time.

↦ Dig Deeper: The Conversation examines how ‘Karen’ went from a popular baby name to a stand-in for white entitlement.

About That Stimulus ...

Biden and Senate Democrats agree to limit eligibility for $1,400 checks

President Joe Biden has agreed to a compromise with moderate Democrats to narrow the income eligibility for the next round of $1,400 stimulus checks that are included in a bill the Senate is expected to take up this week, reports CNN.

Every American who filed individually and makes up to $75,000 would still get the full amount before it begins to reduce at incomes above that. But rather than zero out at $100,000 earnings, as the last COVID-19 relief bill does, the Senate bill would cut off payments at $80,000, sources told NBC News.

That means that roughly 17 million people who previously got checks now will not. The justification is that it targets the aid where it's needed the most. But Ryan Cooper of The Week says this formula is horribly inaccurate, because the income data the IRS uses is from the year before the pandemic (unless people have already filed their taxes—and by the way, if your income decreased in 2020, you should do that immediately). “This formula is therefore doubly wrong—there are no doubt millions of people who have lost jobs and should qualify but won't, and a smaller number that have gotten raises and shouldn't qualify but will.” The change is expected to save about $12 billion out of the total $1.9 trillion bill.

↦ Meanwhile: The House passed a landmark voting rights bill, but it faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

France Opens Unusual Underwater Museum

Sculptures installed on the seafloor near Cannes

A surreal sight now awaits snorkellers and divers off the coast of Cannes (yes, the town known for its star-studded Film Festival). It's a collection of huge grey faces, all with their eyes shut.

Made from pH-neutral cement, sculptures have been installed on the seafloor as part of a new ‘underwater museum’ by British artist Jason deCaires Taylor. Now open to the public, the free exhibit makes for a calming (and eerily beautiful) antidote to this normally crowded corner of the French Riviera.

They're not just any faces either ... the faces depict locals who live in Cannes, from children to senior citizens, reports Architectural Digest. Funded by the city's mayoral office and town hall, it took four years to complete.

The aim is to draw attention to the declining state of the world's oceans—as the Mediterranean, once ripe fishing grounds, is overflowing with pollution and suffers from overfishing. The artist hopes that by dropping the sculptures into the water, the lack of boats nearby will cause more seagrass to grow, thus bolstering the ecosystem.

↦ FYI: The best National Park you've never heard of is almost entirely underwater.

Samsung’s Frame TV Just Got Even Cooler

A custom shelf designed specifically for the TV

Samsung is the biggest TV-maker in the world and it had a successful 2020 as people stayed home and invested heavily in home entertainment. But this brand is not one to rest on their proverbial laurels.

They already make one of the best TV sets, The Frame, which rather convincingly mimics real wall art. But this week, the company introduced its first add-on for the design-centric screen. It's called My Shelf—a name that could no doubt use another workshop round—and features both top and bottom casing and shelves for personal elements and art objects. According to Airows, you'll have four different colors to choose from (beige, white, brown, and black) and it's compatible with any 55-inch, 65-inch, or 75-inch The Frame TV.

CNET reports that the 2021 iteration of The Frame is significantly slimmer than previous models and offers more bezel/frame color combinations. While these add-ons—much like a normal frame for a piece of art—are not inexpensive, it is nice to have the option to change your mind (and therefore the color) over time. Plus, the smallest sizes can now even be hung vertically to make them fit into your wall design.

↦ Get It: Pricing and availability for My Shelf hasn't been announced yet, but The Frame is available for pre-order now.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

New books to read

The Art of Swatch

Japandi-style?

Car Sales Predictably Tanked in 2020

But dealerships had their most profitable year ever

As you could've likely guessed, last year wasn't great for new car sales. Factory shutdowns, lockdowns, and general economic unease caused car sales to crater in the Spring of 2020; stronger sales in the latter months of the year couldn't really erase the early drop.

Overall, sales were down about 15% in 2020, which sounds like bad news for dealers. Bu that's hardly the case: Automotive News reports that overall dealer profits soared by 48% last year, leading to record-setting profits despite sluggish sales.

How'd that happen? According to Road & Track, shuttered factories drastically reduced supply, but demand stayed strong. That led to a rush on dealers for in-demand models, with a line of customers ready to pay. So dealers could put the squeeze on buyers and essentially charge what they wanted.

The other factor? A shift toward more expensive vehicles. That's because this pandemic didn't hit everyone equally. “There's really a dichotomy, economically, out there,” said Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power. “The 'laptop class,' where you can shift to working from home... did extraordinarily well in 2020.” So well they're treating themselves to new cars, apparently.