Why.

I was led to an interesting advice column by my blogger friend Thom. In a nutshell, a woman wrote in because of a gay couple that live next door. Apparently they were the model neighbors, helping out in the neighborhood, renovating their home beautifully and always friendly to everyone. Then they (gasp) kissed and hugged each other before leaving for work (double gasp) and the writer, so upset by this, went to church to ask her minister what to do. The minister told her to write a letter or get the others in the neighborhood together to sign a petition (surprise, surprise) asking the couple to stop this unnatural, offensive behavior. Now the writer is very surprised that the couple no longer acknowledge the presence of anyone else in the neighborhood. What to do?

I was happy to see the columnist zing right back at the writer with this response:

You’re lucky that these gentlemen merely choose to ignore you.

Your neighbors could respond to your hospitality by hosting weekly outdoor “gay pride” barbecues and inviting all of their friends to enjoy life on our quiet suburban street.

I can hold out hope that they will choose to do this, but I’m spiteful in that way. Your neighbors sound much more kind.

Good for her! Full article at this link.

So my friend Shirley and I were busy working this morning at 9:15 or so when we turned behind us and noticed that our co-worker had stepped away from their desk. With their coat. And their briefcase. And they had left their pager and parking pass behind. And their computer off. Apparently this new employee was not happy here and decided to leave, without so much as a goodbye or a “this job isn’t right for me”. Considering it’s now five hours later, it’s pretty safe to say they’re gone for good.

Coward.

I must admit that those thoughts jumped through my head quite a few times when I started at my job. I had a lot of doubt of whether I was smart enough, whether I could handle the tasks and if I really wanted to do what was required of me. At no time, however, did I ever entertain the thought of just abandoning the job and leaving the company high and dry.

That’s just rude.

Eons ago I was working at a temp job when my co-worker said that if we ever met outside of the office he’d want to shoot me through the head because he didn’t like people “like me”. Since I was young and insecure at the time, I didn’t say anything to management. I didn’t know if others were thinking along the same lines as he was. It was a kick to my already wavering self esteem at the time. Did I leave the job? Yes, after I finished the day and took the time to tell management that I would be requesting another assignment since I didn’t feel comfortable in that position (something about not being able to wrap my head around the job, I hated that job to begin with and this was just another kick to send me out the door). But I never thought of abandoning the job.

So now the search begins to add another member to our merry group at work. Two and a half weeks of getting to know someone, down the drain. Here we go again.

I found this newspaper clipping on one of my daily “must read” blogs, which is maintained by Boston blogger Karl. Though no picture is included, I’m sure this woman brings new meaning to the words “Fright Night.”

As I sit here and eat a relatively healthy lunch whilst I blog, for some reason I’m thinking about the kids that are in school today. Perhaps it’s because a school bus tried to run me off the road on my way home. Whatever the reason, I got to thinking that most likely the kids in school today are not eating a healthy lunch. They are eating junk food in their school cafeteria. This is sad.

Back when I was in school, a monthly lunch menu was handed out at the beginning of the month. (As an aside, in my school district it was my mother who typed the menu and she would filch a few advance copies for my sister and I. We were like gods with this knowledge.) Listed were all the meals that were to be served for lunch that month. There were few choices. A typical day would be like “Tomato or Chicken Noodle Soup, half of a PB&J or turkey salad sandwich, milk, choice of cookie.” During the Carter administration, peanuts accompanied at least two meals per week. Said lunch was made by a dedicated staff of cafeteria workers who actually cared about the food they were serving up. They were basically cooking the same stuff they cooked at home, just for a really big family. If you didn’t like what was on the menu that day, you brought your own lunch.

Nowadays, soda and snack vending machines populate school cafeterias and kids are bypassing the traditional lunch line and heading for a bag of Doritos and a bottle of pop. Still hungry? Have a candy bar. And if you do go through the cafeteria line, there’s a really good chance that you’re eating an over-processed, pre-cooked, preservative laden ‘meal’ that was nuked especially for you. There’s a wild assortment of food including tacos, burritos, pizza, pre-made submarine sandwiches, chicken nuggets, french fries; the list goes on and on. Small wonder we have hyper, unfocused, belligerent children in our society today.

What is sad is that funding to our schools has been cut back so much that they have to resort to corporate sponsored food in order to keep the school going! “The band doesn’t need the money for the all-star trip, they can boost their income with the loot from the Sugar-Pop machine.” Boo! “We can’t afford to send the football team to the dome for the playoffs, maybe they can get some money from the Cavity Candy machine.” How horrid is that?

What happened to the days of a “home cooked meal” at school? Is it really too expensive? Too time consuming? No one cares but me? I find that last one hard to believe.

All I know is that when I eat junk food, I get an excellent energy rush for about an hour and then I feel tired and lethargic for the rest of the day. I don’t feel like learning. I don’t feel like being productive. I don’t even feel like moving. How can we expect a child to sit up and learn the history of the world after eating a generic Big Mac?

I don’t know why I’m thinking about this today. We don’t have kids. My mother doesn’t type the menu anymore. I’m not bucking for a spot on the Board of Education. Maybe I just wish that the kids in school today could have the same quality lunch that I had at Pulaski Academy and Central School.

I just awoke about a half hour ago with one thought screaming through my head.

“I don’t want to go to work.”

It’s Monday. It’s snowing. I’m in a very calm, relaxed, kicked-back mood from doing very little this past weekend. This morning I have to jump into it with both feet and endure a week of on-call.

I’ll go to work this morning. I’ll even smile when I get there. But I can’t wait for it to be over.

Back when I was still in my single digits, we used to play around with our cousins once removed that lived down the street. Looking back on that sentence and arming you with the knowledge that I grew up in farm country, I suppose the term “play around” is a little odd and conjurs up thoughts of something kinky. We used to hang around with them, there was nothing odd about it. Now that my mind is out of the gutter, why don’t you join me?

Anyways, these family members used to play this game that I still haven’t figured out over 30 years later. If a person said “What?” in response to anything anyone said anywhere, they would say, “You have five minutes to get rid of that word.”

I could never get rid of the word (assumedly “What”) because I didn’t know what on earth they were talking about and I didn’t know how to do it. I would invariably become upset and frustrated. Even today I don’t know what they were talking about and if it was a game that other kids played in the mid 70s, like “punch bug” where you slug the person next to you when you spotted a VW Beetle. I don’t know if this damaged my psyche in any way, and I haven’t the foggiest idea why I thought of that today, but there it is.

What?

You have five minutes to get rid of that word.

* My more “proper” cousins insisted we play “Fruitbasket” (right up my alley?) where they would yell out a random fruit and if you were it you had to jump on the bed. I found it incredibly boring.

Tacky Holidays!

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Sears and Roebuck Co. (are they still called that anymore?) succumbs to this ridiculous controversy of “Merry Christmas” vs “Happy Holidays”. Their solution? Print “Merry Christmas” with the Sears logo, using a generic font and plain paper on a black and white laser printer to add a little “ps.” to their holiday decorations.

The sign pictured above was actually the best looking display of this merriment in our local store, the other signs were hung with shipping tape next to the “now hiring” and “this door out of service” signs.

Happy Holidays!

My cubicle at work is situated right next to the window that looks out into our main lobby. One of the advantages of this is I can satisfy my nosy nature by seeing everyone that is in and out of our office all day long, be it people off the street paying their bill or whatever, delivery men (DHL guy is my favorite) or businessmen in their three piece suits waiting to meet with the vice-president of the company. To me, it’s all eye candy.

One disturbing thing I saw today was an older gentleman who resembled Fred Flintstone. Unfortunately I couldn’t see if he was barefooted or not, but he had the facial features, haircut and build of Fred Flintstone. You could tell he wasn’t from Bedrock, however, because he had one of those annoying bluetooth cell phone earpieces in his right ear. He looked like he belonged on the enemy ship on Star Trek.

First of all, I have to ask, “Why?” Are people so self centered now that they feel they need to run around with this piece of gadgetry in their ear? “Look at me, I’m so important, I could be called at any moment and then I’ll totally disregard you and start talking to the thin air but I’m really talking into this wireless piece of a hardware in my ear.” How gauche. I mean really. I don’t care who you are, that attitude is just rude.

And why are the manufacturers of these things making them blink? Blink, blink. I’m busy. Blink, blink. Perhaps it’s to make them more festive for the holidays. “Oh look, Penny from Rochester has green and red LEDs in her ear and they’re blinking. She must be very smart and very important. At least she dressed up for the company Christmas party and wore her green and red earpiece.”

It’s bad enough that wireless technology has invaded public space to the point where everyone feels they can carry on a conversation with that oh so important person on the other end of the line and be totally oblivious to everyone around them. Why it was just last week that I overheard a conversation in JC Penney where this fairly unattractive woman was shrieking at her gynocologist because she needed an appointment for her yeast infection NOW! Now, do I really need to hear that while I’m browsing through the men’s department of a clothing store? During the supper hour? Please.

I kept my eye on this Fred Flintstone character in our lobby during his visit. He never got a call. His little blue LED never stopped blinking. He didn’t beam up to the mothership.

But he did look like an asshat.

I’ve noticed a recent trend with professional people walking to their office. They’re dragging their briefcase behind them. On wheels.

What’s up with that?

It wasn’t too long ago that any given businessman or businesswoman on the street was carrying a leather clad briefcase at their side. Inside held all the secrets of the their profession; paperwork about the next deal, a portfolio displaying their abilities, the proposal for the big meeting. Then of course, laptop computers became all the rage, so the hard cased briefcase gave way to the soft-sided carrying bag which was a little larger than the briefcase but still had that “professional” appearance to it. Now everyone seems to be using their airline carry-on luggage to transport their computers and paperwork back and forth to the office. There they are, wheeled suitcase behind them to create yet another obstacle on the sidewalk, bumping along over the cracks in the concrete.

When did people become so lazy that they couldn’t carry their own briefcase?

I find it hard to believe that the laptops of today are heavier than the laptops of five years ago when people actually carried them. You’re not going to convince me of otherwise, because as technology becomes more popular and more affordable, it also makes strides in the direction of miniaturization. And with all this technology at our fingertips, there should be less paperwork, handouts, etc. to cart around in your briefcase, right?

So why have people become so lazy that it’s too much of an effort to carry their own briefcase?

I won’t drag my luggage through an airport by its wheels, let alone drag it to work. Admittedly I drive Earl crazy when we’re traveling, because I insist on actually carrying our luggage instead using the built in wheels that were made for nothing larger than a Hot Wheels car. He says I’m nuts. I prefer “eccentric”, but “nuts” works for me as well.

At least I’m not lazy.

I can’t believe that today I’m reading another news article about a fatal school shooting in our country. My thoughts are with the family of those affected at the small school in Tennessee.

What has happened to our schools? If any place should be safe for children outside of the home, it’s their school. This didn’t happen at a big, crowded school in a seedy neighborhood in a large city. No, this shooting took place at a relatively rural area of Tennessee. What is going on?

I graduated from school almost 20 years ago and I know much has changed during that time. Students have access to more information than ever before, via the internet, cell phones, instant messenger, all of it. Heck, as a student I was very excited when the school received 30 donated televisions, all black and white, so that we could have a “multimedia” experience in the classroom. The most violent video game that I remember from my teenage years was maybe Frogger and that was because the large pixels on the screen that vaguely resembled a frog went “splat” when a vaguely shaped truck ran over it. Today there’s video games featuring a huge amount of violence including drive by shootings, rapes, robbery… is this really necessary?

Sometimes I wonder if not much has changed after all. Maybe I was sheltered. Perhaps I never had access to violent games, movies, etc. of my generation so that’s why I never had the urge to shoot anyone at school. If that’s the case, then that’s just more testimony to the fact that my parents did a great job raising my sister and I.

In the past, I’ve joked that school violence can be blamed on photocopiers. With the departure of the old “ditto machines” (remember handouts with purple ink?), teachers and students are no longer getting high on the fumes. Bring back the ditto machines!

If it were only that simple.